The Amundsen-Scott South Pole (ASSP) weather station, operated by the National Science Foundation’s United States Antarctic Program, is experiencing very winterlike conditions this summer.
Both daily high and low temperatures recorded at the station have been well below their normal averages for dates in mid-February, the heart of Antarctica’s summer.
February’s average temperature at ASSP is -37℉, but the running average for the first two weeks of February is -45℉. Because Antarctica is coming out of its warmest season and temperatures typically fall a little daily on average as the continent enters its fall, it is likely that the overall average for the month as a whole will be even lower.
The high temperatures for the days February 15 through February 18, -49℉, -54℉, and -56℉, respectively were each far lower than the normal average high for the month, -31℉, and even measured well below the average low for February, -42℉. The low temperatures for each date were -53℉, -54℉, and -61℉ colder still.
The low temperature for the month, thus far, -62℉ was recorded in the early morning hours of February 19.