Week 6: Post-trip Report
Kim and I met each other shortly before 8am in front of the gate at Mount Washington Auto Road. Kim and I are both from the University of New Hampshire’s Teacher Residency for Rural Education (TRRE) Program. **Quick plug for our program, UNH’s TRRE** Kim and I are taking graduate-level course while completing a full-year residency in rural school with a mentor teacher. We are finishing the 2017-2018 school year in our residency schools, and will be wrapping up this accelerated 15-month program in July with Master degrees in Education as well as certifications to teach in rural NH.**
Kim and I taking a break to look at the views and take a few pics (pictured below).
We were the last duo to visit the summit for the 2018 season of Arctic Wednesdays. Our original plan was to make the trip on the 14th of March. However mother nature had another plan. In only 3 days the summit received 27.3 inches of snow (March 13th-15th). And the days following the snow came with heavy gusts of winds, where the observatory recorded mph of 122! Our organizers for the program informed us of the conditions. And so, we initiated plan B and left the following Wednesday, the 21st. This would be the day after the official first day of spring- and yes, the summit conditions felt as such!
The roads to the summit were heavy with snow- it took us 3 hours to get to the summit. The snowcat had to plow through the road several times in a couple heavier spots. This was a perfect opportunity for us to get a view of the CJAM (Clay, Jefferson, Adams, Madison) peaks (pictured below).
This also gave us some time to look at the equipment that they have placed at different parts on the mountain. One of the crew members shoveled his way to the mesonet we had parked next to. He wiped the snow off the equipment that measures the daily temperature and humidity, and I decided this would be a great opportunity to take a picture of the equipment for our students. Unfortunately the snowpack was not packed tight enough and I fell right through (pictured below).
In our 5th grade class at Lancaster Elementary School, we have studied and graphed average weather temperatures in Lancaster. We have also studied the causes and reasons for our seasons. One day our class spent the afternoon looking at the different data the observatory records on a daily basis. We compared this to the weather we have studied at lower altitudes. We looked specifically at the average weather (wind and temperature) found in March. I asked students to predict what the weather might be for us on Wednesday. While they guessed a little low on the temperature scale and a little high on the wind (mph), I appreciated their predictions!
We loved touring the observatory. Specifically, I found the change in technology overtime to be most interesting. The observatory’s intern, Sarah, showed us the gadget the observatory uses to measure wind speed. Because the weather is so intense on the mountain they don’t use the classic measuring anemometer device. Instead, they use this hollow tube called a pitot tube (pictured below), which is typically used on airplanes. The observatory attaches this little gadget to a wind vane, which allows the tube to stay pointed in the direction of the wind.
Sarah explained the three main factors causing the summit’s erratic and extreme weather: 1) it is the tallest peak in the Northeast (north of North Carolina and east of South Dakota) and it is the tallest object in about 1,000 miles in every direction 2) the neighboring terrain is unique and acts almost like a funnel to all incoming weather 3) a lot of storms pass through the general direction of the mountain- whether that be storms coming from the Northwest, the South, or the Northeast coast, they all impact the weather on the summit
The crew then sat down with us and answered questions our students had for them, which I recorded for our class to watch the following day.
The first thing the crew said to us at the start of our day was that they were hooked after their first trip up and couldn’t wait to go back. After our journey, I agree and would return in a heartbeat! There is nothing quite like the thrill of being atop one of North America’s highest peaks during the snowy months. Thank you to everyone who made this opportunity possible!
-Alicia Cheevor, Lancaster Elementary, Lancaster, NH
Kim and I taking a break to look at the views and take a few pics (pictured below).
We were the last duo to visit the summit for the 2018 season of Arctic Wednesdays. Our original plan was to make the trip on the 14th of March. However mother nature had another plan. In only 3 days the summit received 27.3 inches of snow (March 13th-15th). And the days following the snow came with heavy gusts of winds, where the observatory recorded mph of 122! Our organizers for the program informed us of the conditions. And so, we initiated plan B and left the following Wednesday, the 21st. This would be the day after the official first day of spring- and yes, the summit conditions felt as such!
The roads to the summit were heavy with snow- it took us 3 hours to get to the summit. The snowcat had to plow through the road several times in a couple heavier spots. This was a perfect opportunity for us to get a view of the CJAM (Clay, Jefferson, Adams, Madison) peaks (pictured below).
This also gave us some time to look at the equipment that they have placed at different parts on the mountain. One of the crew members shoveled his way to the mesonet we had parked next to. He wiped the snow off the equipment that measures the daily temperature and humidity, and I decided this would be a great opportunity to take a picture of the equipment for our students. Unfortunately the snowpack was not packed tight enough and I fell right through (pictured below).
In our 5th grade class at Lancaster Elementary School, we have studied and graphed average weather temperatures in Lancaster. We have also studied the causes and reasons for our seasons. One day our class spent the afternoon looking at the different data the observatory records on a daily basis. We compared this to the weather we have studied at lower altitudes. We looked specifically at the average weather (wind and temperature) found in March. I asked students to predict what the weather might be for us on Wednesday. While they guessed a little low on the temperature scale and a little high on the wind (mph), I appreciated their predictions!
We loved touring the observatory. Specifically, I found the change in technology overtime to be most interesting. The observatory’s intern, Sarah, showed us the gadget the observatory uses to measure wind speed. Because the weather is so intense on the mountain they don’t use the classic measuring anemometer device. Instead, they use this hollow tube called a pitot tube (pictured below), which is typically used on airplanes. The observatory attaches this little gadget to a wind vane, which allows the tube to stay pointed in the direction of the wind.
Sarah explained the three main factors causing the summit’s erratic and extreme weather: 1) it is the tallest peak in the Northeast (north of North Carolina and east of South Dakota) and it is the tallest object in about 1,000 miles in every direction 2) the neighboring terrain is unique and acts almost like a funnel to all incoming weather 3) a lot of storms pass through the general direction of the mountain- whether that be storms coming from the Northwest, the South, or the Northeast coast, they all impact the weather on the summit
The crew then sat down with us and answered questions our students had for them, which I recorded for our class to watch the following day.
The first thing the crew said to us at the start of our day was that they were hooked after their first trip up and couldn’t wait to go back. After our journey, I agree and would return in a heartbeat! There is nothing quite like the thrill of being atop one of North America’s highest peaks during the snowy months. Thank you to everyone who made this opportunity possible!
-Alicia Cheevor, Lancaster Elementary, Lancaster, NH
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