Antarctica Rainfall: What You Need To Know About This Glacial Desert

Also known as the 'Home of the Blizzard', Antarctica has earned such names owing to its unique climate and weather.

Antarctica is located at the South Pole and is the southernmost continent of this planet surrounded by the Southern Ocean or the Antarctic Ocean on all sides. For a continent that is almost entirely covered by ice, Antarctica covers a huge amount of area, the continent is larger than Europe and almost double the size of Australia.

Antarctica is a very interesting continent, keeping in mind that almost the entire continent is covered with an ice sheet, it still has 80% of the world's freshwater reserves.

The continent is also the windiest, coldest, and driest continent on Earth receiving annual precipitation of around 8 in (200 mm) on the coastal regions which gradually decreases as we move inward.

It is also the least populated continent on the Earth with a population of roughly 5,000 in the summer, and only 1,000 during the winters. This population largely comprises researchers and scientists from different countries of the world.

During the winter season, the cold conditions are uninhabitable resulting in a fall in population.

During the summer months, the temperature could rise to over 32 F (0 C) at the coast, however, it does not exceed -4 F (-20 C) in most areas.

This temperature falls even further during the winter months of July, August, September when the continent experiences its coldest months.

The winter temperatures then range around -76 F (-60 C). On average, the annual temperature of Antarctica is 14 F (-10 C) in the coastal regions and -76 F (-60 C) in the inland regions, leading to an ice cap climate.

About 98% of Antarctica's land is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, and the only parts that aren't ice-covered are known as dry valleys or Antarctic oases.

An interesting fact about Antarctica is that it is one of the windiest places on Earth, and it is due to the katabatic winds which are present some meters above the ice sheets and flow towards the coast of Antarctica due to gravity.

If you enjoy this article, why not also read about Antarctic Ocean facts and if polar bears live in Antarctica here on Kidadl?

Weather Condition Classification

The weather condition classification in Antarctica depends upon the conditions set by the station and the nation. The Antarctic climate is freezing, being the coldest continent on Earth, it is home to around 90% of the entire world's ice.

The weather changes in Antarctica are rapid and pretty quick, the visibility can go from 1312 ft (400 m) to 100 ft (30.5 m) in minutes. The most reliable weather condition classifications are of the McMurdo Station of USA and Scott Base of New Zealand.

Both the stations are located in Ross Island, discovered by Sir James Ross in 1840. The Scott Base station has three weather conditions named Weather Condition 3, Weather Condition 2, and Weather Condition 1 in increasing order of danger.

Each condition has a number of criteria, if the existing weather or temperature hits one of the mentioned criteria, then the applicable weather condition begins.

The three factors which are taken into regard in measuring which weather condition is the current prevailing are visibility, wind speed, and air temperature. As the visibility decreases, the wind speed increases, and the air temperature decreases, the continent is known to experience more severe weather conditions.

Antarctica's climate is in fact colder than that of the Arctic due to a number of reasons. Firstly because the Arctic is nothing but an ocean surrounded by landmasses, whereas Antarctica is a landmass surrounded by the Southern Ocean.

Additionally, the Antarctic ice sheet is bigger and thicker than that of the Arctic's and the continent is also at a higher elevation than the Arctic.

It is so cold that there is hardly any rain and the ice too doesn't melt which has also resulted in Antarctica being the driest continent on Earth.

Although, it isn't the driest place on Earth as that record is held by Chile's Atacama desert. During the summer months of Antarctica, the continent is in that part of the Earth which is towards the sun, hence, Antarctica doesn't receive any snow or rainfall during these months.

Climate Change In Antarctica

The Antarctic climate change has been affecting the entire world with increasing snowmelt, ice loss, and a rise in temperatures.

Especially, the Antarctic Peninsula has exhibited a rise in temperature, and in fact, was the fastest-warming place on Earth in the latter half of the 20th century and was followed closely by West Antarctica.

Although in the 21st century, the South Pole in Eastern Antarctica did not warm a lot, the temperature increase was still greater than the global average.

A temperature of 64.9 F (18.3 C) was the highest ever recorded on the entire continent and it was in February, 2020.

In the past couple of decades, a number of ice shelves have collapsed in Antarctica, and these collapses have in turn put some of the other ice shelves at risk.

The first ice shelf to collapse was the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002 which was followed by the collapse of the Wilkins ice shelf in the early parts of 2008.

