- 2024 April 8 - most tourist ships have now left Antarctic waters.
Approximately 51 ships have made reports and 150 have not. There are many
fishing vessels present.
- 2024 March 4 - Approximately 48 ships have made reports and 147 have not.
There are many fishing vessels present.
- 2024 February 5 - Approximately 44 ships have made
reports and 138 have not. Over a dozen tourist ships have made reports.
- 2024 January 3 - The Antarctic season is in full swing. 35 ships have made
reports and 108 have not. There are many tourist and fishing vessels present.
- 2023 December 1 - November saw a big influx of tourist ships, with a total
of around 80 ships now having visited Antarctic waters, of which 24 made
meteorological reports.
- 2023 October 22 - The first tourist ship of the season has arrived in
Antarctic waters
- 2023 October 10 - The Laurence M Gould returned to Antarctic waters. Two
fishing vessels are also present.
- 2023 June 23 - Most vessels have now left Antarctic waters. Between 52 and 43 ships have sent observations (there may be
some double counting due to call sign masking), with a further 124 vessels
present.
- 2023 April 3 - Between 54 and 43 ships have sent observations (there may be
some double counting due to call sign masking), with a further 114
vessels present. Most tourist and supply ships have now left Antarctic waters.
- 2023 March 3 - Between 54 and 43 ships have sent observations (there may be
some double counting due to call sign masking), with a further 115
vessels present
- 2023 February 3 - 40 ships have sent observations, with a further 108
vessels present
- 2023 January 6 - 34 ships have sent observations, including several tourist
vessels, with a further 87 vessels present
- 2022 October 25 - The first tourist ship of the season, Viking Polaris, arrives in Antarctic
waters; within ten days 8 more had arrived
- 2022 October 5 - The Laurence M Gould returned to Antarctic waters.
One fishing vessel is also present.
- 2022 June 27 - 39 ships sent observations during the 20/21 season, including
several tourist vessels, with a further 100 vessels present
- 2022 February 4 - 35 ships have sent observations, including several tourist
vessels, with a further 88 vessels present
- 2022 January 5 -
26 ships have sent observations, including several tourist vessels, with a
further 66 vessels present.
- 2021 December 6 - Many tourist ships are now operating in Antarctic water,
particularly for the eclipse on December 4. There are also supply and
fishing vessels at work.
- 2021 November 3 - The first tourist ship has arrived in Antarctic waters.
- 2021 October 8 - The Laurence M Gould returned to Antarctic waters. A
few fishing vessels are also present.
- 2021 June 28 - Only 57 identified ships visited Antarctica during the
2020/21 season, with 21 making meteorological reports.
- 2021 February 2 - Of the 42 identified ships operating in Antarctic waters
so far this season, 17 have made meteorological reports.
- 2020 December 7 - Ship activity is much reduced this season with five ships
reporting observations, and at least another ten not doing so.
- 2020 November 13 - The Nathaniel B Palmer has returned to Antarctic waters,
the first ship to return during the covid pandemic. A few fishing vessels
are also present.
- 2020 May 4 - Over 180 ships have visited Antarctic waters, with 37
reporting observations. The last remaining vessel making observations is
heading north.
- 2020 Apil 3 - Over 177 ships have visited Antarctic waters, with 37 reporting observations
- 2020 March 2 - Over 175 ships have visited Antarctic waters, with 37
reporting observations
- 2020 February 3 - Over 147 ships have visited Antarctic waters, with
only 31 reporting observations
- 2020 January 6 - 21 named ships have reported weather observations, at
least 81 others have not.
- 2019 December 10 - Chilean
C-130 lost en-route to Antarctica
- 2019 December 2 - The tourist season is in full swing. 13 ships have
reported observations, but only one of these carries tourists. At least
44 other ships have entered Antarctic waters
- 2019 November 4 - Passenger ships are arriving at the Antarctic Peninsula
and around 20 fishing vessels are at work. None have reported
observations.
