Historical Posts Archives - Page 17 of 378 - Mount Washington Observatory

September 2019

My Perspective of Being a Summit Volunteer

2019-09-06 12:20:54.000 – Carol Anderson, Summit Volunteer

I have been a summit volunteer for 3 years and I love it. I have been on the rockpile in every season. I have been a co-volunteer with people I did not know and people I did know, and I have gone solo. It is an awesome experience. Never have two shifts been the same — different weather, different schedule, different staff, different food, different visitors. You never know what you will get. But the one consistency is the great fun and immense satisfaction of being a shift member even if only for one week and in a volunteer role.

If you are a newbie, your nerves are a mess on the night before shift change and even more so on shift change morning. Will you get to the meeting location on time? Do you have the right equipment? Clothing? Too much, too little? Will you be sent home right away? Not to worry. If you follow the list and guidelines, you have the right equipment. If you bring extra food, great. If you don’t, that’s ok as well. The kitchen and pantry are well stocked. The internet has unlimited recipes and there is a whole bookcase full of cookbooks. If you are a veteran, your nerves are calmer but still there is that niggling feeling of “what if I really fail this time?”

Now you are on your way up the mountain. For a newbie, it seems like everyone knows each other and, of course, the observers/intern(s)/museum attendant do. If you are a veteran, you may know some of the shift members but maybe not all of them. You may or may not know your co-volunteer. Not to worry, soon you become an integral part of the team.

You arrive at the summit and there is a whirlwind of activity. The upgoing luggage and food get offloaded from the van/truck/snow cat and the down going luggage and trash loaded onto the van/truck/snow cat. Newbies are bewildered while veterans know the routine and immediately step in to help. You are directed to the living quarters where you meet the down going volunteers. They are anxious to leave. Their week is over. Not to worry. They help you with stowing all the items brought up for your shift. They show you around and point out anything they think is important to know. They show you any leftovers that may exist or food they have prepared to help you start your week. Soon they are gone. You are on your own. Not to worry. If you are a newbie, your shift leader meets with you to do an orientation. Veterans immediately go into action with planning the week. Always know that the observers and interns can help you with any problems you might encounter.

You are assigned a bunk room. You make your bed, set out your sleeping bag, set out what you think you will need immediately. You change into lighter clothing since the living quarters can be warm. You start to think about what you will prepare for the first night’s dinner. If the previous volunteers left you something to work with, you have a head start. If not and if there is nothing defrosted, you need to pull something from the freezer ASAP and it must be something that can be defrosted in time. Or you can make breakfast for dinner. The observers/interns LOVE breakfast for dinner. If not on the first night, any night is good for “brinner.”

You rummage through the pantry and freezers to see what food is available. You make sure you know about any allergies. Maybe you ask if there are any aversions to any particular food. You want to prepare food your shift members will enjoy. You make a tentative plan for each day so you know what and when to defrost food. You are welcome to make breakfast and/or lunch for the staff but you are not required to do so and, because of their shifting schedules, it is hard to coordinate. The staff gathers together for dinner which you ARE required to prepare. You make enormous dinners because they LOVE leftovers for lunch the next day.

You make lots of cookies and brownies during the week. They prefer cookies and brownies because they can grab one (two, three?) on the go more easily than a piece of cake. They are constantly on the move.

If you have guests, you are very busy. For overnight guests, it means preparing the bunk rooms. For an EduTrip, you prepare snacks, lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch. For a hiking group, you prepare snacks, dinner and breakfast. You may also have to prepare lunch for VIP guests or a day trip group.

Despite the dinners, cookies, overnight and day visit guest responsibilities, you have plenty of time to go out and enjoy the summit. The views can be spectacular. If you want solitude, you volunteer in the winter, or you go out early morning or in the evening when the summit is not crawling with tourists/hikers. Meeting tourists/hikers can also be a lot of fun. Imagine the looks you get when you say you live on the summit for a week and then you get to explain all about the observatory?

You may be a bit overwhelmed the first night, but you easily fall into a routine and you easily integrate with the staff. By the end of the week, you become one of the staff. If you are lucky, maybe you have even become BFF with Marty. Not to worry if that doesn’t happen. Marty is a cat — enough said? Come time for shift change, you are the one who is anxious to leave. You are tired. But you are already be thinking about your next stint as a summit volunteer. What might you do differently? Next time will be so much easier. Maybe. But maybe you won’t have enough eggs. But maybe there won’t be any potatoes. But maybe you will run out of milk. Not to worry. Just like with the weather, you adapt to whatever happens.

Carol Anderson, Summit Volunteer

Follow Your Passion, The Rest Will Fall Into Place

2019-09-04 06:52:05.000 – Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist

Hello all!

For this blog post, I’m going to take a different route. Often times, I write something sciency about some weather phenomena, process, or something regarding the atmosphere and its interconnectedness with the entirety of the Biosphere. This time, I’m going to share something a bit more personal. It’s been a quick and extremely rewarding past 8 months working here at the Observatory and I want to write about how I got here. It’s a bit of a weird path, but at the end I think it’ll make sense. I recently passed the METAR exam and in my excitement and the long drive back from Gray, Maine, I did a lot of thinking. I suppose the overall theme I want to convey here is to figure out what you are passionate about and follow it. I am passionate about the natural world, in particular, natural processes of the Earth, which is why this is relevant to the Obs.

