A Double Edged Sword

2011-10-29 19:44:15.000 – Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist

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Getting excited about extreme weather events is sometimes a doubleedged sword, of sorts. By that, I mean that often the most interesting and most extreme weather events cause considerable damage and, unfortunately, sometimes considerable loss of human life. Because of that, it can often look to some people as though getting excited about these sorts of events shows a lack of consideration for others. I can tell you that, from my perspective as a ‘weather enthusiast’, that is not the case at all. I get excited about extreme weather events because of the incredible display of the power of our Earth’s atmosphere that they are. I get excited because I decided to make the weather my career. At the same time, do I also think a lot about the damage that these storms cause, and lives they affect, too? Absolutely.

The early season snow storm raging over the northeast is a good example of this. This storm will prove to be a historic one for many locations, and is very interesting in a meteorological sense as well. This is a storm that I am definitely excited about. On the other hand, tens of thousands of people will be left without power as a result of the heavy wet snowfall, and cold temperatures following the storm will make that very tough on some folks.

One of the nice things about working on Mount Washington is that a number of the extreme weather events that we see aren’t nearly as extreme in other locations. I can get excited about 100+ mph winds, and at the same time know that it’s not going to cause any (significant) damage or loss of life. Heck we can’t even lose power here since the State Park has generators that are capable of powering the entire building.

Getting back to the impending storm though, it looks like snow will fall heavily through the night tonight, especially between midnight and sunrise. Wind will also increase through the night, and may be gusting near 100 mph by the time I wake up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. Things will definitely get interesting, so make sure to come back here for current conditions tomorrow and un update to our Observer Comments. Also, keep an eye on our page on Facebook. I’m sure we’ll get around to updating that tomorrow too.

Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist