DIversity on the ‘rock pile’

2012-01-07 23:21:06.000 – Roger Pushor,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist

Our ‘sling’ all toasty warm again

You may ask what’s it like to be a Weather Observer/IT Specialist on the ‘rock pile’. Well I have to say it’s all about diversity and today was a perfect example. I started off the morning at 7:00 am doing a 15 minute weather broadcast that goes to the AMC huts and Forest Service. At 7:50 it was on the air with WMWV for the morning weather report from the Summit then at 8:10 I was on the air with Megan from White Mountain TV doing some more live weather and a weather discussion.

Then it was down to the Living Quarters for a quick breakfast before tackling an issue with our Webcams. By midday I had written some JavaScript and checked over some PHP code. After that I worked on an analysis of space utilization on our servers in the Valley.

At noon it was time to take over from Brian on our hourly Weather Observations and instrument de-icing. In between Observation we got an Edu-Trip in and the Safety tour completed.

Along with the Edu-Trip came parts to repair the heater on the cup that hold our Sling Psychrometer and keeps it from freezing on these cold days. Ryan and I worked to get that repaired and put back into place this afternoon, also in between Observations. During the winter on weeks without an Edu-Trip or Day Trips the only opportunity to get items we need is on Shift Change day which is Wednesdays so planning is key here on the Summit.

As you can see this staff of three Observers, one Intern and a couple of volunteers who cook and clean for us wear a number of hats each day.

Roger Pushor,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist