the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Facilities The base is made up of a collection of Chelsea Cucumber green buildings which are linked by all-weather corridors. These buildings can accommodate 86 people over summer, with a "skeleton staff" of between 10 and 14 people remaining over the winter. Like nearby McMurdo Station, Scott Base is connected to the global telephone network via a Satellite Earth Station operated by Spark New Zealand, located approximately away at Arrival Heights. Spark NZ also provide phone services to McMurdo for calls to New Zealand as well as to the Italian Programme at Terra Nova Bay. McMurdo Station has an independent communications infrastructure located at Black Island and linked to Ross Island via microwave. Scott Base is today operated by Antarctica New Zealand. Three Enercon E-33 wind turbines ( each) were installed in 2009 to co-power Scott Base and McMurdo Station, reducing diesel consumption by 11%: per year. Climate A polar ice cap climate with evenly-distributed precipitation (Köppen EFf) prevails at Scott Base. The base has fairly typical weather conditions for coastal Antarctica, with minimum temperatures around and summer maximum only occasionally above freezing point. It is exposed to the full strength of southerly blizzards, although overall it is less windy than McMurdo Station. The maximum wind velocities experienced have been gusts up to with steady velocities under blizzard conditions of . The highest recorded temperature was , the coolest and the mean temperature . See also List of Antarctic expeditions List of Antarctic research stations List of Antarctic field camps Marble Point Castle Rock (Antarctica) Ross Ice Shelf The Antarctic Sun Williams Field Crime in Antarctica References External links Antarctica New Zealand homepage Scott base homepage Antarctic connection page Current weather at Scott Base Current webcam at Scott Base Images & Articles about Antarctica from New Zealand Defence Force COMNAP Antarctic Facilities COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map Scott Base 50th Anniversary Website Scott Base 50th Anniversary Website Photos of Prime Minister's visit 50th Anniversary stamp issue NZ Antarctic Research Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP) supporting scientists in investigations related to the broad theme of ecosystems research ANDRILL - Drilling back into the future Outposts of the Ross Dependency Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica 1957 establishments in Antarctica