Mt. Washington Observatory
BLOWN AWAY Interns Experience Science, Research, and Life on Top of Mount Washington BY ERIC KELSEY, CYRENA-MARIE BRIEDÉ, KAITLYN O’BRIEN, THomAS PADHAM, MATTHEW CANN, LUke DAVIS, AND ALEXANDER CARNE Mount Washington Observatory’s summer internship program engages interns in weather observing, research, and life at the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather.” ost Americans associate the month of May with (KMWN; 1,917 m MSL), however, they were greeted warm temperatures, fresh green foliage, and by winter: subfreezing temperatures, snow, rime ice, Mblooming flowers. Indeed, these are the conditions and hurricane-force winds. It is the allure of the famed that the five incoming Mount Washington Observatory extreme weather conditions synonymous with Mount (MWO) 2013 summer interns (Fig. 1) experienced as Washington and the desire to become intimately en- they arrived in Pinkham Notch for their first trip up gaged in weather observation, forecasting, and research the mountain to start their internships. Upon arrival that attracts many of the 30–50 applicants for the at the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire summer internship positions offered each year (C.-M. Briedé, 2013, personal communication with applicants). AFFILIATIONS: KELSEY—Mount Washington Observatory, North Through geoscience research opportunities, such Conway, and Department of Atmospheric Science and Chemis- as internships and research experiences for under- try, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire; BRIEDÉ, O'BRIEN, and PADHAM—Mount Washington Observatory,
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