Heiss Island
Hayes island is almost unglacierized, having only a small ice-cap off its centre by its northern shore. Highest point 242 m.
The strait to the south of Hayes Island is known as Markham Sound (Russian: пролив Маркама), which narrows down to only 5 km at this point. On the east lies a strait known as Avstriyskiy proliv, beyond which lie the smaller Komsomol Islands. 7 km wide Proliv Yermak in the north, separates Hayes Island from the Zichy Land subgroup of the Franz Josef Archipelago.
The cape on the southwestern shore of Hayes island is called Cape Ostantsovy.
History
Kheysa, a now abandoned Soviet rocket launching site, was located on this island.
Now Hayes Island is home to the Krenkel hydrometeorological station (80°37′ N, 58°03′ E).
This island (including the Komsomol Islands) was originally named after veteran Arctic explorer Isaac Hayes, who undertook a historical Polar expedition in 1850. The other island's name in English is Heiss Island, because German cartographers Germanized its name after transliterating from the Russian to the corrupted name "Heiss" (meaning "hot" in German).
Adjacent islands
- 7 km to the east of Hayes Island's eastern shore lie the Komsomol Islands (Острова Комсомольские; Ostrova Komsomolskiye). They consist of a 7 km-long triangular island and two very small islets off its northern cape. This island group was named after the Soviet time Komsomols.
- There is a 1.2 km long islet located off a small bay west of Hayes Island's northeastern cape.
Climate
Hayes Island is in the transition zone between a tundra climate (ET) and an ice cap climate (EF) technically falling into the former due to above freezing averages in July and August but below freezing low temperatures year round. It's a frigid and unforgiving land with nonexistent summers and winters which last year round. Hayes has a very cloudy climate, with 8 months of the year receiving little to no sunshine. Although snow is more common year round, it can rain from June through October.
| Climate data for Hayes Island | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 1.9 (35.4) |
0.0 (32.0) |
1.6 (34.9) |
0.7 (33.3) |
3.3 (37.9) |
8.0 (46.4) |
10.3 (50.5) |
10.2 (50.4) |
5.6 (42.1) |
3.8 (38.8) |
1.6 (34.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
10.3 (50.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −16.7 (1.9) |
−16.8 (1.8) |
−17.2 (1.0) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
0.2 (32.4) |
2.0 (35.6) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−6.2 (20.8) |
−10.7 (12.7) |
−15.0 (5.0) |
−8.2 (17.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −20.1 (−4.2) |
−20.2 (−4.4) |
−20.6 (−5.1) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
0.7 (33.3) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
−8.0 (17.6) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
−18.2 (−0.8) |
−10.6 (12.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −23.3 (−9.9) |
−23.6 (−10.5) |
−23.8 (−10.8) |
−19.2 (−2.6) |
−10.1 (13.8) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−10.0 (14.0) |
−16.4 (2.5) |
−21.4 (−6.5) |
−12.8 (8.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −42.1 (−43.8) |
−44.4 (−47.9) |
−43.5 (−46.3) |
−39.6 (−39.3) |
−27.7 (−17.9) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
−8.8 (16.2) |
−23.2 (−9.8) |
−32.3 (−26.1) |
−39.5 (−39.1) |
−41.5 (−42.7) |
−44.4 (−47.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 24.9 (0.98) |
26.1 (1.03) |
21.6 (0.85) |
17.6 (0.69) |
12.4 (0.49) |
11.7 (0.46) |
16.7 (0.66) |
21.6 (0.85) |
27.5 (1.08) |
17.9 (0.70) |
20.0 (0.79) |
27.8 (1.09) |
245.8 (9.67) |
| Average rainy days | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 36 |
| Average snowy days | 21 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 14 | 22 | 25 | 21 | 20 | 230 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 82 | 82 | 80 | 81 | 85 | 88 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 86 | 84 | 83 | 85 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 0 | 0 | 66 | 234 | 226 | 193 | 171 | 83 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,004 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (sun 1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
References
- ^ Mills, William J. (2003). Exploring polar frontiers : a historical encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-422-6. OCLC 52948935.
- ^ "Weather and Climate-The Climate of Hayes Island" (in Russian). Weather and Climate. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ^ "Krenkel Polar (ISL) Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- Location: [1] Archived 2013-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Meteorology: [2]
- On the (sometimes bewildering) spelling of Russian geographical names: [3]
- Hayes Island on Fridtjof Nansen's map: [4]
- Arctic Expeditions: [5]
External links
