Déjà vu! 2015-01-01 17:40:43.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   While everyone is likely focusing on the fresh start of a brand new year, it is looking like Mother Nature is reflecting extra carefully on 2014. Remember that rainy Christmas Day most of New England experienced just one short week ago? Models are indicating the formation of an area of low pressure that will likely affect us during the second half of the weekend. Right now, it's looking like the center of the low will once again be positioned over the Great Lakes, putting much of New England in

Time Lapse Compilation and New Year's Eve 2014-12-31 18:32:25.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   We have our annual New Year's overnight fundraiser up on the summit tonight! They're very excited to experience the extreme weather here on the summit, as winds have gusted to hurricane force with temperatures hovering between 10 and 15 degrees below zero. If you would like more information on today's weather, visit our current summit conditions page! As a reflection of the past year, I've compiled the best time lapses that I took in the last year.  From beautiful sunrises to waves in valley

Spending Christmas at The Observatory 2014-12-30 20:11:05.000 - Steve Crossman, Summit Volunteer   This week is my third time at the Mount Washington Observatory as a volunteer. My feelings leading up to the week were mixed since this would be the first Christmas I hadn't spent with my family in a very, very long time. But I was offered Christmas week and decided it would be a nice, unique way to celebrate the holiday. When I arrived at the base for the snowcat ride up, the excitement of the coming week's adventure temporarily put that out of mind. There were

Winter's Return 2014-12-29 17:15:07.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   After a few weeks of above average temperatures and a melt out across the White Mountains, the week ahead looks much more winter like. Arctic high pressure will set up shop over New England, with a cold and dry air mass remaining in place through Friday. Temperatures on the summit will fall into the teens below zero both tonight and Tuesday night. This will allow for our snowpack to remain firmly in place, with some additional snowfall over the next couple days as a weak cold front crosses the area

Happily Employed 2014-12-28 16:28:10.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Education Specialist   I have to say that I am pretty ecstatic to have completed my internship and have it TURN INTO A JOB HERE. I’ll try and remain calm for the remainder of this comment. At the beginning of 2014, I found myself employed in a position where I was not utilizing any sort of meteorology at all. This was a problem for me because I have been passionate about weather since I was a child, and after obtaining my meteorology degree I figured I would have no problem

Temporary Snowpack Setback 2014-12-26 13:42:45.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Education Specialist   As you’re likely aware, a potent low pressure system brought record breaking warm air and copious amounts of rain into New England on Christmas Eve and into Christmas day – not exactly what snow lovers were hoping Santa would bring. A couple of factors came into play which led to the heavy rains and well above average temperatures. First off, at the 500 millibar level, a trough dug all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico which helped pump bountiful amounts of moisture up the

Best Christmas Gift Of All 2014-12-25 15:52:42.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Since the weather never takes a day off, we don’t either here at the Mount Washington Observatory.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t take time to celebrate the holiday though. As most of you did, today we woke up to find gifts from Santa Clause and generous members of the observatory under our Christmas tree. We also gathered together around our tree as a summit family and enjoyed watching our favorite holiday movies and opening our gifts. Like always the most interesting gift we got today

How Lucky I feel... 2014-12-24 15:29:19.000 - Michael Wessler, Plymouth State University Summit Intern   Only hours in to my first time here at the summit, the home of the world’s worst weather threatens to live up to its name. While my time here will largely be spent working on climate research, it’s hard to look away from the present weather when you’re surrounded by it. It is truly a unique experience to be sitting in the weather room at the observatory with winds howling by and rain crashing against the windows. Between shadowing the observers on hourly observations, taking

Volunteering on the Summit 2014-12-23 06:09:39.000 - Sue Zlogar, Summit Volunteer   Mike and I have returned for our December "volunteer vacation," on the Rockpile, with Ryan, Mike, Kaitlyn, Josh and Marty. A frenzy of activity has resulted in homeostasis being put to the test: reconstruction of the sleeping quarters, the first EMS winter hiking trek, and a shortened work week due to the holiday season and Christmas schedules. All that being said they have managed to go with the flow and rewarded us with 3 spectacular sunrises and 2 beautiful sunsets, morning undercasts with alpine glow shining underneath the

A Brief Overview of Backcountry Skiing Gear 2014-12-22 18:40:15.000 - Mike Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   It's amazing the difference a couple of weeks makes! The current snow coverage here on the summit compares to what was here mid-winter last year! Even though there's a large rain event headed our way this week, hopefully New Hampshire's deep snowpack will survive. Ample natural snow, along with prime snow-making conditions have allowed ski areas across New Hampshire to build up quite the base of snow, which will hopefully stay solid through the rain event that is due to arrive Wednesday. We could