Anticipating the storm

2010-01-02 22:57:49.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

The feeling of anticipation was certainly in the air around the weather room this morning and afternoon. Perhaps the most excited out of all of us were the people that don’t get to be here nearly as often as the full-time staff: the two Plymouth State interns and our volunteers John and Ed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m REALLY excited for this storm and I know that my fellow observers Ryan and Mike are as well.

Why such excitement and anticipation? Well, this is an intense storm that is bearing down on the summit as I write this. The pressure gradient that is going to set up over the region tonight and tomorrow morning is very impressive. Pressure gradient is what drives the winds; the stronger the pressure gradient, the stronger the winds. There is a very good chance that we will see the highest wind speeds that we have seen in several years or maybe even longer. Coupled with the high winds will be heavy snowfall, temperatures around 0, and of course our good friend freezing fog. All this will make for extremely dangerous conditions through tomorrow. If you holiday weekend plans involved travel not only on Mount Washington but anywhere in the higher terrain of the White Mountains, I highly suggest changing those plans!

For more details on the storm that is causing all this weather, check out the entry that I posted to my blog on AccuWeather.com earlier today. Of course, keep your eyes here on our website tomorrow for current conditions and updates through the Observer Comments as well.

It’s going to be an exciting time to be on the summit of Mount Washington!

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist