Weather Observer Hayden Pearson views the sunset above the sea of clouds on Jan. 14. A larger version of this image by Meteorologist Ryan Knapp can be viewed here.

Dear Member,

Welcome to 2023! Here at the Observatory we’re excited to start the New Year on the right foot thanks to you. With your support, we exceeded our Year-End Campaign fundraising goal for 2022. I am humbled by all that you do to ensure our sustainability for the next 90 years.

In these early snowy days of the New Year, we are also celebrating two wonderful bits of news. First, our staff and partners had a strong showing at this year’s Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (read more below). Second, an enormous thank you must be given to the Northern Community Investment Corporation and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund for their support of our work to launch a new, more user-friendly website.

Read on in this edition for Ryan Knapp’s “2022 By the Numbers,” a story about a young homeschooler inspired by our programs, and our new peer-reviewed overview of the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet that will be published by the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology (JTECH).

As we look to the New Year, we’ll be working to strengthen partnerships that help us fulfill our mission. This week, we launched a new program that better serves our corporate sponsors. Contact me anytime if you would like to learn more.

From atop the Rockpile, we are wishing you a wonderful start to 2023.

Sincerely,

Drew Bush

Executive Director

DECEMBER WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

Highest Temperature

42 °F 

Lowest Temperature

-13 °F

Fastest Wind Speed

150 MPH

Precipitation

10.4 IN

Complete monthly F6 reports can be viewed here.

Observatory Shares Research at AMS

Observatory staff and interns presented two posters at the American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting earlier this month, sharing the results of their recent research.

Shown above are Director of Weather Operations Jay Broccolo, right, and recent summit intern Henry Moskovitz, who presented “Establishing Near-Surface Lapse Rates along Mount Washington, NH.” View the poster.

The second project presented at the meeting addressed the question, “Are Winter Wind, Relative Humidity, and Damaging Events Changing on Mt. Washington, NH?” The Observatory collaborated with the Appalachian Mountain Club on this research. View the poster.

OUR IMPACT ON WEATHER EDUCATION

Virtual Classroom Inspires At-Home Study of Snowflakes

Evan Cherepowich and his mother Kate decided to take a leap and homeschool for third grade as the pandemic peaked. They relied on the Observatory’s Virtual Classroom programs to meet Evan’s keen interest in weather, inspiring his construction of an assembly to study snowflakes during storms. Read Evan’s story.

JTECH Journal to Publish Our Mesonet Technical Overview

We’re excited to share that the American Meteorology Society’s Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology will be publishing a technical overview of the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet, written by Brian Fitzgerald, Jay Broccolo, and Keith Garrett of Mount Washington Observatory. Read the abstract.

2022 By The Numbers

Staff Meteorologist Ryan Knapp summarizes last year’s weather conditions on the summit of Mount Washington as warm, wet (however, not snowy), foggy, and windy. Take a closer look at the stats from 2022, which had the sixth highest annual average temperature in our dataset, tied with 2006. Read observer blog post.

Channel 4 News Features Observatory’s Work 

The UK network visited our weather station as part of reporting Earth’s 2022 average surface temperature, released earlier this month by NASA. Our team was excited to show how our continuous weather observations advance understanding of climate trends in the White Mountains and as part of broader studies. Watch their video.

Winter Photo Essay Published by Northern Woodlands

Take a look at this brief article and collection of winter photos published in the newest edition of Northern Woodlands magazine.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. Please send any feedback via email. Mount Washington Observatory is a nonprofit research and educational institution. Our work in mountain meteorology and climate science relies on your financial support. Consider advancing our mission with a donation today.

Thank you to our sponsors…

Our Contact Information

Mount Washington Observatory

PO Box 2310
North Conway, NH 03860

603-356-2137

http://www.mountwashington.org

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