Diamond dust

It's Sunday and I was thinking about going for a hike in the hills this afternoon until I felt the icy cold blasts of wind. It "looks" like it would be a nice day and the official McMurdo weather forecast called for +5C (+41F) or "shorts" weather. One step outside reveals the truth. It's actually not that bad, but we have been spoiled by the nice weather over the last few days. According to the Building 71 Weather (NASA's unofficial weather display for McMurdo) it is -11C with 25 knot winds. Brrrrrr. There is also some clear sky precipitation, aka diamond dust. I'm sure I have seen this at home in NH in the winter, and it was fairly common on the Greenland ice sheet. It is ice crystals in the air, near ground level so you can see them flying by and it makes the air sparkle. The picture is from today. It is a picture of the flags at the NSF Chalet representing the signatory nations to the Antarctic treaty.