A view of the current Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station from 2009. This is facing Destination Alpha, one of two main entrances to the station. Photo: Daniel Leussler

By Christopher C. Burt
3 September 2013  (wunderground.com) – This past August was the warmest such on record at the South Pole’s Amundsen-Scott Station. The temperature averaged -53.3°C (-63.9°F) breaking the previous record of -53.5°C (-64.3°F) set in August 1996. The departure from normal was +6.3°C (+11.3°F). The ‘warmest’ temperature was -38.3°C (-37.0°F) on August 6th (far from the record) and the lowest -71.1°C (-96.0°F) on August 26th. Temperature records began in 1958 at the site. Also in this blog; Salt Lake City and Elko recorded their warmest summers on record. June tied its record for warmest such with an average of -52.6° (-62.7°F), last recorded in June 1996. This was 5.2°C (9.4°F) above normal. An all-time June monthly record high of -28.8°C (-19.8°F) was set on June 19th. July experienced average temperatures, so I am not sure whether or not the past three months constituted the ‘warmest’ climatological winter (June-August) on record for the site.

Warmest August on Record at South Pole