Halfway Through my Week at the Top 2015-01-24 16:28:24.000 - Jeff Swanson, Summit Volunteer   Volunteering at the Mt Washington Observatory is truly a special opportunity. You get to witness weather research and analysis in progress, get to know some wonderful individuals that come here from around the country to work, and you experience the sudden change of the weather outside. My co-volunteer Jan Berriochoa and I have the primary responsibility to keep them fed with the multitude of food combinations from the pantry. It's great to experiment with recipes for people I have never met. The crews are always

My Week as a Volunteer 2015-01-23 18:55:51.000 - Noreen McGrath, Summit Volunteer   I was a little apprehensive in the final days preparing for my first winter week at the MWObs. Were my clothes going to be warm enough? How many trips were coming up I'd have to feed? And most of all, could I handle it by myself, since I was the only volunteer this week. Flying solo- so they say. Well, I had nothing to worry about. I had trips to feed five days out of the week, on top of the crew's dinners, the daily chores and

Winter's Return 2015-01-22 19:23:46.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Great news for skiers and snow lovers across New Hampshire as high pressure looks to remain in the forecast into the weekend before low pressure and unsettled weather will eventually make a return. This means that skies will be mostly clear tonight through Friday night and temperatures will be below freezing, allowing ski resorts to continue to build onto their existing snowpack. This weekend looks quite interesting as we have two separate areas of low pressure which will make their ways towards New England potentially dropping accumulating snow throughout

Sunrise In The Snowcat 2015-01-21 18:09:11.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Today is Wednesday, which means that today is shift change day for the summit staff. However, it wasn’t a typical Wednesday shift change. Other than having some special guests join us today, which I’ll talk about later, I’m actually referencing the deep drifts that needed to be cleared along the Mount Washington Auto Road for us to reach the summit. For this to occur, our transportation coordinator started working before sunrise, to remove the 6 to 8 foot snow drifts that have covered the road the last

A Little Limerick 2015-01-20 21:41:39.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Summit Intern   I sat there staring at the blue Pretending like I hadn’t a clue Because after forecasting snow Twenty six days in a row My dreams had not yet become true  But as I stepped outside late that night I turned to the dark with my light And when I saw my first glimmer Reflect back with a shimmer I knew my prediction was right  As I watched the first snow all around I was left feeling oh so profound The cold touch on my face Made my warm heartbeat

The Highs and Lows of Winter 2015-01-19 13:59:09.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   It seems that ever since the Christmastime melt-out, this winter season has been a disappointing one. Where is all the snow? Why was yesterday's event mostly ice instead of that highly desirable fresh powder? While snow was seen on the higher summits across the state, much of the lower elevations in addition to the southern half of the state saw a wintry mix of freezing rain and rain. We have a stout warm front to blame for that; the temperatures were simply not cold enough

A Fresh Perspective 2015-01-18 20:35:39.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Summit Intern   Beginning my first shift week as the new summit intern, I was thrilled for many reasons; with one of those being the thought of seeing the mountain in the winter for the first time. Going on my fifth day on the summit, I have already experienced a wide range of winter weather conditions that the summit has to offer. My first few days on the summit were relatively clear with modest winds. It proved to be a very nice start to my stay as I enjoyed the picturesque views

Pressure and Wind on the Summit 2015-01-17 17:51:46.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   The summit of Mount Washington receives some of the highest wind speeds in the world. Our record high gust of 231 miles per hour, recorded in April of 1934, was a world record wind speed measured on the surface of the Earth. While this was broken in 1996 by a hurricane off the coast of Australia, we still hold onto the fact that we have recorded the fastest wind speed observed by man (the Australian station was automated). So, what gives us our strong winds?

I Can See For Miles, And Miles, And Miles... 2015-01-16 19:55:48.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   On Wednesday, January 14, we posted a picture to our Facebook page that described how we could see 120 miles in all directions that day.  Since then we have had a few emails, Facebook comments, and private messages asking what the farthest distance is we can see, and what might be the farthest distance you can see in general.  For weather stations like ours, we use visibility markers with known distances around the horizon (in the past using geometry and trigonometry but more

Wind, Temperature, and Wind Chill- Oh My! 2015-01-15 17:24:28.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Much of the state will experience bitterly cold temperatures starting Friday and lasting through the early part of the weekend. An area of low pressure to our northwest will be swinging a cold front through, allowing temperatures to plummet throughout the day Friday. This cold air will settle in ahead of high pressure that will move through on Saturday. As a result of this transition of systems, a strong pressure gradient will cause winds to ramp up, approaching 80 mph Friday evening on the