Anti-Jokes and Anti-Cyclones 2015-02-27 14:43:09.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Summit Intern   So why was 6 afraid of 7?   It wasn’t. Numbers are not emotional and thus incapable of feeling fear.   (Cue the laugh track?)   Ok, enough with the anti-jokes, what the heck is an anticyclone?   As you hopefully inferred by noticing the prefix, an anticyclone is essentially the antithesis of our standard cyclone.   But what exactly does that mean?   First, let’s consider our standard mid-latitude cyclone in the northern hemisphere. These are the typical types of storm systems that have been rolling through New

Marching in with More Snow 2015-02-26 12:37:32.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   As February vacation week continues for most of southern New Hampshire, it looks as though Mother Nature may deliver some additional fresh snow before vacation ends!   Currently an area of low pressure is sitting well to our east, and will bring cloud cover through the evening into early Friday morning. Once the coastal low passes, strong high pressure will quickly build in from the west, bringing persistently clear skies through the weekend. Things will change by the end of the weekend, however, as another area

Media Exposure from a Wild Winter 2015-02-25 09:30:32.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Despite yesterday’s technological issues with my connection with The Weather Channel, I was still able to discuss the extreme climate that we deal with on a daily basis here on the summit of Mount Washington. With the severity of this winter, myself and Kaitlyn O’ Brien from the other shift have had quite a bit of media exposure. This has been great for the Observatory because we have been able to connect with different TV channels and even radio stations as far away as Los

Home Sweet Home 2015-02-24 11:45:21.000 - Mike Carmon, Interim Director of Summit Operations   Stop and look around once in a while. Take it all in. You never know how long it will last. These thoughts have been running through my head the last few months quite a bit, since I left my post as a Weather Observer for the position of Interim Director of Summit Operations, traditionally based at our valley office in North Conway. For many years, day-in and day-out, I had the privilege of waking up to one of the most spectacular views that New England has

Plenty of Snow to Go Around 2015-02-23 17:11:50.000 - Adam Freierman, Summit Intern   An excellent school vacation week for skiing, with some sunny days and plenty of fresh snow, ended with a bang as yet another storm delivered on Saturday night. With snow falling heavily at times, and that dreaded mixed precipitation remaining far away from New Hampshire’s ski areas, skiers across the state found at least 2” of new snow awaiting them on the slopes Sunday morning, with most resorts more in the 4-8” range. On top of last Wednesday’s snow this means that packed powder conditions on

Thankful For A Warm and Sturdy Observatory 2015-02-22 16:04:58.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Tonight, the temperatures will be falling to around 21 degrees below zero by the time that the sun rises in the morning. As a day observer, we generally split the day observations in half so that we can get our other jobs done throughout the day. I will be on afternoon observations tomorrow, and I will be bundling up more so than I ever have before. The low temperatures are looking to approach the mid-30s below zero in the afternoon with winds that will

On Course for the Coldest February on Record 2015-02-21 17:09:33.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   As most of the Northeast can attest too, this winter seems to be one of the coldest winters in recent memory. Cold Artic air has invaded much of the northeast for weeks now, with next to no rest for the cold and weary. In addition to the relentless cold, there has been week after week of winter storms, covering much of New England with upwards of 20 inches of snow. Here on the summit we have not been spared from this brutal winter.

What a Difference 80 Years Makes 2015-02-20 15:39:25.000 - Adam Freierman, Summit Intern   In addition to its famously extreme weather and unique location atop the highest peak in the northeastern United States, the Mount Washington Observatory gains considerable notoriety from the longevity of its existence. Continuous records of weather observations have been kept on the summit since 1932, and these historical data sets are invaluable resources for meteorological and climatological studies. While most of this data is available to scientists, one of the ongoing projects at the observatory is to complete digitization of the earliest records. In the 1930’s

A Great "Spring Break" 2015-02-19 15:21:02.000 - Charlie and Jeanine Kinney, Summit Volunteers   Here we are mid-February and just closing the candy box on another holiday. The wind outside sounds like it wants to rearrange the living quarters and the bulb on the thermometer turned blue. Monday night I dreamt I could hear “I’ll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down.” Friday we were scheduled to have a Day Trip followed by a Climbing Trip and both were canceled due to the conditions. Disappointing for us but more so for the participants. The crew had to

Cold Temperatures, but Deep Snow 2015-02-16 17:43:43.000 - Mike Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   The summit dipped down to 35 degrees below zero last night, tying my personal record for cold temperatures in my time here. As far as I can tell, we were recording the second coldest temperature on Earth for several times last night, second only to the South Pole station in Antarctica. Our wind chill, which approached 90 below at its coldest, was the lowest recorded on Earth last night. So, why are we getting such cold temperatures? The answer is related to the reason we’re getting