I was not a very good student in high school. I was well behaved, for the most part. I talked a lot, shifted around a lot, fell asleep in class, occasionally did my homework, and had no idea what I was doing. I received decent grades, but I know I could have done much better. I felt that when I needed it, I could learn it then. I wanted to be outside doing things, and learn from watching. There were things I loved doing and being a part of, but I wasn’t sure why. I went to college cause that’s what you were supposed to do. I never had any intention of going when I was in school, that’s for sure, but when senior year came and everyone else was doing it, I felt like I was supposed to. I went for a couple of years, switched my major a few times, and did a whole bunch of things that when I look back at, wonder why I ever did. It actually makes me laugh sometimes. Anyway, I still had no idea what I was doing. One of my closest friends and I sat down one day at the beach and decided we were going to take a leave of absence from university and move out to Boulder, Colorado. We did just that with no job and no place to live. We figured it out though and it would later prove to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

While in Boulder I did more of things I loved doing, which essentially, was anything that involved the outdoors. I spent hours and hours in the Flatirons, watching the birds fly in the ravines, the clouds descending over the peaks, thunderstorms that formed on the lee side of the Front Range. These questions then led me to wonder why the mountains were here and not there and what they were made of. One question just led to another while I was just listening and observing. It was quiet, relaxing and inspiring. One day up in the Flatirons, it clicked. I anxiously hiked down and talked to my friend about heading back east to study Geology. He was cool with it too. Apparently, he also had an epiphany. Fast forward a couple years, I graduated and got a job with the first company that reached out to me.

Schlumberger contacted me through a recruiter. I was so impressed with the professionalism and everything they had to offer and I needed experience. It was an exciting job that payed very well. I worked on oil rigs for a while as a Mudlogger/Analyst, got that experience and moved on. I felt unfulfilled and wanted a change. I was still very curious about the atmosphere and its processes, the whys, the how’s and the when’s. So I searched all around and found a geology internship at Mount Rainier National Park that also included taking care of their weather instruments and recording all the data required amongst other geologic focused studies. I landed the internship and found out that I got the position because of my experience with various instruments from the oil rigs. There are more instruments on oil rigs than anywhere I have ever seen and we had to record all the data from every instrument into the Masterlog which would be correlated to a depth and rock formation within the borehole. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting how I got the position.

After the internship, I headed back east, again, and got a job with a geotechnical engineering firm as Geotechnical Technician/Junior Engineer while I waited for the time to apply to grad school for Atmospheric Science. I again learned a whole set of skills and expanded upon my knowledge base while working all sorts of projects from runway extensions to new building construction. For the past few years I was in a relationship that lasted through all these changes and I wanted to be closer to her as well as study abroad in the UK. It was marginally cheaper, a great university, and another new experience. I was accepted to the University of Leeds and yet again, I was curious as to why I was accepted. I had assumed it was because I was foreign and they wanted the full tuition for non EU residents. Apparently, I was wrong, although, I still feel that may have had something to do with it. So, of course, I asked. I was told that when they received my application they were quite interested because they had never seen anyone with such a background. Living abroad and attending Uni in a different country was a challenge. Yes, the language was the same (for the most part), but the culture and education systems are not. I faced some tough life events while abroad and was away from my family and friends, but it certainly made me a stronger individual. After I graduated, I came home to Rhode Island and spent the next year applying to hundreds of jobs. I wrote hundreds of cover letters and made multiple resumes/CVs to see what grabbed people attention and finally landed the winter internship here at the Obs.

A position had just opened as one of the former observers on this shift was heading over the NH Emergency Center. I applied for it and was awarded the position. I was ecstatic! I had my dream job at last. It took me almost a full decade to get here and I actually, for possibly the first time, truly felt proud of myself. Then it was on to study for the METAR test, which I was super nervous for. I’ve never been a great test taker and you only get 3 chances to pass, after that you can never take it again. Needless to say, but, that’s nerve racking. I quickly discovered that this test is similar to standardized testing in the sense that it’s more about understanding how to take the test and realizing the tricks to it. METAR stands for METeorological Aerodrome Reports, essentially the code and standards for reporting the happenings of the atmosphere for aviation. The info is also disseminated and input into the forecast models that we use to give you wonderful people our forecasts for the Whites, along with our experience and knowledge. It was so foreign to me when I started, I just familiarized myself over a couple months and then started studying. There is a qualifier for every weather phenomena and remembering them all took some time. The less than or equal to for distance qualifications for obscurations like fog and intensity of precipitation amongst others. Anyway, this is getting too long and I need to bring this all together.

The whole point of me explaining my background is to present an example of following your passion. Throughout most of my life and young adulthood, I had no idea what I was doing. I probably still don’t to be honest, but one thing has always been consistent. Yes, I caved into to peer pressure, tried to get involved in things because I thought the people were cool and I wanted to be like them, chased people and things all over the place. I wanted to be liked and be part of something bigger than myself. Feel part of something. It wasn’t until recently, AFTER I graduated from graduate school with my Masters and went through all the hardship and troubles (I didn’t mention cause who wants to hear that, right?!) that I realized it was all necessary and it led me here, back in New England and part of an organization that shares my deep passion for natural processes. The whole time, that I was chasing people, relationships, things, experiences, and new sights, I had one thing in common that’s connect them all. I was conducting a life experiment while following a passion of mine that I didn’t even realize I had. I strayed, wobbled, and circled around my passion but it was always at the focal point of my decisions, whether I was conscious of it or not. I made lots of mistakes, but like in a science experiment every time I failed or figured out I didn’t like something, I became closer to my goal. When I was tired and beaten down, I still had that passion. I tend to procrastinate, like I said earlier, I was pretty bad student in the beginning. I wouldn’t put the time in to study and do the work that was necessary. If I struggled, I gave up. I noticed that, that was not the case if I was interested in something though. I would hyper focus on it and no matter how much work it took I was happy to do it.

