Sixty One Days and Counting 2015-03-07 19:02:13.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   The last time the summit saw a temperature above 32°F was 61 days ago, back on 1/04/2015. The average temperature since then is 1°F below zero. Within that 61 day span there was a 5 day block where temperatures didn’t rise above zero! Compared to past winters 61 days isn’t that bad. In the winter of 1960 temperatures remained below freezing for 106 days, lasting from 12/14/1959 till 3/28/1960. The 5 days of sub-zero temperatures, this year is less than half of the 12 days’ worth

Learning From The Best 2015-03-06 19:52:36.000 - Adam Freierman, Summit Intern   My main objective for my eight or so weeks that I will spend as an intern here at the Observatory is to learn as much as I can about meteorology. Spending time every day studying models and working on forecasts I end up with a lot of questions about what I’m seeing. Sometimes I can get answers by reading discussions written by our night observers, or ones put out by the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. Other questions are better solved by reading through books we have

The Winds of March 2015-03-05 14:11:11.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   After the long brutal winter New England has been seeing so far this year, we are all looking for a slight break.  Like Tom mentioned yesterday, that break seems to be likely in coming days. This made me think about the old saying “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” I then asked myself, “How accurate is its meaning is for the summit of Mount Washington? Does that saying even apply up here?To get a quick and simple answer to these questions, I looked through our

Signs of Spring on the Horizon? 2015-03-04 20:45:35.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   After a very cold and snowy February across New England, we may be seeing signs of changes ahead for the month of March. After a chilly next few days with arctic air locked over the region as it has been for much of the winter, temperatures look to be in the 30s and even lower 40s by the end of the weekend across all of New Hampshire. What’s responsible for this expected warm up? The main driving force is a major change in the jet stream.

Second Coldest February on Record for the Summit 2015-03-03 14:09:31.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   A project that has been ongoing since I arrived here back in December of 2005 is the digitizing of our weather records into a database. If you are a long-time follower of the Observer Comments (i.e. this blog), you know some of the difficulties our interns/full-time staff have encountered in this process, first in entering the data but also regarding quality control of the data. Year by year we have chipped away at entering our data and are (hopefully) nearing the light at

Profiling More Precipitation 2015-03-02 20:01:13.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Summit Intern   You have probably noticed that we have gotten quite a bit of snow this winter, and if you have been paying attention to the forecasts, you know that there’s more en route to New England tomorrow night. However, this storm system will be a little different from those experienced in the past month. It will begin as a typical “Alberta Clipper” with low pressure forming over northwestern Canada. This time, instead of moving towards New England, upper air patterns will keep the low pressure center far to our North.

Wanted: Summer Interns! 2015-03-01 21:41:39.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Every summer, fall, and winter, the Observatory searches for interns who are interested in learning about extreme weather while assisting with the daily tasks required to run a mountaintop weather station. We are currently seeking enthusiastic students, recent graduates, and qualified weather enthusiasts who are looking for an adventure this summer! The last day to submit applications is this Thursday, March 5, 2015. To find out more information about this exciting opportunity, and to apply, please see our Internship page.    Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

New Webcam Views from Wildcat! 2015-02-28 20:21:57.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   We are excited to unveil our new and improved camera pointing towards the Presidential Range from the summit of Wildcat Mountain Ski Area! This includes several different improved zoomed-in views of Huntington Ravine, Tuckerman Ravine and the Gulf of Slides! As a snow lover, I am personally really excited to see this happen! These pictures can be accessed by members with their log-on here, and a zoomed-out picture of Tuckerman, Huntington and the summit is available to the public. You won’t only get access to these

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