Yesterday on TV there was a show where they interviewed a team of scientists in Antartica. At their camp where the satellite interview took place, it was raining. The scientist explained that 50 years ago it would have been surprising, but that nowadays raining in Antartica is relatively common, even during the winter season where there isn't any sun. He explained that the average temperature at the spot where they are (the Antartic Peninsula, if I remember correctly) is now 6 degrees Celcius hotter than 50 years ago.

While 6 degrees is quite a lot, I would have never thought that it was enough to allow rain during the winter. Is rain in Antartica during the winter a rare occurence and it just happened to rain during the interview, or is it more common? Now I understand that they aren't in the mainland, but even at the peninsula it seems to me that it shoudn't be hot enough for rain, especially the winter.

Right now the temperature there is 5 degrees Celsius [warmer than many places in mainland south America]. It could be raining if conditions were adequate.

__________________
What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

Depends on how you define rare, of course, but you know, Antarctica is a desert . . . .

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I´d say that Peninsula Antarctica has a more oceanic type of climate. That region is one of the stormiest places on Earth. Deep into the continent you might expect drier conditions. In fact both poles are under influence of the 'polar high', which inhibits condensation.

__________________
What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

Where were they? It might be possible, if unlikely, that they were near an erupting volcano that heated the air enough to turn the falling snow into rain.

__________________
"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau