Climate Zucchelli Ice Runway 2020-2024

Climate and trends: average temperature, flight conditions, precipitation, wind speed and direction.

Calculated from historical METAR data of Williams Field (NZCM) between 2020 and 2024.

VFR conditions (%)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January		0	0	0		0
February	83.7	84	82	86		67
March	71.4	70	74	69	0	77
April	65.5		69	62		0
May			0	0
June			0	0
July			0	0	0
August	62.0		43	80	69
September	72.6		72	65	76
October	79.6		79	82	88
November			0	0	0
December			0	0	0
Average	75.4	74.1	73.4	72.5	81.4	73.6

1st best VFR conditions of Antarctica

VFR conditions during daylight period

Percentage of observations where the VFR minimums for ceiling and visibility are met: visibility of 8 km or more and a ceiling of 3,000 ft or more. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Marginal VFR conditions (%)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January		0	0	0		0
February	94.3	94	98	93		92
March	90.3	92	98	86	0	77
April	77.6		79	76		0
May			0	0
June			0	0
July			0	0	0
August	69.3		49	87	78
September	81.6		79	82	83
October	87.5		88	88	96
November			0	0	0
December			0	0	0
Average	85.1	92.8	86.6	85.3	88.5	81.5

Marginal VFR conditions or better during daylight period

Percentage of observations where the MVFR minimums for ceiling and visibility are met: visibility of 5 km or more and a ceiling of 1,000 ft or more. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Maximum temperatures (°C)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	-2.9	-2	-2	-1		0
February	-7.7	-10	-5	-5		-4
March	-15.8	-14	-15	-12	-18	-17
April	-18.8		-17	-17		-17
May	-18.7		-20	-14
June	-19.0		-18	-18
July	-22.8		-28	-17	-20
August	-23.1		-28	-20	-26
September	-20.9		-15	-19	-18
October	-14.8		-16	-13	-12
November	-7.4		-8	-10	-6
December	-1.2		-1	-1	0
Average	-12.0	-9.5	-15.2	-13.4	-13.2	-8.0

2nd highest temperature of Antarctica

Average highest temperature per day

The maximum temperature is typically observed some hours after noon.

Minimum temperatures (°C)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	-6.4	-6	-6	-6		-6
February	-11.1	-15	-11	-10		-9
March	-20.2	-20	-21	-18	-19	-21
April	-23.7		-24	-23		-19
May	-23.4		-27	-21
June	-25.1		-25	-26
July	-28.5		-34	-25	-27
August	-29.0		-36	-26	-34
September	-26.3		-22	-26	-26
October	-20.5		-22	-20	-19
November	-12.1		-13	-15	-10
December	-6.9		-6	-5	-4
Average	-18.6	-14.1	-22.9	-19.2	-20.9	-13.6

1st lowest temperature of Antarctica

Average lowest temperature per day

The minimum temperature is typically observed just before sunrise.

Precipitation (%)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January		0	0	0		0
February	23.3	26	17	19		42
March	17.8	19	11	13	0	39
April	21.3		14	28		0
May			0	0
June			0	0
July			0	0	0
August	24.1		39	8	22
September	22.2		25	25	13
October	14.7		11	8	5
November			0	0	0
December			0	0	0
Average	26.9	20.9	16.3	16.9	9.5	39.4

Precipitation during daylight period

Percentage of observations with observed rain, drizzle, snow or hail. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Wind speed (knots)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January		0	0	0		0
February	12.2	15	10	13		10
March	10.8	10	9	12	0	16
April	10.5		9	12		0
May			0	0
June			0	0
July			0	0	0
August	7.8		7	9	7
September	11.5		13	12	10
October	10.2		10	11	8
November			0	0	0
December			0	0	0
Average	11.4	11.2	10.2	11.6	8.8	13.8

2nd highest wind speed of Antarctica

Average wind speed

Excluding wind gusts. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Prevailing wind direction

Month	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	360°	360°	360°		360°
February	048°	049°	079°		148°
March	056°	044°	098°	360°	155°
April		049°	085°		360°
May		360°	360°
June		360°	360°
July		360°	360°	360°
August		060°	080°	065°
September		099°	098°	083°
October		057°	096°	085°
November		360°	360°	360°
December		360°	360°	360°

Prevailing wind direction

Average wind direction, weighed by wind speed. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.