Cold

2007-01-26 13:47:36.000 – Neil Lareau,  Observer

Fresh Tracks

Yesterday Morning:

My first observation revealed green twilight on the eastern horizon, abundant stars overhead, a singular shooting star, a temperature around zero and winds around 10 mph. It was beautiful.

This morning:

My first observation revealed thin freezing fog, gaps of dusky sky overhead, a temperature of -30F, winds at 81 mph, and a windchill factor of -81F. It is beautiful.

Yesterday Mid Morning:

Bright sun, a temperature of -10 and light winds. The snowfields had received a fresh layer of wind deposited snow. Peter Kelly (UNH AIRMAP), Mike Finnegan, and myself couldn’t turn down the opportunity to mark up the fresh snow. Peter kept on going, skiing all the way to Pinkham (with a bit of walking to get down Lions head and avoid avalanche danger in Tuckerman Ravine.)

Today, Mid Morning:

Now, well after sunrise, the temperature still read -32 degrees and winds are still strong. It is cold; you can feel it creeping into your gloves, robbing narrow fingers of heat. It is hard to breathe through the layers of face masks, balaclavas, hoods, googles, etc.

Also of note: Today’s official low temperature is -33 degrees which sets a new record low for this date on Mount Washington. The previous record low was -30F set in 1972.

 

Neil Lareau,  Observer