Summit Volunteers 2014-12-16 18:39:50.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   There are a lot of interesting and unique aspects to working and living on the summit of Mount Washington. The most obvious is the front row seat to the extreme weather. The one I’m thinking about today however, is our volunteer program. The Mount Washington Observatory offers our entire membership base the opportunity to come spend a shift week on the summit. In return we ask of them to help out with the cooking of a few meals and basic household cleaning. It’s great sharing our work with different

A Well Deserved Weather Break 2014-12-15 17:01:48.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   After a very snowy and foggy week, the next few days of clear and mild weather are a welcome sight for us here on the summit. Over the past week the summit received over 21 inches of snowfall, with our depth on the ground rising from only around 6 inches to 18 inches currently. Before today, every day this week has seen fog for at least a portion of the day, with very little in the way of any sunshine. Tonight and Tuesday are expected to be

Total White Out 2014-12-14 16:27:57.000 - Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Being socked in the fog for days at a time is nothing new for the summit of Mount Washington. Nor is it uncommon for the dense fog and blowing snow to be limiting visibility to zero feet during the winter time. So yesterday morning when I went outside for an observation it was not surprising to see the fog and blowing snow limiting the visibility. I proceeded to walk towards to the center of the observation deck to try and collect snowflakes on our snowboard. This helps us

Stubborn Area of Low Pressure 2014-12-13 14:06:00.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Education Specialist   Ski resorts across much of northern New Hampshire made out quite well from the December 9 – December 10 Nor’easter with the White Mountains accumulating just under a foot of snow. For the rest of New Hampshire, things started out well for snow lovers, but a couple of factors came into play hindering totals. The main difference from what actually happened compared to the forecast models was the path that the low tracked. The center of low pressure ended up tracking closer inland which

A View From the Afternoon 2014-12-11 07:33:48.000 - Joshua Perez, Summit Intern   There’s always been something special about a mountain. That something, however, has yet to be decided. To the Greeks, it was a place that the Olympians, the strongest of gods resided. To the Christians, it was a place where Jesus could communicate with the Holy Father. To the explorers, it was a place of conquest to forever immortalize their name. But these reasons all make sense. The mountains were as high up as mankind could go before the Wright brothers came along. Not only that, they are

My Volunteer Week on the Summit 2014-12-10 17:39:53.000 - Mike Carrafiello, Summit Volunteer   It has been a hectic week here on the summit. There is major construction activity to renovate all of the Observatory bunk rooms. In addition to the regular Obs staff, there were several construction people, a videographer, and a student researcher. This made for a very busy but interesting experience. It was quite a difference from my previous two weeks here as a summit volunteer. The bunk room reconstruction is going very well and nearing completion. The rooms have been reconfigured to greatly increase the comfort

Watching the Mountain We Call Washington 2014-12-09 16:48:34.000 - Roger Pushor, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   It seems like it's been just about forever since I last wrote an Observer Comment and that's because I've been heads down working on getting content up to this new website. The summit of Mount Washington is an ever changing place so our website must be able to keep up with the current conditions. After reviewing all of the existing programs that updated the old website it was decided the best approach would be to consolidate and re-write all of the software that uploaded data

Wintry Weather to Come! 2014-12-08 17:59:03.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   The mountains of New Hampshire may see their biggest storm of the season so far with this next round of snow. With temperatures hovering just around the freezing mark, the amount of snow that falls will vary greatly depending on location. Southern and coastal areas will see warmer air, so they will see little or no snow out of this storm. A slushy 2-4 inches can be expected for Merrimack and Belknap counties, with more accumulation at higher elevations. Snow totals in Northern Carroll and Coos counties

New Faces and New Spaces 2014-12-07 17:35:53.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   During this shift week, we have been lucky enough to work with Tom Guilmette, a videographer based in Boston, MA. After helping us capture spectacular footage for the Extreme Mount Washington exhibit, he has returned to the summit. This time he focused on a very special project that began in the beginning of November. Thanks to the Facilities Committee, Berkeley Building Company, Mount Washington State Park crew, donors, and fans, the Observatory bunk rooms have received a much needed renovation. This documentary shows the dedication of

Dear Santa... 2014-12-06 16:50:20.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Dear Santa- How are you? I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is my eighth letter to you; that's nearly one letter for each year I have been working up here. Digging through my file cabinet, I have been covering our five-point checklist that we agreed to years ago: Hand Written note by November 1 - DONE Email note by Thanksgiving - DONE A preliminary New Hampshire forecast for Christmas night - DONE (emailed it to you this morning) A reminder on my