Let's talk about the WEATHER...
Svalbard June 2016

Svalbard's temperatures are largely determined by the sea temperatures around the archepelago. On the "warm" side (the west, warmed by last gasp of Gulf stream) I saw a sea temperature chart which indicated that nowhere was more than 4° C... down to 0, as I recall. (Seawater freezes around -2°C, depending on salinity.)

I fear I wasn't rigourous about recording temperatures or other weather data.

In Oslo, it was bright and sunny while I was there, and a light fleece was sufficient.

In Svalbard, I believe the air temperatures were sometimes, on land, as high as 5°C (41°F). But there was almost always a stiff breeze. On the ship, in addition to the breeze, sometimes we were making headway of 14 kts or more.

If I was outside for any period of time at all, wrapping up well... or more than that, depending on day and duration... was necessary. Other times, for a quick dash along a deck, a flannel shirt sufficed, in the bright sun. (See separate topic for "clothing").

We rarely had any rain, at least as far as I can recall. Some days were overcast; sometimes there was a little "spitty" rain. No "storms". Sea remained nearly flat, although at one point there were some gentle swells.

Going ashore in the Zodiacs, at speed, demonstrated the skill of the drivers... Only once a tiny bit of spray hit me. While I'm sure they have faced greater challenges, the sea state was on the side of the drivers in all of our landings and recoveries.

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