*WEATHER

The weather conditions during the field operation were generally unsettled with intermittent light snow, light winds and overcast conditions for most of the time with only a few clear calm days. These conditions did not affect the drilling operation significantly although some minor overnight glycol mix freezing problems resulted when air temperatures fell below about –15°C as temperatures began cooling at site 2. Poor visibility on occasion did affect and delay transport between Scott base and camp. A storm event on 20-21 Jan. with winds up to 35 knots, heavy snow fall and poor visibility caused some problems which prevented members of the event returning to HWD site 1 camp from Scott Base and delayed the recovery of the mooring. This storm was relatively benign at the McMurdo Ice Shelf site.