To bring this to a close, follow your passion, it will guide you and inform you. It’s the big picture. It will get you through the hard times. You may stray, but you’ll find your way back. If I didn’t follow my passion. I’m pretty sure I would be in a much different situation and most likely, not very happy. Following my passion took me on lots of adventures and gave me the crazy background I have become proud of. AND, guess where I learned all of this. I came to this conclusion by observing nature and the world around me. After all, most of things we engineer and create comes from the natural world. We observe, and then backwards engineer it to then build it ourselves and maybe even a bit better.

As always, thanks for reading! I hope, that at the very least, this made sense. I really hope a few of you readers, can take something out of this. It’s a crazy world out there with a whole lot of distractions.

Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist

An Analysis of Hurricane Dorian So Far

2019-09-02 08:57:45.000 – Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

This past weekend we had our final Summer Edutrip for the season on the summit. And the theme for this trip, coincidentally, was Hurricanes and the Science of Tropical Cyclones. As such the observers and the trip group were closely following the progression and evolution of Hurricane Dorian. As of early Sunday morning, Hurricane Dorian reached category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and began to make landfall in the Bahamas with sustained winds around 185 mph. With the catastrophic damage being done and the amount of information flooding the internet about the storm, I felt like I’d write my blog post for this week as an analysis of how the storm came to be as it is currently. I’d like to share the information I know about tropical systems in general, and to give you a brief glimpse into what we discussed about Dorian this past weekend.

Dorian was first identified as a threat back on August 24^th by the National Hurricane center, and at the time was merely a tropical depression originating in the south-central portion of the Atlantic Basin. Tropical depressions are essentially an organized cluster of thunderstorms, grouping together into a low pressure system that is building in intensity and showing signs of developing further. Often times, these low pressure depressions fizzle out before becoming a major threat, and the Atlantic Basin sees the formation and dissipation of these weaker systems all the time. It’s only when these depressions progress into more favorable conditions that they can evolve into tropical storms. On the afternoon of the 24th, that’s exactly what happened with what would then be named Tropical Storm Dorian.

National Hurricane Center graphic and discussion from when Dorian was a Tropical Storm

In order for this evolution from depression to tropical storm to take place, there are several key ingredients that needed to come together:

1. There needs to be warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the path of the system, typically at 80ºF or higher. Generally speaking we’re interested in SSTs of 80 degrees or more, and this warmer water will act as a fuel source to feed the storm along its progression. Across the planet, the sun is heating the surface unevenly, with some areas receiving more incoming solar energy than others. This happens quite frequently along the equator, especially with the oceans absorbing and holding large amounts of that incoming energy. This heating also drives the evaporation process, in which water is transformed into water vapor and lifted into the atmosphere. The processes of evaporation actually draws heat from the surrounding environment into the water vapor, transferring that heat energy into the air above. Once that vapor rises, cools and condenses into clouds, that heat energy is then released into the surrounding environment and, in large quantities, can lead to an unbalanced atmosphere. All types of storms, from your standard afternoon thunderstorm to the largest of hurricanes, are acting as heat engines that are attempting to re-distribute energy throughout the atmosphere evenly, and return it to a balanced state. So when you have warmer SSTs to help accelerate and intensify the energy transfer process, you can create and incredibly unstable atmosphere that builds some impressively powerful storm systems.

2. You need an environment with very low wind shear. Wind shear, in particular speed shear, is the increase in wind speeds with height. Near the surface where friction from the land is present, you generally have lower wind speeds. Higher up in the atmosphere, above the tress, hills and mountains that would slow this air down, you can have much faster moving winds. When the difference in speed between the surface and aloft is great, we identify this as a high shear environment. Hurricanes progress further through their evolution when the opposite occurs. A high shear environment would, literally, shear the top of the storm system off and destabilize its structure, preventing it from progressing further. However, out over the open ocean particularly, the surface friction is greatly diminished and the difference in wind speeds between the surface and aloft isn’t as profound. This generally allows the storm structure to develop vertically more than normal, which allows for more heat energy to be released into the environment…do you see where this is going?

3. There needs to be unstable atmospheric conditions for the tropical system to progress into. Environments that are already unstable, such as environments with increased amounts of moisture at the mid-levels of the atmosphere, can be ingested into the developing storm as a secondary fuel source. Whether that’s ambient moisture aloft, or a dissipating previous low pressure system, adding extra energy from the environment to the developing storm system will other further enhance its progression. Additionally, a lack of stable environments or shearing winds from blocking high pressure systems can be key. Removing anything that would act to inhibit the storm will, naturally, allow it to prosper.

While this isn’t everything that goes into storm evolution (because trust me, there sure is quite a bit more for us to learn about hurricanes and storms in general that we still don’t know), these are certainly key ingredients that come together to enhance tropical systems. And the Atlantic Basin is a hot spot for these conditions to occur, allowing us to experience the “hurricane seasons” that we do each year. So now that we know what ingredients to look for, let’s take a look and what came together for Dorian to reach where it is now.

