From Summit to Sea Level

Today, as part of the , has teamed up with Mt. Washington Observatory to bring you . Tonight at the in Vineyard Haven, the whole family will enjoy going from sea level to summit through an interactive program featuring a live virtual trip to the weather station at the summit of Mt. Washington.

Few places on Earth experience the combination of high winds, heavy icing, and extreme cold as frequently as New England’s highest peak. Jeff DeRosa, the Outreach Coordinator at Mt. Washington Observatory’s will lead audience members on an adventure to experience what life is like at the weather station.  Mt. Washington has recorded some of the harshest weather conditions in the world – comparable to Antartica where DaRosa spent nearly two years conducting surface and upper atmospheric observations at the South Pole.

According to Cathy Minkiewicz, of Felix Neck, the audience will, “Link live to the mountain top in a large projection conversation, similar to Skype.” Audience members will learn about weather systems on Mt. Washington and how they effect the weather here on the Island.

By seeing what is happening on Mt. Washington, audience members will get more of an idea about changing weather systems – especially down the eastern seaboard. “Whether you call it global warming or not, there are obvious changes happening to our weather systems,” said Minkiewicz.

“Felix Neck is really interested in raising awareness about what’s happening around us,” she said. According to Minkiewicz, the hope is that, after this interactive experience, the audience will go outside, “And rather than walking around saying ‘isn’t nice out, or isn’t a yucky day’ people will start to go a little deeper, ask more questions about what that nice day means or what the rain means to the animals and the plants.”