Isachsen (weather station)

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Welcome sign from Isachsen (1974)

Isachsen was an arctic weather station in Nunavut , Canada . Today it is an uninhabited, automatic weather station ( WMO ID: 71074).

location

Isachsen is located at Station Bay on the west coast of Ellef Ringnes Island , which belongs to the archipelago of the Sverdrup Islands . The station is named after the discoverer of the island, the Norwegian polar explorer Gunnerius Ingvald Isachsen . It has a dirt airstrip ( IATA airport code : YIC, ICAO code : CWIC) northwest of the station and has but a few unpaved roads no infrastructure . Every year from the end of October, Isachsen lies in the complete darkness of the polar night for 3 months .

history

The weather station began operations on April 3, 1948 and was the third station of a joint Canadian-American weather observation program . The regular weather observations began on May 3, 1948. The station staff consisted mostly of eight to twelve men and were flown in from Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island along with consumables . These flights usually took place twice a year, in spring and autumn. No planes could land in summer due to the soggy and muddy ground and in winter due to the large amount of snow. In the summer of 1958, the station was extensively rebuilt and expanded with prefabricated buildings that were flown in together with workers. On October 31, 1971, the Americans withdrew from Isachsen. In 1977 the Canadian government invested considerable funds in modernizing the facilities, but budget restrictions and cuts ultimately led to the station being closed on September 19, 1978. The last manned weather observations were carried out on July 31, 1978. In 1989, an automatic weather station was installed on the site, which regularly sends information via communications satellites . Isachsen is now uninhabited.

Airplane accidents

On May 20, 1949, a US Air Force C-82 transport aircraft crashed while taking off. She delivered urgently needed spare parts for a defective C-54 machine so that it could be flown out before summer. The C-54 blocked one end of the runway, which is why the C-82 had to take off in the other, less favorable direction. During take-off, the left engine touched a snow bank and was torn off, which is why the aircraft went off the runway to the left and was completely destroyed. There were no injuries in the accident. The fuselage of the aircraft was brought into the station and used as a storage room.

On October 9, 1949, a US Air Force C-47 cargo plane had an accident shortly after take-off. She picked up the phone briefly several times and then sat up again. When it was finally in the air, it got stuck on an embankment and slid about 900 meters over the snow-covered plain next to the runway. The overloading of the machine and the formation of ice on the aircraft were blamed as the causes. The ten people on board - including six soldiers and four civilians - survived and only three of them suffered minor cuts and bruises. They were able to free themselves from the wreckage . It is still about 3 kilometers east of the weather station on the coast of Station Bay and is in relatively good condition.

The wreckage of the C-47 can be seen in a scene from the episode Polar Special of the automobile magazine Top Gear .

climate

Climate diagram of the Isachsen weather station

The weather in Isachsen and the surrounding area is often referred to as the worst in Canada and, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, has a Climate Severity Index of 99 out of a possible 100 points.

Monthly average temperatures for Isachsen
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) −17.8 −19.7 −18.0 −13.5 −5.8 10.9 13.9 11.5 0.4 −4.2 −8.2 −17.2 O −5.6
Min. Temperature (° C) −43.4 −42.3 −38.9 −33.9 −20.4 −7.1 −1.1 −5.6 −15.7 −31.1 −37.4 −38.2 O −26.2
Temperature (° C) −32.0 −32.2 −31.0 −22.7 −10.3 0.8 4.5 1.2 −6.7 −15.9 −25.0 −28.7 O −16.4
Humidity ( % ) 73 73 74 83 93 89 83 91 94 89 81 77 O 83.4
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
−17.8
−43.4
−19.7
−42.3
−18.0
−38.9
−13.5
−33.9
−5.8
−20.4
10.9
−7.1
13.9
−1.1
11.5
−5.6
0.4
−15.7
−4.2
−31.1
−8.2
−37.4
−17.2
−38.2
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		{{{nbjan}}}
{{{nbfeb}}}
{{{nbmär}}}
{{{nbapr}}}
{{{nbmai}}}
{{{nbjun}}}
{{{nbjul}}}
{{{nbaug}}}
{{{nbsep}}}
{{{nbokt}}}
{{{nbnov}}}
{{{nbdez}}}
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: Weather archive in Isachsen (weather station). (No longer available online.) In: rp5.ru. Raspisaniye Pogodi GmbH, formerly in the original ; accessed on April 29, 2014 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / rp5.ru

Remarks

  1. ↑ For better understanding on satellite images: The coordinates of that runway are at 78 ° 47 '  N , 103 ° 22'  W indicated. The current runway northwest of the station was only built in 1954.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Abandoned High Arctic Weather Station, Isachsen on Ellef Ringnes Island, Nunavut. In: arctic-guide.net. Retrieved April 25, 2014 .
  2. ^ High Arctic Weather Stations ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  3. ^ Aad van der Voet: Arctic C-82 Crash at Isachsen, Canada. In: oldwings.nl. June 4, 2005, accessed April 25, 2014 .
  4. ^ Aad van der Voet: Arctic C-47 Wreck at Isachsen, Canada. In: oldwings.nl. June 1, 2005, accessed April 25, 2014 .
  5. ^ Aad van der Voet: Arctic Mystery C-47 at Isachsen, Canada. In: oldwings.nl. June 9, 2005, accessed April 25, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Manfred J. Müller: Handbook of selected climate stations on earth . In: Gerold Richter (Ed.): Soil erosion research center . 5th erg. And verb. Edition. Book 5. University of Trier FB VI, Trier 1996, ISBN 978-3-927079-05-2 .
  7. ^ Climate Severity ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved July 28, 2019.

Coordinates: 78 ° 47 ′  N , 103 ° 31 ′  W