At the time Dorian transformed into a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center did an analysis of the SSTs in the projected path of the storm. What they found was that Dorian, assuming it followed that path, was set to move into incredibly warm waters. Not the standard 80º F mentioned before, but surface waters ranging between 90º-95ºF. In the image below, you can see just to the Northwest along Dorian’s path a large area of these incredibly warm waters for it to ingest heat energy from.

GOES 16 analysis of Sea Surface Temperatures, with purple indicating temperatures between 90º-95ºF

Additionally, Dorian’s path took it away from most of the landmasses that typically fall into tropical storm paths. While it scraped by the the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico as a tropical storm, the Northwest arc of the storm track would take Dorian out into the open ocean. This means Dorian would progress into an environment with much less wind shear, and would be more favorable for vertical development that the friction from landmasses would normally disrupt. At the time this occurred, Dorian did in fact evolve from a Tropical Storm into a Category 1 Hurricane.

National Hurricane Center graphic Catagory 1 Hurricane Dorian, with previous path drawn in

Finally, you may have noticed in the maps from the National Hurricane Center I’ve included so far that there was another tropical system at play in the Atlantic Basin at the same time as Dorian. Tropical Storm Erin, or rather, Tropical Depression Erin at this point in the timeline, was dissipating off the coast of North Carolina. All of the remnant moisture from the decaying storm was dispersing throughout the mid-levels of the atmosphere. A decent chunk of that moisture was beginning to be drawn down towards Dorian as the new storm intensified. Inevitably, this chunk of remnant moisture would be ingested by Dorian out over the open ocean, and act as a secondary fuel source to allow the hurricane to grow further.

Water Vapor analysis from Tropical Depression Erin’s decay

As we can now see, quite a considerable amount of the necessary ingredients had come together to help Dorian progress into a major hurricane. And by 5:00 pm on Friday August 30^th, 6 days after the onset of the tropical depression, Hurricane Dorian had reached sustained wind speeds of 115 mph, classifying it as a Category 3 Hurricane just East of the Bahamas.

Throughout the timeline to this point and beyond, the National Hurricane Center has been doing a phenomenal job of modeling, tracking and forecasting this Hurricane. I wanted to take a moment to direct you to two of their pages. Nhc.noaa.gov is constantly updated with forecasts, discussion and graphics to help you understand what’s going on with any tropical systems currently, and how the system could play out going forward. They provide the Cone of Influence graphics that encompass all the projected possible paths of the storm, and take the time to explain not only what this means to locations caught in said path, but how to prepare properly in the event the storm impacts your area. Additionally, they are all over social media pages, particularly their own Facebook page, providing constant live broadcast updates of the storm. During these broadcasts they take you inside the NHC and show you what they are seeing in the storm, providing input from multiple scientists working on the storm, and try to answer questions from the public as best they can. As this storm continues to play out, I highly recommend you reference their sites as they contain an abundance of information.

So once Dorian hit Category 3, how did the rest of the weekend play out?

With the blocking Bermuda High Pressure system just to the North, Dorian slowed down quite substantially. Throughout most of Friday afternoon into the day on Saturday, the storm was only moving at about 10mph, and occasionally less than that. As a result, Dorian was able to ingest an incredible amount of moisture and heat energy, and created an excessive build-up of moisture throughout the backside of the storm’s structure. This moisture build up can actually cause a hurricane to wobble quite a bit along its path, and inevitably force one of the central rain bands to strengthen, ingest and take over the eyewall.

Infrared satellite imagery of Category 3 Hurricane Dorian, with darker colors showing taller, colder, heavier clouds on the back of the system.

This process is known as an eyewall replacement cycle. And initially, this causes the hurricane to weaken a bit. However, what’s actually happening is ingesting of energy from the previous eyewall into an already strengthening new eyewall (previously the central rain band). Once this energy is absorbed and dispersed throughout the system, central rotation of the storm can drastically increase, and as a result the hurricane re-intensifies and gains strength. To my knowledge while following Dorian’s evolution this past weekend, there were 2 eyewall replacement cycles that occurred; one Friday evening into Saturday, and one Saturday night into Sunday. Going back and looking and the NHC graphics from these timeframes, Dorian was experiencing maximum sustained wind speeds at 150 mph by 8:00 am on Saturday (Category 4) and 185 mph by 8:00 am on Sunday (Category 5); all of which happened over the very short distance from where it hit Category 3 and the Bahamas.

Unfortunately, the second eyewall replacement cycle which likely pushed Dorian into Category 5 status happened on Sunday morning, right before the storm made landfall on the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas (which brings us to the time of this writing). Already social media has been flooded with horrifying images/videos of catastrophic wind and flood damage from the storm. With wind gusts reported as high as 220 mph, and storm surge/swell reports cresting over 20 ft, it’s really hard to image how much could survive the wrath of a storm like this. We’ve certainly been keeping all of those in the path of the storm in our thoughts, and are hoping that people are staying as safe as they can in light of this devastating tropical system.

Thank you all for reading this far and sticking with it. This is my analysis of Hurricane Dorian thusfar, and I’ll certainly be following it through the remainder of its lifecycle. And again, you should definitely check out the National Hurricane Center website, as well as their Facebook page and social media outlets for more information as the storm progresses. Until next time, thanks everyone! And stay safe!

Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Fall is Just Around the Corner

2019-08-30 11:02:38.000 – Benjamin Charles, Summit Intern

August will shortly come to an end, wrapping up what was a great summer here at the summit of Mount Washington. So as the end of the 2019 summer grows closer we will begin to see a considerable shift in our weather this next month of September. Typically during the summer is when the Summit of Mount Washington experiences its calmer conditions, warmer temperatures, and foggiest months.

