Mrs. Newbery was selected to participate in Arctic Wednesdays, a professional development program on extreme weather and climate offered by the Mount Washington Observatory. On January 29, she journeyed to the summit of Mt. Washington in a snowcat and spent the day learning in the Observatory. Her experience was made possible through the support of the SRS PTG. Read all about her wintry adventure here:
On a very snowy Wednesday morning I traveled up the Mt. Washington Auto Road in the snowcat with Ms. Happy, a teacher from Hollis, and members from the MWOBS team on their way up to the Observatory. The trip up took about 1.5 hours. We arrived just in time for a live video connection with the SRS Third Grade students, with the help of weather observers Amy and Alex. We talked about temperature and wind speed and, of course, answered questions about Nimbus the cat who lives in the Observatory. We were given a tour of the weather station and learned how weather data is gathered and recorded.
Our team bundled up (no skin exposed!) and stepped outside to experience winter on the summit, known as the “home of the world’s worst weather.” With temperatures at -15°F with the wind chill and gusts reaching 60 mph, simply walking across the observation deck was a challenge. Wind and snow were blowing and the summit was fogged in. We spent the rest of the afternoon learning about weather, talking with observers and volunteers, and even had a second opportunity to bundle back up and go outside before heading back down the Auto Road.
