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Rye man living, working at Mt. Washington summit, records ‘world’s worst weather’

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4 weeks ago

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Living at the summit of Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern United States, has a college dorm-style feel to it, complete with group dinners and nights around a Nintendo Switch.

That’s according to Charlie Peachey, a Rye man employed as a weather observer and research and IT specialist with the Mount Washington Observatory. Since August 2023, Peachey has alternated weeks living in his family’s home at the base of Pulpit Rock Tower in Rye and living at the observatory with his colleagues, giving him a front row seat to extreme weather atop the 6,288-foot-high Mount Washington. 

When back at sea level, Peachey reminds friends he has the tallest work commute in all of New England for a job unlike any other in New Hampshire. On any given day, the 24-year-old and his colleagues could be blasted with triple-digit wind speeds, intense snow and rainfall, and have a front row view for the northern lights — a polar opposite lifestyle to lazy days beachside in Rye. 

“I’ve grown to like every season and how it’s different at each location I live at,” Peachey said. 

Peachey is a Plymouth State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and a master’s degree in applied meteorology. Within two weeks of completing his graduate thesis, he started his job last summer at the observatory, where he had previously interned as part of a grant-funded research program. 

Peachey’s family has owned their Rye residence for roughly 80 years and used it as a summer home before he moved in and became a full-time tenant. During his weeks in Rye, where he’s visited and lived since he was 2 months old, he’s out enjoying the waves crashing at Wallis Sands, paddleboarding, fishing and playing ultimate Frisbee in the Seacoast, and serving as a volunteer umpire for Portsmouth Little League.

What it’s like working atop Mount Washington

For one week at a time, Peachey bunks at the Mount Washington summit with the other observers and staffers, beginning and ending on Wednesdays. Peachey and his fellow daytime weather observers generally work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the summit, filing a weather report with the National Weather Service every hour, creating forecasts and performing quality checks for data from the day prior. Peachey also speaks to local and regional media outlets when they call for weather updates at the mountain, forming relationships with other meteorologists and journalists. 

As the summit’s resident information technology guru, Peachey is often charged with addressing any instrument breakdowns, ranging from simply plugging devices back in to releasing a foot of water from the observatory’s WiFi box during inclement weather. 

“It’s a whole variety of weird situations that we have going on up here that can disrupt the day,” he said. 

Peachey is also conducting a research project regarding rain on snow events at the summit, studying their frequency, long-term changes, subsequent flooding that can occur and impacts on the surrounding environment. The weather observer hopes to have his research published in the near future.

During downtime amid good weather, Peachey and his team will hike around the summit and backcountry ski, sometimes meeting up with staff at the Appalachian Mountain Club at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. When the weather turns sour, the observatory’s workers pass time with Nimbus, the observatory cat, have “heated” Mario Kart tournaments and share dinner together before retiring to their respective rooms. 

Drew Bush, director of the observatory, noted there are two daytime weather observers on each shift and one nighttime observer, interns and two summit volunteers almost every week who cook for the staff and work the summit museum in the summertime. During the summer, staff size peaks at around eight employees at the summit.

“We have quite a lot going on that Charlie’s team has been handling, and it’s certainly not easy. We’re a small nonprofit, so I’m really proud of all the work that goes into that,” Bush said. 

Goal is to make Mount Washington Observatory more accessible

Bush was named the director of the observatory, the main office for which is in North Conway, in September 2022. Under his watch, the observatory has begun offering more educational programs, brought more than 1,000 students to the summit, conducted research with multiple universities and could partner with the Air Force and the Army Corps of Engineers on other research opportunities. 

This spring, the observatory will also start holding public tours of the weather station at the Mount Washington summit. 

“We’re really trying to make this unique place and this unique institution that we represent accessible and available to everybody, from young students all the way up to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and the public,” Bush said.

Nearing his one-year anniversary switching between living at the oft-frigid summit and the shores of Rye, Peachey has accrued many lifelong memories on the mountain.

In May, Peachey was working amid the northern lights, capturing the dazzling aurora borealis with his camera. One shift, he was the only observer on when major wind gusts topped out at 147 mph, which he recorded outside while attempting to keep balance. A few weeks afterward, lightning struck the summit and created a sound close to a muffled explosion, causing momentary panic among the staff.

“It was pretty harrowing. That was definitely a fun one when we realized after the fact how close we were to it all,” Peachey said.

Last February, prior to Peachey’s arrival, Mount Washington broke its record-low air temperature of -46.7 degrees Fahrenheit during a widespread Arctic freeze. Then, last summer, the mountain experienced heavy precipitation, going down as one of the wettest summers in Mount Washington’s history, according to Bush. 

So it goes at what the Mount Washington Observatory bills as the home of the world’s worst weather.

“It’s kind of the best of both worlds,” Peachey said.

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