Winter on the Summit?

2015-12-12 17:06:51.000 – Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist

Just like much of the valley, Mount-Washington-style winter has not yet enveloped the summit. Typically, we’re using the snow cat at least partway up the Auto Road at this point, but almost the entire road is bare pavement and easily passible with our chained up truck.

It’s not quite as wintry as we’re used to for this time of the year on the summit, but the temperatures and conditions we’re seeing could seem like full-on winter for most people living at sea level. The shoulder seasons typically contain most of the search and rescue missions, as hikers enjoying 40-50 degree temperatures at the base are lured into venturing above treeline underprepared. If you do hope to come above tree line, be prepared for patches of ice and significantly colder temperatures than the valley and be sure to check our higher summits forecast to get an idea of what you’re hiking into.

We’ve been busy in the IT world recently, revamping much of the summit software as well as upgrading our mesonet sites. Cannon is now back online and our first remote site measuring pressure! If you’re interested, take a look at our mesonet map to see conditions from our 19 mesonet sites across the White Mountains.

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Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist