Arctic Wednesdays 2024 Week 1: Post-Trip Blog
Post Trip Blog
What an experience!
Mary and I started our day both nervous and excited about the day's adventure. Brian informed us the night before that the trip potential could be shortened due to high summit winds. As we loaded up the snowcat and started the trip, we had meaningful conversations with volunteers Kathy and Claudia, the avalanche intern, Lauren (how cool), and the meteorologist Alex, Brian, and Alexis, who were traveling up for shift changes.
Everyone on the trip up was so kind. They answered our questions and talked about their experiences on the mountain. It was clear that they all love what they do!
The trip took longer than expected due to high snow drifts from the recent snowfall, so we missed our Zoom. Fortunately, Francis took over on a few minutes' notice, introduced our students to the weather station, and took questions from our 7th graders. We tried to zoom in from the snowcat, but the connection wasn't great.
High winds were still predicted for the day, so the trip down would start sooner than expected. Alex jumped right in and gave us a tour of the weather station. We learned about the various weather tools and data collected at the Observatory. The current conditions were about -5 degrees, with wind chills significantly colder and winds at around 55 mph with gusts up to 94mph!
Alex also showed us the living quarters, and we tried to find Nimbus, but he was cuddled up somewhere warm.
After our indoor tour, we bundled up and explored the tower and observation deck. The wind gusts were so strong it was hard to stand. I am in awe that the meteorologists do this every hour!
Our trip down the mountain was just as informative. We met more meteorologists and volunteers and chatted about their experiences and what brought them to Mt. Washington. Maybe one day you will see us in the kitchen cooking dinner!
Mary and I learned so much from this trip that we can incorporate into our future weather lessons. We appreciate this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and plan on staying connected to the Observatory using the WeatherX curriculum and various resources on the website.
Thank you so much!
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