- 2019 October 4 - The Gould is heading
south and is reporting observations.
- 2019 August 9 - Around ten fishing vessels are at work, though only half
have been picked up by Global Fishing Watch
- 2019 July 1 - Around ten fishing vessels are at work.
2019 June 3 - All research ships have
now left Antarctic waters. Around ten fishing vessels are still at
work.
- 2019 May 3 - Most research ships have now left Antarctic waters.
Around a dozen fishing vessels are still at work.
- 2019 April 5 - 33 ships have reported weather observations, 122 identified
ships have not, with further unidentified ships present
- 2019 March 4 - 32 ships have reported weather observations, 118 identified
ships have not, with further unidentified ships present
- 2019 February 8 - 30 ships have reported weather observations, 112
identified ships have not, with further unidentified ships present
- 2019 January 4 - 22 ships have reported weather observations, 82
identified ships have not, with further unidentified ships present
- 2018 December 3 - 11 ships have reported weather observations, 49
identified ships have not, with further unidentified ships present
- 2018 November 5 - Two ships are
currently reporting met obs, with a third sending "secret" obs. 18 fishing
vessels are operating in Antarctic waters.
- 2018 July 23 - Novolazarevskaya air sounding building destroyed by fire
- 2018 July 1 - All ships fishing off the Antarctic Peninsula have
voluntarily left Antarctic waters.
- 2018 June 25 - Five ships are fishing in Antarctic waters. They do
not produce any weather reports.
- 2018 June 22 - All ships that report weather observations have now left
Antarctic waters, although some fishing and supply vessels remain in the north
of the Antarctic Peninsula. In all during the season 29 ships reported
weather observations, 94 identified ships did not, with many more unidentified
ships present.
- 2018 March 5 - 27 ships have reported weather observations, 78 identified
ships have not, with many more unidentified ships present
- 2018 February 1 - 23 ships have reported weather observations, 75
identified ships have not, with many more unidentified ships present
- 2018 January 1 - 13 ships have reported weather observations, 46
identified ships have not, with many more unidentified ships present
- 2017 December 25 - Sonde flights from Frei and O'Higgins received on the
GTS during December and Frei in January
- 2017 December 1 - Six ships have reported weather observations, 24 others
have not, though three of these did report from outside Antarctica.
- 2017 November 3 - The tourist season is underway, with three ships
having visited. None have reported weather observations.
- 2017 July 17 - Two ships, Agulhas II and Laurence M Gould,
have reported early Antarctic weather observations this season. The
Norwegian trawler Antarctic Sea was fishing off Palmer in late June, but did
not report any observations.
- 2017 June 23 - 102 named ships and many others whose position is only
known visited Antarctic waters during the 2016/17 season. Just 29
contributed synoptic observations. Five vessels were fishing at
mid-winter 2017, with a supporting cargo vessel and tanker. They were
not reporting meteorological observations.
- 2017 April 3 - To date 102 named ships
and many others whose position is only known have visited Antarctic waters this
season. Just 29 have contributed synoptic observations.
- 2017 March 6 - To date 101 named ships and many others whose position is
only known have visited Antarctic waters this season. Just 29 have
contributed synoptic observations.
- 2017 February 15 - Halley (89022) has been closed for the winter as
the site is threatened by an ice-shelf calving event. Operations may
resume in November.
- 2017 February 3 - AntON and station detail lists updated
- 2017 February 3 - To date 90 named ships and many others whose position is
only known have visited Antarctic waters this season. Only 26 have
contributed synoptic observations.
- 2017 January 6 - To date 61 named ships and many others whose
position is only known have visited Antarctic waters this season. Only
20 have contributed synoptic observations.
- 2016 December 2 - To date 34 named ships and many others whose position is
only known have visited Antarctic waters this season. Only 11 have
contributed synoptic observations.
