High Himalayan meteorology: Weather at the South Col of Mount Everest

Abstract

Mount Everest is often referred to as the earth's 'third' pole. As such it is relatively inaccessible and little is known about its meteorology. In 1998, a portable weather station was operated at the mountain's South Col, elevation 7,986 m. We believe that this represents the highest elevation at which continuous weather data has ever been collected and thus represents a valuable dataset with which to investigate the meteorology of the high Himalaya. In this paper, we compare the observations with reanalyses from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. We find that both reanalyses capture much of the synoptic-scale variability in the temperature and pressure at the South Col site, especially in the pre-monsoon season. Furthermore, we show that an observed weather event was the result of convection associated with a jet streak and an intrusion of stratospheric air into the upper-troposphere. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.