OBSERVERS AT THE TOP DEAL WITH CONDITIONS LIKE THAT. IF YOU THINK IT’S BEEN COLD THIS WEEK WHERE YOU ARE, IMAGINE WHAT IT’S LIKE MORE THAN 6000FT ABOVE SEA LEVEL. WE BOTTOMED OUT AT 19 DEGREES BELOW ZERO SOMETIME LATE MONDAY NIGHT. TUESDAY MORNING, THAT TIME FRAME. AND IT’S BEEN PRETTY SUSTAINED COLD EVER SINCE. MIKE CARMEN IS A WEATHER OBSERVER WORKING ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT WASHINGTON. WHILE WIND CHILLS IN BOSTON WERE AVERAGING IN THE TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS THIS WEEK UP THERE. WINDS WERE GUSTING NEAR 100MPH, SO THAT PUTS WIND CHILLS DOWN IN THE 60 TO 65 DEGREES BELOW ZERO RANGE. STEPPING OUTSIDE IN THAT KIND OF COLD TAKES SOME GUTS. BUT FOR CARMEN AND HIS GROUP OF FELLOW SCIENTISTS, IT ALSO TAKES LAYERS OF PROTECTION. THESE OBSERVERS ARE TASKED WITH HOURLY OUTDOOR WEATHER READINGS, NOT TO MENTION PERFORMING MAINTENANCE ON WEATHER GATHERING EQUIPMENT. I LIKE TO THINK OF IT EVERY TIME WE’RE GOING OUT FOR AN OBSERVATIONS. YOU’RE ALMOST GETTING DRESSED FOR BATTLE. IT KIND OF FEELS THAT WAY SOMETIMES, AND IN A LOT OF CASES, YOU KNOW, WE’LL HAVE A FELLOW OBSERVER SORT OF LOOK US UP AND DOWN TO MAKE SURE WE DON’T HAVE ANY EXPOSED SKIN, ESPECIALLY IN THESE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES, BECAUSE EVEN FIVE MINUTES OUT THERE, THE WIND WILL FIND A WAY. AS I LIKE TO SAY, THESE SCIENTISTS ARE DOING IMPORTANT WORK UP THERE. THE MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY HAS ONE OF THE LONGEST RUNNING CLIMATOLOGICAL RECORDS IN THE U.S., DATING BACK TO THE 1930S.
Weather observers atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire face extreme cold and high winds to collect vital weather data from the highest peak in the northeast.”We bottomed out at 19 below zero sometime Monday night Tuesday morning, and it’s been pretty sustained cold ever since,” Mike Carmen, a weather observer working on the summit of Mount Washington, said.Winds on the 6,288-foot summit have been gusting up to 100 mph, creating wind chills in the 60-65 degrees below zero range.”Stepping outside in that kind of cold takes some guts,” Carmen said.Carmen and his fellow scientists wear multiple layers of protection to endure the harsh conditions.”I like to think of it every time you’re going out for observations, you’re getting dressed for battle. It kind of feels that way sometimes,” Carmen said. “In a lot of cases, we’ll have a fellow observer sort of look us up and down to make sure we don’t have any exposed skin, especially in these very cold temperatures because even 5 minutes out there, the wind will find a way as I like to say.”These scientists perform hourly outdoor weather readings and maintenance on weather-gathering equipment.The Mount Washington Observatory has one of the longest-running climatological records in the U.S., dating back to the 1930s.
Weather observers atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire face extreme cold and high winds to collect vital weather data from the highest peak in the northeast.
“We bottomed out at 19 below zero sometime Monday night Tuesday morning, and it’s been pretty sustained cold ever since,” Mike Carmen, a weather observer working on the summit of Mount Washington, said.
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Winds on the 6,288-foot summit have been gusting up to 100 mph, creating wind chills in the 60-65 degrees below zero range.
“Stepping outside in that kind of cold takes some guts,” Carmen said.
Carmen and his fellow scientists wear multiple layers of protection to endure the harsh conditions.
“I like to think of it every time you’re going out for observations, you’re getting dressed for battle. It kind of feels that way sometimes,” Carmen said. “In a lot of cases, we’ll have a fellow observer sort of look us up and down to make sure we don’t have any exposed skin, especially in these very cold temperatures because even 5 minutes out there, the wind will find a way as I like to say.”
These scientists perform hourly outdoor weather readings and maintenance on weather-gathering equipment.
The Mount Washington Observatory has one of the longest-running climatological records in the U.S., dating back to the 1930s.
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