- 2016 November 11 - Tourist ships are now operating in Antarctic waters,
though only one anonymous ship has contributed weather observations
- 2016 October 31 - The first summer visiting ships are beginning to arrive.
- 2016 July 1 - During 2015/16 at least 99
ships visited Antarctic waters. Only 27 reported
meteorological observations on the GTS.
- 2016 April 1 - To date at least 97 ships have visited Antarctic waters
this season. Only 27 reported meteorological observations on the GTS.
- 2016 March 4 - To date at least 92
ships have visited Antarctic waters this season. Only 27 have reported
meteorological observations on the GTS.
- 2016 February 5 - To date at least 85 ships have visited Antarctic waters this
season. Only 26 have reported meteorological observations on the GTS.
- 2016 January 14 - Two new German stations 89011 (Soerasen) and 89047 (Filchner)
added to the AntON listing. SYNOPs from these stations are now
available.
- 2016 January 4 - To date at least 57 ships have visited Antarctic
waters this season. Only 16 have reported meteorological observations on
the GTS.
- 2015 November 2 - Stations 89079 (Criosfera 1) and 89776 (Bharati)
added to the AntON listing. SYNOPS from these stations have been available
for some time.
- 2015 August 3 - SYNOPs from 89536 and 89558 available on the GTS since
July 9
- 2015 May 1 - This season at least 82 ships have visited Antarctic
waters. Only 23 reported meteorological observations.
- 2015 March 1 - UoW AWS ids for stations transmitting in MOBIL code
revised
- 2015 January 23 - To date at least 60 ships have visited Antarctic waters
this season. Only 19 have reported meteorological observations
- 2014 November 1 - WMO have abolished the use of text for
transmission of synoptic messages. As a result many ships and all buoys
have disappeared from sites such as sailwx.
- 2014 July 30 - Halley (89022) suffered a major loss of power.
Station meteorological observations had all resumed by early October, though
other science is still suspended.
- 2014 June 25 - The Laurence M Gould arrives in Antarctic waters
- 2014 May 13 - SYNOPs from 88870, 88881 and 88894 are now on the GTS
- 2014 May 2 - All but one ship has now left Antarctic waters for the
winter. 31 ships contributed observations on the GTS, but at least 46
failed to do so.
- 2014 April 24 - All Antarctic GSN stations have produced a CLIMAT
message. This is the first time the 100% target has been achieved.
- 2014 March 17 - SYNOPs from Russian Antarctic AWS and their new station
Oazic Bangera now on the GTS
- 2014 January 8 - Predictably the Akademik Shokalskiy and Xue Long became
freed from the ice when the wind changed without needing assistance from
Polar Star.
- 2014 January 6 - The Japanese whaling research fleet operating in
Antarctic waters is not transmitting meteorological observations.
- 2013 December 24 - The tourist ship Akademik Shokalskiy is stuck in ice. She commenced sending meteorological observations once she became stuck.
- 2013 December 9 - The new record low temperature announced for
Antarctica is a ground temperature equivalent. It does not replace the
existing air temperature record of -89.2° measured at Vostok on 1983 July
21. It is quite possible that it if a ground
temperature had been measured then it would be the record ground temperature.
- 2013 November 17 - The Antarctic tourist season has started with seven
ships already in Antarctic waters. Only one has submitted
meteorological reports.
- 2013 August 30 - Unusually four ships, including a yacht, have already visited
Antarctic waters during the 2013/14 season.
- 2013 August 9 - There has been a significant decline in balloon performance at
most Antarctic upper air stations this winter
- 2013 June 24 - The 2013/14 season starts early, with the Laurence M Gould and
Polarstern carrying out mid-winter cruises
- 2013 April 15 - but one has returned (Laurence M Gould) and another (Araon)
noted for the first time this season. The figures are now 80/25.
- 2013 April 12 - All ships have now left Antarctic waters. A total
of 79 ships are known to have visited Antarctic waters, of which only 25 made
meteorological reports.
- 2013 February 4 - SYNOP reports from Aquiles (CCAQ) now on the GTS
- 2013 January 14 - Congratulations to Le Boreal (FLSY) for commencing
transmission of SYNOP reports.
- 2012 December 3 - Monitoring shows that only 8 out of 23 ships visiting
Antarctic waters so far this season have reported weather observations.
Ships not reporting include two supply vessels.
- 2012 September 23 - The 2012/13 Antarctic season has begun with the arrival of the Laurence M Gould and Aurora Australis in Antarctic waters
- 2012 May 3 - All ships have now left Antarctic waters for the
winter. 20 ships made meteorological reports, 51 ships known to have
visited Antarctic waters made no reports.
- 2012 February 25 - Fire destroys Comandante Ferraz station (89252,
Brazil).
- 2012 February 8 - WMO EC-PORS meeting took place in Finland between February 6
and 8.
- 2012 December 16 - Russian trawler holed in pack in Ross Sea. It, nearby
ships and a ship going to its rescue have not transmitted positions or weather
observations.
- 2011 December 2 - All monitored stations carried out at least three upper air
flights at their nominal times during November. In all previous months
this year at least one station has been silent at a nominal time.
- 2011 December 2 - Monitoring shows that only 6 out of 22 ships visiting
Antarctic waters so far this season have reported weather observations.
Ships not reporting include three supply vessels.
- 2011 August 8 - The Laurence M Gould is the first ship of the season to
visit Antarctic waters
- 2011 May 5 - The Doha Declaration requires governments to keep the atmosphere
under continuous observation in respect of ozone and climate change.
- 2011 May 5 - During the 2010/11 season 27 ships made meteorological reports from
the Antarctic. At least 46 other ships visited Antarctic waters but did
not make reports.
- 2011 January 5 - Several ships from the Japanese whaling research fleet are
operating in Antarctic waters, but none have reported meteorological
observations. NGO ships operating in the same area have also not reported
observations.
- 2010 October 28 - Four french workers killed in a helicopter crash near Dumont
d'Urville
- 2010 October 8 - The
WMO EC-PORS meeting
took place in Hobart between
October 16 and 20.
- 2010 September 16 - The WMO EC-PORS meeting takes place in Hobart in
October. Prior to the main meeting the Antarctic Task Team will
meet. Any input welcome.
- 2010 September 16 - The Laurence M Gould is the first ship of the season to
visit Antarctic waters
- 2010 August 23 - Vernadsky (89063) SYNOPs resume on the GTS
- 2010 June 22 - Death of Chuck Stearns who made a massive contribution to the
Antarctic AWS project.
- 2010 March 12 - Several stations have once again become operational following
work this season.
- 2010 January 27 - New Russian AWS 89575 (Druzhnaja 4) on GTS.
- 2010 January 8 - Several ships from the Japanese whaling research fleet are
operating in Antarctic waters, but none have reported meteorological
observations. NGO ships operating in the same area have also not reported
observations. One, the Ady Gil, was sunk in a collision.
- 2009 November 17 - Cruise ship Capitan Khlebnikov stuck in ice in Weddell
Sea. She has not made any meteorological reports.
- 2009 October 26 -
TAFs and Forecast charts generated at Rothera for
BAS operations
- 2009 October 14 - news from WMO EC-PORS meeting: Argentina hopes to resume
daily sonde flights from Marambio in November. Russia has AWS at Leningradskaya, Molodeznaja and
Russkaya. Data will be collected
annually.
- 2009 October 4 - South African meteorologist killed in accident at SANAE
station.
- 2009 July 15 - CLIMAT messages now available for 89577 (Dome A AWS)
- 2009 June 29 - Russian SYNOPs are restored.
- 2009 June 26 - Updated web version of the
International Antarctic Weather Forecasting Manual
published.
- 2009 June 24 - June 24 - DCP problems at Vernadsky mean that SYNOPs cannot be
sent on the GTS. Routing problems mean that SYNOPs from the Russian
stations are not currently on the GTS.
