Antarctic Dictionary

whiteout

Thesaurus

whiteout noun and attrib.

[White-out is recorded earlier in North American English (1946) for the same phenomenon, and the word was probably taken south from there.]

The complete obscuring of the sun during daylight, so that shadows disappear and the horizon cannot be distinguished. This can happen in completely clear air, where there is thick cloud cover and snow or ice-covered land, and is a major hazard esp. when flying.

1955 Polar Record 7(51) Sept: 496.

The pilot of a helicopter was overcome by “whiteout” during a flight and was killed when his aircraft crashed.

1964 Mawson, Douglas in Mawson, Paquita Mawson of the Antarctic: the life of Sir Douglas Mawson Longmans, London: 70.

The use of sun compasses and of sastrugi .. so often became vitiated by an overcast sky (‘white-out’).

1991 Venables, Stephen Island at the edge of the world: a South Georgia odyssey Hodder and Staughton, London: 97

We planted a marker wand on the rim of the scoop, took a compass bearing from the edge of the Ross Pass to make sure we could find it on future whiteout journeys, then started down in high spirits. white petrel noun

The Antarctic Dictionary, Hince, 2000; 380