PSU intern #2 comment

2011-01-11 18:04:50.000 – Michael Pirhalla,  Plymouth State Intern

The ocean as seen from the summit.

Yesterday’s gusty winds transitioned into a calm, clear day here on the summit of Mt. Washington today. With the visibility greater than 120 miles and winds less than 10mph, it was a perfect day to head outside and explore the summit. My fellow intern, Jason Kaiser from Plymouth State University, and I got some exercise shoveling the top of the observatory. Temperatures topped out in the 20’s while we were chiseling away at the snow and ice, so my heavy winter coat was quickly shed as I got the blood pumping. Glaze ice was built up over a foot on some surfaces. Afterwards, I took a short hike around the observatory, taking in the awesome scenery that was before my eyes. The Atlantic Ocean and even some peaks in Canada were visible.

The sunset tonight wasn’t as remarkable as the night before, due to the advancing clouds from tomorrow’s impending winter storm. It looks as though we won’t be getting as much snow as southern New England, but we do expect the winds to pick back up and be in the clouds once again.

It’s been an amazing four days on the summit so far. We’ve mainly been working on a research project for Plymouth State University analyzing the Auto Road Vertical Profile and the lapse rate associated with it (how the temperature changes with the elevation). There’s a lot of data processing, but we’re getting outside to experience the conditions as much as possible. I’m looking forward to more shoveling!

Michael Pirhalla,  Plymouth State Intern