August is actually the first month that the average temperature begins to decrease by 1.0°F to 48.1°F. However the largest drop off in temperatures comes in September, temperatures will decrease bringing the monthly average temperature 6.5°F down to 41.6°F. Moving on from September average temperatures will continue to drop bottoming out in January at an average temperature of 4.7°F. As temperatures get colder and colder heading into fall, there will also be less moisture in the air as cold air is much denser than hot air and holds less moisture. This results in less foggy days on average on the summit than we see during the summer. Not only will drier air be around more often but as will stronger winds, as in September the average wind speed for the month increases to 28.6 mph. This is 4.6 mph more than the month of August at 24 mph, which is the calmest month of the year. We then have an average increase in wind speed through the rest of the year peaking with our highest winds in January at 46 mph.

This is a result of a few things, primarily related to the tropopause. The tropopause is a stable layer of air in the atmosphere just above the troposphere, which is the layer in which all of the weather occurs. So when the air gets colder and is denser as mentioned before, the tropopause begins to lower. When winds go over the mountain, they hit this stable layer of air and are forced back down. This causes an acceleration effect resulting from the squeezing of the winds over Mount Washington, resulting in stronger wind speeds. However the tropopause isn’t the only factor at play, as when temperatures begin to get colder there is an increased temperature gradient between the poles and the equator. This will result in a stronger and more organized jet stream, with strong winds aloft often translating down to relatively stronger winds at the surface.

Along with colder temperatures comes snow, and personally I can’t wait for winter to come. I will be staying for the fall internship here at the Mount Washington Observatory in hopes of getting a taste of mother nature’s worst. Luckily for me here at the summit of Mount Washington we have an average first snowfall of the year on September 14, with a record earliest snowfall being August 1!

The average snowfall per month also makes a considerable jump up to 2.2 inches in September from the 0.1 inches in August. After September winter really start to come in full swing as we have nearly a 15 inch snowfall increase every month peaking in December at 45.5 inches. As we transition into fall and winter Observers and Interns like myself all have our fingers crossed for an early winter bringing rime ice, hurricane force winds, and of course snow!

Benjamin Charles, Summit Intern

The Air Was Filled With Laughter: A Letter to Our Fall Interns

2019-08-25 07:25:39.000 – Anna Smith, Summit Intern Graduate

The air was filled with laughter. One last shift change for this set of interns and honestly, it was probably my favorite yet. We were bouncing around the agenda, getting through the important details while trying not to dissolve into laughter amidst flying squirrel jokes, Jay zoning out in his preparation to go to bed before his night shift, and Marty just being weird. Finally Rebecca begins to take out mail from the WDC, and to my surprise, I have a letter. Very confused (who would write to me here? And from Michigan??) I opened it and attempted to skim as I listened to the closing remarks, but the skimming soon ended as I realized this wasn’t just a notice, but a true letter signed and sealed.

It was a response to one of my posts in the Observer’s Comments. The author told me a bit of his backstory with the mountain, then mentioned how much he appreciated my writing, both content and style. It reminded me of how much more it means to work at the observatory than just to observe and keep a record going. With each tour, each message, each Edutrip we try to share the experience, not just to be informative. Here, we are trying to either bring about an interest or keep that fascination alive.

From this, I decided to write a letter myself.

Dear Future Intern,

You’ll hear this many a time I’m sure, but welcome to the Obs. I hope you are ready for some fun, some weird, a lot of crazy, and more often than not, clouds and westerly winds. If you can handle the long workweek and enjoy the extremes, I can’t tell you how wonderful the experience will be. Mount Washington is like no place I’ve been before, and the people there… well let me put it this way.

Down in the valley there are numerous helpful hands ready to point you the right direction with finances (Brenda, you’re amazing), research (thanks for summer research part 2 Eric and Ken), outreach (Will, you deserve an award for how you answered the phone during that Edutrip), education (sorry for infinite emails Brian, but thanks for making it work in the end), and IT (as John put it in his parody to Nickleback’s “Rockstar”, “Everbody’s got IT on speed dial…” but Keith and Pete manage to make it work). Tying it all together is Rebecca, the Summit Operations Manager. She’s at every shift change, always has a helpful hand ready, and is on top of things as much as someone in such a dynamic place can be. Oh, and she occasionally comes up to help for a shift when someone else can’t stay the entire time; be sure to ask about radio commercials and The Wednesday Song. You won’t regret it.

You’ll only see the other shift during shift change most likely, and I definitely tried to make the most of it. They’re a good crew, wonderfully and ridiculously fun to be around, and can sometimes provide a different set of skills, perspectives, and of course tall tales than you’re used to. Every shift change winds up being a mini family reunion, but much less painless I guarantee.

And as for your shift… Volunteers change every week, but that just makes every week that much more enjoyable. It means you get to try a new style of cooking, a new type of involvement, and new sets of eyes every shift. I got to meet so many amazing people just through the volunteer program itself. If you are as lucky as I am, each week will be an adventure and uniquely awesome in its own right.

For the end of the season during which the Obs is open, I’m sure you’ll spend some time in the museum with Nikki. Should be less busy, but you two will get in the flow of things, maybe jam out to some pretty good music on occasion, stand speechless with the insanity that can sometimes occur, and I’m sure share more than one laugh. Nikki and the Director of the Museum, Sam, are always there when you stand bewildered at the register, know exactly what to say when something gets messed up, and manage to run a hectic place efficiently and smoothly. They both can teach a lot, and have many stories to tell so best to listen closely.

And I wish you could have met Emma and John, two phenomenal members of the crew. Being in the same bunk, Emma dealt with my early morning alarms, occasional in-room core workouts, and evening venting on the occasional rough day. Thankfully you’ll be free of that mess, but I hope you do meet some fun characters that you can share a lot of laughs and confusion with. Being exhausted in the museum at the end of the day definitely led to some of our most interesting moments… but I’ll never forget em. In addition to inspiring me to hike faster (30-minute miles maximum), John dealt with my insane need to nail every detail down during our research project, constant commenting on Google Docs instead of just fixing the sentence, among other things. We rarely had the same ideas, and became more thorough and creative because of it. One thing I will suggest: never be afraid to bounce ideas off of others or ask questions. You usually wind up throwing your hands up in the air, sometimes because you don’t know what else to do, but other times with a fist in the air like you’re starring at the end of The Breakfast Club. That’s a good feeling. Almost as good as dancing around the museum together when cleaning up but I digress.

And to celebrate those moments with you of course are the observers themselves. I wish I got to hang with AJ as long as you will be able to… he is amazing and one of the greatest Marty whisperers I know. He’s also got some interesting Obs stories to tell, being there so long beforehand. Calm, cool and collective, he makes mornings chill and afternoons relaxing. His star facial expression is definitely something I’m going to miss, and his kindness will be missed even more. He definitely helped me understand me how wonderful fog can be, even with the missed views (fog ob = observer’s best friend).

Ryan, the night observer, is one of Marty’s best friends by trade, and has been at the Obs longer than anyone else on the shift. He has a good deal of advice worth noting, and somehow manages to be relatively chill at 4 am. His photographs are stellar, and his stories are just as good (ask him about Bunk A I dare you). If you can find a way to hide a cucumber in one of the main drawers for him to find for me, that would be appreciated. No questions asked please.

And really try not to ask questions too often on the 45 when Tom is supposed to do the ob. Yes, AJ is there now, but can we afford the off chance of breaking the record? Not really… But if not taking observations Tom is always there to help. He will answer your inquiries, check forecasts again and again, and lend an ear to any concerns you may have. While making sure that work is getting done, he also looks to make sure that you are staying sane and taking enough deep breaths so that you get through each week happily. There’s a minor addiction to seltzer and the Electric Field Meter, but hey, who doesn’t love bouncing around the room with Electric Field Meter signals lightening? Terrifying? Maybe. Still awesome? You bet. $20 says you’ll be just as excited if not more.

You have a lot ahead of you and I’ve probably already kept you too long. Just know I’m so excited for you, can’t wait for you to meet the new fam, and wish you the best… though you’ll probably get it whether I wish it or not.

Cheers,

Anna

Anna Smith, Summit Intern Graduate

Sunrise Drive Tips

2019-08-24 06:06:24.000 – Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

Sunday, August 25th will be the third (of three) Mt Washington Auto Road Sunrise Drive of 2019. For information about when their road will open, their rates, vehicle restrictions, etc, head HERE. The Mount Washington Observatory operates independently from the Mt Washington Auto Road, so if you have questions about their event, please contact them directly via the information provided HERE or through their various social media offerings. If driving up tomorrow morning, here are five things to help in your planning:

1. Dress Warm! Pack a coat/sweater, pants, mittens, beanie, etc. It will be unseasonably cool tomorrow morning and when standing around waiting for sunrise, it can get downright chilly fast. So, packing and wearing layers so you are comfortable makes for a better viewing experience allowing you to focus on the sunrise rather than focusing on how miserable you feel. For more information about the weather you can expect, head to our Higher Summits Forecast page (updated daily by 5 am and 5 pm).

2. Arrive closer to their opening time to provide you with plenty of time prior to sunrise. It is not I-93 and as such, it takes time to drive up the road.

3. Will sunrise be visible from the summit? Maybe. As of this morning, satellite views and models are showing lingering low-level moisture and with a shift to an onshore flow overnight, more moisture will be moving in – all favorable for clouds/fog. However, high pressure is building and with it, drier air will be approaching from the west. As of now, it looks like intermittent clouds or possibly some undercast conditions will be possible. In other words, it could go either way at this point. While we do not provide personalized forecasts, you can check out our Higher Summits Forecast. With the possibility of fog obscuring your summit view…

4. Stop lower down. The Mt Washington Auto Road has several turnouts to allow people to view the sunrise from lower down and below any clouds that might be present. If you opt in on this option, please park in designated pullouts and when you get out and you’re heading out or over to your viewing position, remember to rock-hop to remain off the fragile alpine vegetation.

5. Make sure your batteries are charged. If using a dedicated camera, make sure to have an “heir and a spare” (one in your camera and an extra in pocket) fully charged as the cooler weather might drain your battery a bit faster than normal. If using a smartphone as your camera – make sure it is fully charged as the cooler weather will drain it a bit faster as well. And turn on airplane mode. While parts of the mountain have service, keeping it in airplane mode will ensure your battery isn’t draining as your phone tries to connect to neighboring cell towers in addition to remaining on as you snap pics or take video.

Bonus tip: At some point, stop capturing the moment and just enjoy it! Just for a minute or two, put the camera/smartphone down and take in the moment you are experiencing. It will make looking back on your pictures that much more enjoyable as you will have a fond memory to go along with what you captured.

August 24th’s sunrise from the summit

Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

Mount Washington Auto Road Hillclimb 2019

2019-08-20 09:41:39.000 – Benjamin Charles, Intern

Every year the Mount Washington Auto road holds various races to the summit of Mont Washington. I was lucky enough to witness the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb this week. The race took place Saturday August 17, 2019 and began at 8:30 am at the base of the Auto Road and finished at the very top of the Auto Road. Making this a relentless 7.6 mile climb with an average grade of 12% and an astonishing maximum grade of 22% for the last 50 yards. To make the race even more intense on the summit of Mount Washington was in the clouds that morning, creating a very dense fog for the last mile of the race. Winds were blowing out of the west at 15 to 25 mph, crosswinds like that can make life a nightmare for a biker. So after the race began at 8:30am spectators were already in place along the Auto Road with a large group of people waiting at the finish line.

First place male biker Erik Levinsohn passing the finish line, clocking in at 53:42 (Photo from the Mount Washington Auto Road)

As seen in this photo from the Mount Washington Auto Road http://www.iresultslive.com/?op=summary&eid=4343 crossing the finishing line at 53:42 Erik Levinsohn took first place, with his face saying it all as he uses the last of his energy to pedal through the finish. Erick Levinsohn placed third last year improving his time this year by a remarkable 2 minutes and 21 seconds. I unfortunately missed the first few bikers cross the finish line, but I did get out there in time to see female winner Stefanie Sydlik emerge from the fog and cross the finish line.

Stefanie Sydlik emerging from the fog on the steepest section of the race

Stefanie Sydlik moments before crossing the finish line to take first place for female bikers

Photo from the Mount Washington Auto Road of first place female biker Stefanie Sydlik crossing the finish line, clocking in at 1:10:32

Stefanie Sydlik placed second place in the 2018 race and now improved to first place this year surprisingly clocking in at the same exact time as last year. Both bikers that won, as well as all of the bikers that participated in the race accomplished a very tough ride on Saturday. Being a mountain biker myself I understand the grueling pain of pushing those pedals when your legs have nothing left in the tank, and have so much respect for anyone able to conquer this beast of a mountain.

Benjamin Charles, Intern

The Season’s End (My Internship in Review)

2019-08-18 16:54:57.000 – Austin Patrick, Summit Intern

It feels just like yesterday that it was the end of May and I was making my first trip up to the Summit on the once slushy, icy Auto Road. It is now my final week and I have had a while to reflect on my experience working for the observatory and I would like to share it with everyone.

I have been a part of or have experienced many forms of extreme weather from supercells to impressive snowstorms, but Mount Washington was and is something else. My first week up here I was treated to winds of 100+ mph and was able to be outside for that event. Despite being at the end of the winter season, I still caught a glimpse of rime ice on the tower. I got my first taste of hiking the Whites and I got the chance to fall in love with the State of New Hampshire.

This internship has built confidence in my skills as a meteorologist. mountain meteorology is a challenge for forecasters and I had many weeks to face it. It has expanded the tools I use to forecast (Skew-T’s are your friends up here) as well as given me a great amount of exposure to interacting with the public through giving tours and conversating with guests in the museum. It solidified my reason for being a meteorologist which is giving and communicating information to people. Every day up here brought something new, whether it be a foot race up the mountain or gathering in the weather room to watch lightning light up the sky. Through my experiences here I feel like I have built up a work ethic that is viable in the professional world, spending a week on a mountain peak to perform your job is notable already, but seeing the tasks observers do every day has given me a new respect for people in my field.

I could fill-up the whole websites with stories from my time here, but I think should highlight what I can take away and give to others from this experience. If you are in college or trying to find your way in your professional field, search every corner of that field for opportunities. Opportunities come in many forms, whether it be an internship you happen to come upon online or the people in your field your network. I was able to find this experience through my friend and one of my mentors on the Summit, Ian Bailey. At this point in your career, leave nothing to chance and never stop being hungry for experience.

The last thing I would like to say is for anyone who supports the Observatory, thank you and for anyone who is curious, please consider it. Entities like Mount Washington Observatory are key players in the field of science. Organizations like them that strive to educate people and further science through research are important in the process of creating future scientists and generating respect and support for scientific goals.

I would like to thank the Observatory for offering me this experience. I will forever cherish this as I head to Millersville, Pennsylvania for my graduate studies where the weather isn’t so extreme.

(Photo credit: Kimberly Stinson)

Austin Patrick, Summit Intern

Climate Change in the Classroom

2019-08-16 18:48:18.000 – Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

This weekend, we will be conducting our first ever Climate Change Professional Development program! We have invited 8 teachers from multiple different schools and classrooms to join us on the summit to learn about Climate Change and develop tools/resources they can use to present the topic in their own classroom. Our hope is that we’ll be able to effectively communicate a very large, very complex topic (one that could be broken up into 3 semesters worth of material) and help teachers feel a bit more comfortable when discussing it with their students.

Studies and polls conducted by organizations such as the Pew Research Center have shown that public perspective on the topic of Climate Change has, itself, changed drastically over the last 5 years. As the graphic above shows, many of these countries have seen a general increase in concern/awareness about of changing climate by as much as 10% or more! On top of that, over 20 major countries around the globe have classified the issue as a major threat; something that absolutely needs to be addressed for the betterment of our planet and humanity.

Here at the Observatory, we too have taken note of the effects of climate change that are reflected in our own data and observations. Our average annual temperatures are warming (albeit at a slower rate by comparison), and our winter season seems to be shrinking! Because this is something we research, study and understand well, and because we have the data to show our findings, we wanted to share our knowledge with those who devote their lives to teaching the new and upcoming generations so that they can share it in turn.

It is very exciting to be involved in teaching/leading a new educational program. And it’s going to be a jam-packed weekend! Once the teachers are here and have settled in, we’ll be looking at the difference between weather and climate and different climate regions across the globe, we’ll be discussing the multitude of sources and factors contributing to climate change, and we’ll even take a look at climate assessments and reports conducted over recent years as well as public outlook and response to these issues. Additionally, we’ve developed a plethora of resources, experiments and activities that these teachers will be able to take back to their classrooms to run on their own! Overall, it’s going to be a great weekend for education and science, and I am very much looking forward to it!

We conduct Edutrip and Professional Development programs like this throughout the year, where participants venture up to the summit, stay overnight and learn about a wide variety of fascinating, science/weather-related topics. If you are interested in potentially joining us for one of these adventures, you can learn about them and sign up for them at:

https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/summit-adventures/

You should definitely look into these awesome educational experiences! And hopefully we’ll see you up here soon!

Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

May the Mind-Opening Experiences for Science Undergraduates Continue!

2019-08-13 04:59:09.000 – Eric P. Kelsey, Ph.D., Director of Research

A few weeks ago, Intern Anna Smith posted a great blog about the group of undergraduate students who visited the summit on July 12th for an in-depth summit experience with our observers and interns. These students were a part of the 2019 summer Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) program, a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) funded by the National Science Foundation that is run by meteorology faculty at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Plymouth State University. This is the second year of the REU program in which 12 undergraduate students from around the country are selected from a competitive field of applicants to work in pairs with a faculty mentor on a research project for nine weeks during the summer. Here is the official abstract for the project:

“The Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site brings together two primarily undergraduate institutions with atmospheric and related science programs to expand research opportunities for a diverse population of undergraduate students early in their education. REU interns will conduct research in areas of mesoscale and synoptic weather, microclimates, biometeorology, mountain meteorology, modern climate, and paleoclimate to better understand their physical processes, their predictability, and impact on society. The primary objective of the NEPARS REU site is to provide learning opportunities to a promising and diverse group of undergraduates which will help them prepare for careers in STEM fields by conducting quality scientific research, building professional networks, improving leadership skills, and developing effective communication skills. Each year a cohort of 12 undergraduate students will be offered paid summer research positions with the NEPARS REU to work with faculty mentors from Hobart & William Smith Colleges (HWS) and Plymouth State University (PSU). Six students and three mentors will work at each research location during a 9-week summer research program. Additionally, the NEPARS REU will partner with the Mt. Washington Observatory and the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at SUNY Albany to offer interactions beneficial to REU student professional development. The NEPARS REU site has a primary focus on participation of rising sophomores and rising juniors that have just completed their first and second year, respectively, at two-year or four-year colleges and universities across the U.S. offering degrees in STEM fields.

The REU site will be structured so that students work in pairs with a mentor. This will allow the students to develop experience working as part of a research team, while they will also learn autonomy of research with their own individual project within the team. Modern technology, such as video-conferencing, will be leveraged so that students can communicate across the two locations. The REU site has 4 objectives for students: 1) interact with, learn from, and conduct research investigations with their peers and dedicated mentors through the use of REU pairings and a REU cohort across two research locations, 2) explore and discover the social, cultural, and geographic diversity of others with comparable academic interests from similar or vastly different colleges and universities, 3) cultivate a greater understanding of atmospheric and related sciences beyond the extent taught in the undergraduate classroom and lab, including the development and enhancement of research skills while working with observational and modeling datasets, and 4) develop effective leadership and communication skills through a series of workshops and opportunities to interact with professionals within the scientific community. Additionally the REU site has developed two objectives for the REU mentors: 1) increase interactions between two primarily undergraduate institutions to strengthen the respective programs and support new, as well as existing, faculty research collaborations, and 2) enhance faculty development as undergraduate mentors through training, faculty-to-faculty mentoring, and by working with a diverse student population from a variety of academic institutions.”

Mount Washington Observatory (MWO) participates in the project in a couple of ways. I, as the Director of Research, mentored a pair of meteorology undergrads, including Anna, last summer. Anna and her research partner Charlotte studied summit weather data to understand how vertical air mass changes (between the boundary layer and the free troposphere) impact daily high and low temperatures. This work is another step toward understanding why the higher elevations of the Northeast US are warming slower than the surrounding lower elevations. The other way MWO participates is by hosting the REU students and their mentors each July for a day of engaging activities at the summit with the observers and interns. Anna also described this often transformative experience in her blog. Students learn about some of the harshest weather conditions observed on Earth, how observers take hourly weather observations in such extremes, and the importance of high-quality weather data to producing meaningful and accurate conclusions about how the weather and climate work.

Through the program, we hope that students develop an interest and passion for research and experiential learning, but ultimately, we want the REU experience to help students determine what they want to do as a professional scientist.

This two-year REU program is drawing to a close this year, however, PSU and HWS are proposing to NSF to continue the program for another three years. Their proposal will be submitted this month and this winter we will receive a decision. Keep your fingers crossed for another three years of MWO making a positive impact on the lives and careers of undergraduate students in science!

Eric P. Kelsey, Ph.D., Director of Research

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