A Great Opportunity!

2017-01-05 17:24:36.000 – Meghan Wells, PSU Research Intern

My name is Meghan and I am a junior meteorology major at Plymouth State University. I have the wonderful opportunity of interning at the Mount Washington Observatory in the middle of January. I believe it is every meteorologists dream to experience extreme weather but it doesn’t necessarily happen when you’re studying in classrooms every day. I will be living on the summit for two weeks where I get to work alongside the observers as they take observations and make forecasts. The observatory is a great place to learn and it allows me to get real world experience. During my second day at the summit there was an average sustained wind speed of about 70 mph with a peak gust of 101mph. That’s pretty strong! It was fun trying to walk and run around with such a strong force pushing against me. An experience I would recommend to everyone.

            During my time on the summit I will be working on a research project involving the dry adiabatic lapse rate. In regards to climatology, it was observed that the summit of Mt Washington is warming at a slower rate than other areas in the region. It is hypothesized that this phenomena is a result of the location of the boundary layer. It is common for the observatory to be in the clouds above the boundary layer. My research project will include calculating the lapse rates between different stations located on the mountain. I will plot the data sets (monthly, seasonally, etc.) and take note of any trends that appear. My research will help meteorologists better understand the atmosphere on Mt Washington.

Meghan Wells, PSU Research Intern