Today Felt Just Right

2013-04-10 23:23:17.000 – Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist

Transitions of Spring.

Scrolling through my Facebook news feed today, it seemed like everyone had something to say about the weather. If my friends/family were in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/Southwest US it was too hot, if they were in the upper Midwest/Northwest/Upper Northeast US it was too cold, however for the few that were wedged between the two extremes, today was just right. It was almost like Mother Nature let the three bears (from Goldilocks) take over the weather for the day or something. So where did the summit of Mount Washington place – too hot, too cold, or just ‘right?’ Temperatures for today are normally 22F and with an average of 25F so far, we are right about normal; and with fog and a mix of all precipitation types, it seemed just about right or at the very least ‘normal’ for this time of year up here today.

But it isn’t just the summit experiencing these ‘normal’ conditions as even the valleys below are sharing in the mild weather. Trees are starting to bud and flowers are starting to shake the shackles of snow and ice as they start pushing up to add some color to our world. Snow and ice have been melting out by what seems like leaps and bounds the past few days as mild days have also been met by mild nights. The loosening snow is allowing for another spring rite of passage – the digging out of the Mount Washington Auto Road. So with more asphalt than snow present at the lower elevations, today marked our first shift change where we weren’t taking the snow cat from the base to the summit. Today, we made the transfer from 4×4 vans w/ chains to snow tractor at about 2 mile park. And if the upcoming storm for some reason ends up being more rain than snow, there is even a chance that by next week we will be making the switch at half-way. Yeesh, where did the winter go, it felt like it just started yesterday? While we will still get periodic tastes of winter on the summer (in fact we have one coming up this shift week), summer is just around the corner and all the greatness it brings. So, I’m excited, are you?

Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist