Mount Washington in Alberta, Canada?

2012-11-01 17:34:19.000 – Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Our Polycom Camera brings the summit to Canada!

Today marks the first Distance Learning Program of the new school year, and the Observatory’s first ever program offering in Canada! For those of you who may not be familiar with the Observatory’s Distance Learning programs, these 45 to 60 minute programs are given to schools, libraries and science centers throughout the country (globally even) and cover topics like ‘Extreme Weather Observations’, ‘Fundamentals of Climate’, ‘Life and Work at the Mount Washington Observatory’, ‘The Alpine Zone’ and even custom programs built to fit educators’ needs. These are live interactive programs given by summit staff (our Weather Observers/Education Specialists) from inside and outside of our mountain top weather station where we help break the chain from textbooks and offer participants a chance to see how extreme weather, climate and people meet.

This afternoon’s program linked the summit of Mount Washington with our Weather Discovery Center in North Conway and Grande Yellowhead Public School in Edson, Alberta, located between Jasper National Park and Edmonton. Grande Yellowhead’s fifth grade class was given an inside (and outside) look at ‘Extreme Weather Observations’ here on Mount Washington with explanations and visuals about the types of data we collect and how we collect it, including topics like temperature, relative humidity, pressure, precipitation, wind, sky cover and visibility. Getting to talk to a school way up north in Alberta was quite the experience given that most of the kids knew from their own lives just what it’s like to live in a cold place. In fact, I was a bit ashamed to say that Edson was 3 degrees (in Celsius that is) colder than the summit was when we spoke with them this afternoon.

For you educators out there, or for anyone who might be interested in learning more about our Distance Learning programs and how to bring the summit of Mount Washington to you, please visit MountWashington.org/Education where you will find plenty of information about our program offerings.

And lastly: We’re collaborating with the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce on a snowfall contest! Purchase a $2 ticket and guess when the first 6′ of snow will fall in a single storm, and you’ll get half the proceeds! Learn more here.

Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist