“First half is over already?” Comment – Alex

2009-07-16 15:53:03.000 – Alex Jacques,  Summit Intern

The anemometer we put up, in front of the pitot.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the second half of my internship. I can’t believe how fast this (and my summer) have gone.

I have learned a lot from the observers on my shift. After shadowing numerous observations during the first few weeks I got the chance to conduct some of my own last shift. The amount of work and detail in each of these hourly observations is incredible. The code used for them is just as challenging. After perusing the manuals for a few hours I took my hand at coding some harder observations, with mixed results. Just another thing to work on during the second half.

In addition to the paperwork and data sets, Hedda (the other intern on my shift) and I have been hard at work with maintenance jobs around the summit. Pulling wires, moving desks, and cleaning out the tower floor are just a few of the jobs we have completed.

One my favorite tasks has been the evening higher summits forecasts. They can be found on our higher summits forecasts webpage under “Evening Summit Report”. I take about 30-45 minutes to look over current conditions, models, statistics, and trends in order to create an accurate and detailed forecast for the next 36 hours over the summit. After the forecast period is complete, I look back and verify to see where improvements could be made.

This morning I had another new task. I aided Mike Finnegan with putting one of our trusty anemometers back up on the tower. The second half of my internship will involve a lot of project work and Web B16 entries (to expand our digital database). Hopefully, we will cool down a bit in August so Hedda and I can experience one of the tasks done of the summit constantly… de-icing the instruments!

Alex Jacques,  Summit Intern