How Weather Conditions Change with Vertical Changes in Air Masses on Mount Washington

This study focused on vertical changes in air masses. Three types of air masses were examined in this study: the boundary layer, free troposphere, and the entrainment zone. The boundary layer is an air mass where the force of friction from the earth’s surface is felt. The free troposphere is the layer above the boundary layer, where the force of friction is no longer felt. The entrainment zone is the layer between the boundary layer and free troposphere these two air masses mix. To answer the scientific question of this research, How do wind, temperature, and dewpoint vary with the change of air masses at the summit of Mount Washington?, 10 events where an air mass change occurred were identified. One-minute archived data from the Mount Washington Observatory were used to analyze variability in wind, temperature, and dewpoint. From these statistics, and the aid of other archived data, identified events were split into different time periods when the summit was in the three different air masses. This shows how the wind, temperature, dewpoint, and other statistics changed during the change of air masses. Through better understanding, Mount Washington observers can better forecast the change in summit conditions in these events