- 2009 April 29 - A problem with the hydrogen generator at Gough Island has
brought sonde flights to a halt.
- 2009 April 23 -
Report on the sinking of MV Explorer
published. It highlights lack of experience of Antarctic ice as a
contributory factor.
- 2009 April 20 - All ships have now left Antarctica for the winter.
- 2009 February 17 - Tourist ship Ocean Nova runs aground off San Martin,
passengers are rescued by Clipper Adventure. Neither ship reports on the
GTS.
- 2009 January 12 - Steve Colwell takes over as Chair of the Group
- 2009 January 8 - New AWS deployed at Thiel Mountains at 85 12S 87 53W HP1634,
with WMO number 89087 and data on the GTS.
- 2008 December 16 - UK naval ice patrol ship HMS Endurance suffers engine
room flooding and is towed to Punta Arenas. The incident happened outside
Antarctic waters.
- 2008 December 4 - Tourist ship Ciudad de Ushuaia has run aground at Wilhelmina
Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Reports suggest that it is not in danger of
sinking. Chilean navy ships (the Aquiles and Lautaro) are rendering
assistance with another tourist ship (National Geographic Explorer) standing
by. There are no meteorological reports from these ships on the GTS.
- 2008 October 19 - Aurora Australis is the first ship to arrive in Antarctic
waters for the 2008/09 season
- 2008 October 5 - A large part of the Russian Progress station was
destroyed by fire, temporarily suspending meteorological observations
- 2008 June 23 - Data from US AGO 1 (89628), 2 (89049) & 3 (89528) now on GTS.
- 2008 June 17 -
Data from an
American AWS on Pine Island is now available.
It should be available soon on the GTS in MOBIL format.
- 2008 June 5 - BAS have a page giving the
monthly GTS reception percentage
for all stations which they receive. This may help in finding problems in
GTS transmission, or AWS which are operating intermittently.
- 2008 May 15 - Upcoming meetings:
The
3rd Antarctic Meteorological Observations, Modeling, & Forecasting
Workshop at Madison Wisconsin from June 9 -12 & the
Biennial
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Conference at St
Petersburg from July 4 (business meetings) and July 8 - 11.
- 2008 May 2 - Several stations have either resumed or commenced sending
observations on the GTS. These are highlighted in the latest list of
Antarctic Station details and include 89003,
89057, 89252, 89314, 89643, 89657 and 89868.
- 2008 March 11 - New Australian AWS at Casey assigned number 89809.
It is not yet on the GTS.
- 2008 January 24 - Two new AWS are now operational and on the GTS. Baldrick AWS (89013) is 82 46S 13 03W HP1968
and Patriot Hills AWS (89081) is 80 18S 81 20W HP905.
- 2008 January 7 - Norwegian fishing vessel Argos Georgia, whose home port
is St Helena, was trapped in pack ice in the Ross Sea since December 23
following engine failure.
- 2008 January 3 - The Joint Centre for Satellite Data Assimilation
September
newsletter shows the value of Antarctic surface and upper air observations.
- 2007 December 28 - Norwegian tourist ship MV Fram hits an iceberg. It has not
reported meteorological observations.
- 2007 December 20 - The New Zealand Met Service has
extended its GMDSS coverage in Metarea XIV polewards to the Antarctic ice edge.
The extended coverage consists of high seas forecasts and warnings for a new
high seas area, Southern, which extends from 55 South to the Antarctic ice edge
and from 160 East to 120 West.
- 2007 December 3 - Brazilian station Comandante Ferraz assigned WMO number 89252
- 2007 November 23 - M/S Explorer sinks off South Shetland
Islands. MV Antarctic Dream provides rescue cover. Neither ship
was reporting meteorological observations.
- 2007 October 4 - Draft guidelines for reporting simple meteorological
observations from overland traverses proposed
- 2007 September 28 - New Dutch AWS Halvfarryggen assigned WMO number 89003. Data
from it are available in
graphical form
- 2007 August 31 - UCAR Antarctic
meteorology educational training website now live
- 2007 August 1 - Details of two Australian AWS added to
Antarctic station
file
- 2007 July 3 - At its meeting at the end of May the WMO-EC decided to
rename the WGAM as the EC Panel of Experts on Antarctic Meteorology and approved
several other resolutions.
- 2007 July 2 -
Experimental ensemble plots now available from Australia
BoM
- 2007 May 15 -
CLIMAT data for Antarctic AWS now available
from BAS
- There was a meeting of the WMO Expert Team on Sea Ice from March 28 - 31
in Geneva. These notes give an
Antarctic perspective on the meeting.
- 2007 April 10 - fire on the Argentine icebreaker Irizar on her voyage home
forces abandonment of the ship. No-one was hurt.
- 2007 March 23 was the WMO World Meteorology Day and this year the focus
was on Polar
meteorology
- 2007 March 7.
Latest CLIMAT TEMPs page now available
from BAS
- 2007 March 6.
Latest CLIMATs page now
available from BAS
- 2007 February 16. Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru in difficulty with an engine fire in Ross
Sea area. Several other ships are in the immediate area,
but only the USCGC Polar Sea has reported weather observations.
- 2007 January 31. A Norwegian cruise ship, the M/S Nordkapp, went aground at Deception. Cause is not known, but not weather related. She has not
been transmitting weather observations.
- The WMO Special Antarctic Monitoring of the GTS took place between
January 1 and 15.
- Meteorological observations from tourist ship Polar Star are being reported
on the GTS when south of 60.
- A meeting of the
WMO EC-WGAM
took place from November
28 - 30 in St Petersburg.
- All operational University of Wisconsin AWS now available on the GTS in
bulletins SNAA14 EGRR and SNAA19 EGRR (2006 December).
- Data from Dutch AWS available on the GTS (2006 November). See
Antarctic Station details
- WMO ECWGAM met November 28 - 30 in St Petersburg
- A discussion forum was held during SCAR meeting in Hobart.
Notes from the SCAR SSG/PS meeting in Hobart, 2006
July.
- List of ships reporting in 2005/6 revised [2006 July 19]
- Bird Island (88900) and King Edward Point (88903) AWS replaced and hourly
obs now reported [2006 March 6]
- Although most stations will send weather information via the WMO GTS
system there are alternatives. The Citizen Weather
Observer Program
(CWOP) system is designed for land
stations, primarily those run by amateur meteorologists, whilst
YOTREPS
caters for the marine community. Weather reports from both systems are
forwarded to the US NWS for use in forecasting. [2006 January 17]
- Fossil Bluff (89065) is now transmitting via Argos and should continue
year round [2006 January 16]
- It has been suggested that the
Antarctic Weather Forecasting Manual should
be revised following the IPY, and translated into the WMO languages.
In the meantime any amendments or additions can be incorporated into the
internet version. [November 28]
- A proposal based on the Antarctic observational network is to be put to
the IPY board. The draft proposal will be circulated by mid December.
[November 28]
- National Antarctic meteorology pages added 2005 November 28
- Ships listing for 2005-2006 commenced 2005 November 8
- WMO meeting on
Antarctic telecommunications and IPY
was held in St
Petersburg, November 21 - 23.
- Bird Island (88900) was restored to action on 2005 June 6, but became
very intermittent. A new AWS was installed in Febraury 2006.
- You should notice an improvement in the timeliness of Argos data from the
Southern Ocean. Previously there was a data gap until the NOAA
satellites passed over the US ground station. The BAS Rothera station
routinely captures this information as part of its HRPT reception system and
now sends it by ftp to the Argos ground station as soon as it is received.
- BAS has moved to emailing synoptic observations from Halley and Rothera to
the UK Met Office in Exeter. This allows transmission of hourly
observations, which are now available on the GTS.