Volunteer Comment

2010-12-08 17:39:49.000 – Betsy Fowler,  Summit Volunteer

Us on the summit

I am the current volunteer on the summit with my friend, Sue. This is our first time spending a week in winter, and we have been thoroughly enjoying our time here watching the changes in the weather from the comfort of the Observatory building and from outside getting blown about with strong winds. We hope to return next winter if they’ll have us again.

Yesterday, we got to experience going up in the parapet with Stacey while she chipped the ice off the pito tube on the anemometer. I stood at the very top where she was standing and felt the full force of the wind holding me while I leaned into it. It was quite a rush, I have to say! The visibility hasn’t been very good since the undercast on Sunday When there were clear skies above and around us, but it wasn’t a white-out either so we decided to walk down to the trailer that houses the extreme sewage treatment plant. Jim, of the State of NH Parks, gave us an explanation of how the plant works that services the Observatory and the State facility. It is an amazing system that is quite high tech and complicated with a series of tanks and pipes that the effluent has to go through before it comes out as water that won’t harm the environment. It is housed in a trailer that is about 40 feet long just below the summit. We were quite impressed and pleased to know that the water that we used will come out clean and help the surrounding plants with their need for moisture.

The Observers here and the interns are a very dedicated, hard-working crew who do whatever it takes to keep this facility running smoothly to provide the weather services with the data they need to do the forecasting. This past week is an example of how they had to be flexible with a painter painting the walls and heaters, then 2 electricians doing rewiring; lots of noise, fumes and furniture rearranging and cleaning. But they take it all in stride and keep on with their jobs. We were glad to be a part of it for even just a week.

Betsy Fowler,  Summit Volunteer