The effects of global warming and climate change can also be seen on the West Antarctic ice sheet which has been warming up in the spring and winter seasons.

Studies have shown that if people don't act upon these alarming conditions, the East Antarctic ice sheet might also be at risk of being destabilized.

The melting of the ice sheets will have a significant impact on the entire world as it would lead to an increase in sea level all across the planet which could further lead to the devastation of the coastal areas.

Climate change is much more alarming now because it is affecting the Antarctic Circle which experiences the most extreme temperatures on Earth because it has ice built up on top of the landmass.

Present And Future Of Rainfall In Antarctica

Owing to such a low average temperature in Antarctica, this continent in the South Pole hardly receives any precipitation throughout the year. Any sort of precipitation in such cold conditions is in the form of snow rather than liquid precipitation.

Due to such low levels of precipitation throughout the year combined with the low temperatures of Antarctica's climate, and this region in the South Pole is one of the driest places on the planet.

Researchers have concluded that the precipitation levels differ depending upon the region of Antarctica.

The northwestern Antarctic Peninsula is known to receive rainfall for around 50 days per year on average but this falls down to only 22 days a year on average in the case of the East Antarctic Coast. This infrequent precipitation has several consequences ranging from snow melting on the ground level to damages to the penguin colonies.

Although stimulations and researches have concluded that in the coming years, Antarctica's climate can undergo several changes due to warming up and the rise of the minimum temperature levels.

This will further lead to higher levels of precipitation by the end of the century, and the coast of the continent is projected to receive more rainfall than the inland areas.

However, the rainfall in the inland areas is expected to lead to the melting of snow and an eventual increase in the sea level. Contrary to the present conditions and that of the recent past, researchers have found that around 90 million years ago, Antarctica's climate was completely different from what it is now.

Signs of rainforests have also been found indicating that the temperature levels were significantly higher than what they are today.

Measuring Antarctic Rainfall

On average, Antarctica's climate experiences very low temperatures all throughout the year with the minimum temperature during the winter season being -130 F (-90 C).

With such low average temperatures, the chances of liquid precipitation are very slim and the same is reflected by the data of average annual precipitation being as low as 6.5 in (166 mm) in the coastal parts which fall as one moves inward.

For instance, let us take a look at the average precipitation of Casey station, an Australia-controlled research station situated in the coastal areas.

Being in the coastal region of Antarctica, the average rainfall it receives is way more than what the inland regions receive such as Vostok.

Throughout the year, Casey station recorded a rainfall of 8.9 in (225 mm) with the maximum rainfall of 1.102-1.141 in (28-29 mm) in the months of June and July. A difference in average sunshine hours and solar radiation can also be observed between the coastal areas and the central zone near the South Pole or the Vostok station.

Interestingly, it is actually true that the sun is above the horizon during the summer months but never rises during the polar nights.

Vostok station receives significantly more sunshine hours throughout the year, the data recorded stated that Casey station received 1160 sunshine hours in a year, whereas Vostok station received 3,760 sunshine hours.

Being near the coastal region, Casey station did receive sunshine during the months of May, June, July, and August as well but Vostok Station received zero sunshine hours during this month.

During the summer months of December and January, Vostok received 23 and 22.5 hours of sunshine on average every day.

As an interesting fact, you may not feel the heat of the sun rays here but you can get sunburn as snow and ice reflect all the ultraviolet rays coming from the sun.

These ultraviolet rays can then cause harm to your skin, so it is essential that even though you don't feel the heat owing to the low temperature, you should protect your skin.

Due to such harmful rays and long sunshine hours, an ozone hole and global warming were discovered in Antarctica in the latter half of the 20th century.

Temperature Of Water

Antarctica's climate is usually below the 32 F (0 C) mark meaning that it experiences an ice cap climate. A similar temperature reading can also be seen in the waters of Antarctica. The Antarctic Ocean has an average temperature of 28.8 F (-1.8 C) which in fact is even lower than the temperature at which fish blood freezes.

The Weddell Sea experiences temperatures of around 30.6-32 F (-0.8-0 C) but this is the temperature of the Antarctic Bottom Water. Now, as soon as we measure the surface temperature, it is below freezing point.

The water temperature doesn't even rise above the -4 F (-20 C) mark in the inland region but in the coastal parts, it reaches the 32 F (0 C) mark during the summer months.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Antarctica rainfall, then why not take a look at Antarctica's physical features or animals that live in Antarctica?