We take great pride in New Hampshire to be the home of Mount Washington, which is known as having some of the most extreme weather in the world. The Mount Washington Observatory is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s operated by two alternating crews who live on the summit for a week at a time.
Starting Monday, March 31, NHPR listeners will hear full weather forecasts from the experts at the Observatory. NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with weather observer Alexandra Branton about the new forecasts and what it’s like to work at the top of Mount Washington.
Transcript
So you're on the summit for days at a time. Tell us what you do.
So the meteorologists, including myself, who live and work up here on the summit of Mount Washington, live up here for eight days at a time. And during those eight days, we work 12 hour shifts. And during those 12 hour shifts, we do a lot of different things, but they all revolve around one thing and that's weather observation. So we go outside every single hour and manually record the weather. We use manual instruments because newer digital instruments just cannot withstand the extreme conditions that we experience up here in the winter time. So we're still using much of the same measuring techniques that we've been using since the 1930s up here.
So in between those weather observations, we do our higher summits weather forecast, and now we'll be doing our statewide New Hampshire forecast in collaboration with you guys, with NHPR. And then other than that we're doing quality control. So checking to make sure our data is up to good standards and it all makes sense to add to our 90-year climate data set that we have up here at the Mount Washington Observatory. We're also doing educational programs and research. So there's a lot of different things going up here on the summit all the time.
How does that data you gather help in forecasting?
So we are really unique here at Mount Washington Observatory. The data we collect that we have access to on a day-to-day basis is a very useful tool for not only us here forecasting at the summit of Mount Washington, but it's useful for forecasters in the entire region of New England. And that's because we have not only our weather observations up here from the summit.
We have what is known as a mesonet – a collection of weather stations throughout many elevations in the White Mountains. And we're actually working on expanding that mesonet. So basically we have weather data because of this mesonet from the base of the mountain all the way to the summit of the mountain. These mesonet stations report data that kind of acts like a permanent weather balloon. And that's really unique, because weather balloons are only launched from 48 designated locations across the country twice a day. So forecasters around the globe only have access to that data twice a day, whereas we provide it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"We use manual instruments because newer digital instruments just cannot withstand the extreme conditions that we experience up here in the winter time. So we're still using much of the same measuring techniques that we've been using since the 1930s up here."
Knowing how the atmosphere changes in a vertical profile like that gives us a lot more powerful forecasting capabilities because we know how the atmosphere is changing with height, and that has major implications on precipitation type or wind speeds or foggy conditions, which we experience a lot of here on the summit of Mount Washington, and therefore relative humidity and cloud coverage down at the lower elevations.
So what surprised you most about when you began working on the summit of Mount Washington?
For me, personally, being from Florida: snow, winter. That is what surprised me the most. We know Mount Washington has extreme weather. We know that it changes rapidly, but you can't communicate – you can't get used to the feeling of experiencing this weather. So 100 mile per hour winds, heavy snow storms – those things are always surprising when you experience them, just how powerful the weather can be.
And then also the views. It's surprising when we clear because we're in the fog most of the time. So when we have clear conditions and calm conditions, I'd say that's pretty surprising.
I've been up to the summit many times over the years, and it can be beautiful and warm at the base. And then you get to the top, of course, and you're fogged in and it's 40 degrees colder. But I have been up there on clear days and it is an astounding view. So what's life on the summit like? You're up there for eight days at a time. What do you do in your downtime? Do you have any downtime?
Yes, it's not all work. We do have a little bit of play up here, and we basically take advantage of the good weather when we have it, when we can go outside to go hiking or to go skiing or to go sledding. We love to be outside when the weather is nice and pleasant, or when the weather is bad. We like to experience some extreme weather, as well.
But some indoor activities that we enjoy: we like to sit down at least once a day and have a meal together. We like to watch TV, play video games, play board games. We have a little exercise room, so getting some exercise in is also really beneficial. Reading books and, of course, play with our cat Nimbus.
I wanted to ask you about Nimbus because I know the observatory has a long history of having cats. And they're not just pets, they're working cats, aren't they?
That's correct. The Mount Washington Observatory has been known to keep cats around since the 1930s. In the 1930s, [they] had about nine cats I've heard that were living up here, and they were meant as a means of rodent control.
So we've scaled back a little bit. We only have one cat now, but he still is important for making sure that our mice population is at bay here in the building, because it's kind of inevitable when you're the only warm spot in a place that has extreme winter conditions. All of those little critters are going to try to find their way inside.
And Nimbus is a pretty intimidating cat. So he does a really good job at keeping those rodents at bay here.
Do you have to take turns changing Nimbus' litter box, or how does that work?
Each shift changes it once a day so we work it out pretty well.
That's good. It's one of those duties. You got to keep track of the weather and make sure the litter box has changed.
Yes, of course.
So, Alexandra, what can we expect from your forecast here at NHPR?
We have only historically provided forecasts for the higher elevations of New Hampshire, but now we are going to provide weather insights for the entire state of New Hampshire in all regions. So you can expect to hear some commute information or weather that might impact your weekend plans, so outdoor activities. And hopefully we can share a little bit of our knowledge about the weather with our forecast.
