A Summer I’ll Never Forget

By Madelynn Smith

It’s hard to believe that my time here as an intern at Mount Washington Observatory is coming to a close. Before this internship I had never visited New England, and was only familiar with the hot, muggy summers and relatively mild winters that North Carolina typically brings. So it was definitely a change moving up to Mount Washington and getting used to the occasional freezing wind chills in the middle of summer! But it’s been a wonderful 6 weeks living on the summit full of exciting weather, beautiful summit views, and amazing company. It’s pretty impossible to pick a favorite moment that I’ve experienced here on the Rockpile. Between experiencing 124 mph winds, seeing the Northern Lights, countless hikes around the summit, nights laying on the observation deck stargazing, and so many fun evenings with the rest of the shift (including Nimbus), this summer has been a blast!

Enjoying the nighttime view from on top of the tower: the tallest (accessible) point in all of New England!

I’ve been so fortunate to learn from the weather observers and staff here, as they’ve been not only great mentors, but a source of support and friendship. Huge thanks to observers Amy, Ryan, and Karl on my shift for all of their guidance as I learned how to prepare forecasts in this challenging terrain, worked on my research project, and adjusted to summit life!  My fellow interns Zakiya and Max have been amazing to work with; I was so glad to have them as hiking buddies, support for tours and research, and great game partners on nights we played Mario Kart and Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo Switch! I’ll never forget our adventures down Tuckerman and to the beautiful Alpine Garden trail, which was still in bloom with seas of all the small alpine wildflowers. In our off time, we enjoyed watching reality TV together, playing a few rounds of cornhole, and most recently, putting together LOTS of jigsaw puzzles!

Interns Max, Zakiya, and I during sunset one evening with a beautiful full undercast.

My research this summer investigated fall foliage and how different meteorological factors such as temperature and drought impacted the timing and intensity of autumn senescence.  This project was developed to establish a base for not only operational forecasting purposes here at the Observatory, but also to lay the groundwork for future phenology research for both interns and staff! I found that while meteorological factors play a secondary role in the process of deciduous leaves changing color in fall, with the primary role being shortening daylight hours heading into the season, they have impact on how vibrant the colors are in a given year, as well as the onset and duration of the fall foliage season. Seasonally average summer temperatures with ample moisture, in combination with a drier autumn with sunny days and cooler nights bring out the most vibrant red colors in the maple trees that New England is famous for! Summer and autumn temperatures, as well as soil moisture, can factor into how early or late the leaves begin to turn, and how long the color is maintained on the leaves before they fall. Understanding how meteorology affects fall foliage is important since ‘leaf-peeping’ tourism is such a strong part of New England’s economy. I was grateful to have been able to present my research findings to the public during our recent Science in the Mountains presentation, along with my fellow summit interns.

A substorm producing a very vibrant Northern Lights display one night in July!

It’s hard to summarize the most exciting and fulfilling summer of my life in a single blog post, but I’ll be forever grateful for this opportunity to work and learn in an extreme environment such as this. After my final shift here, I’ll be heading back to school to begin working towards another bachelor’s of science in Emergency and Disaster Management from Western Carolina University. I’ll also be taking the additional weather observation knowledge I obtained here to my weather observer position at an airport back home in North Carolina! It’s been such an amazing opportunity to further my knowledge as a meteorologist here, and I’ll cherish the memories and friends I made for a long time. This has truly been a weather nerd’s dream come true, and I can’t wait to visit this winter!