A Few Beautiful Days on the Summit 2014-09-28 20:01:00.000 - Mike Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   We're enjoying the influence of high pressure in the area with a cloudless and warm few days here on the summit! Yesterday's high of 62F and today's high of 61F both broke the daily record highs of 60F (1973) and 59F (1999), respectively. It is so strange walking out on the deck this time of year and feeling temperatures that are comfortable in short sleeves! We're not the only ones enjoying the warm weather here on the summit - a Northern Saw-whet owl decided

Fall Operations 2014-09-27 23:50:00.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   While today felt like summer on the summit, all one had to do was look down into the valleys below to see the indicators of fall (foliage) are all around us. And while Sunday is expected to be equally summer-like weather-wise, visitors should not be lulled into thinking this is the norm or that operations on and around the summit are still operating with summer schedules. The first difference is the operating schedules of AMC huts and shelters. Our closest neighboring hut, Lakes of the Clouds Hut, is closed for

Sweat + Summit + Sunrise = Science! 2014-09-26 19:17:00.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   This morning, we observed an interesting phenomenon that frequently occurs on the summit. If you checked in with our Current Summit Conditions shortly after sunrise today, you may have noticed a spike in the temperature graph. While the spike may look like erroneous data, the data is actually correct! Read on to learn why! We have several different thermometers installed up here on the summit. In addition to the dry bulb thermometer on our sling psychrometer, we also have two mounted thermometers that are

Yet Another Unusual Day on the Summit 2014-09-25 18:58:00.000 - Mike Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   When I woke up I was surprised to see relative humidity in the single digits at justfour percent, all thanks to a high pressure system pushing down over the region. Aftera quick glance outside, I realized another interesting phenomenon had set up overnight-asubsidence inversion. Inversions occur when the temperature increases with height(normally they decrease with height). One type of inversion, a subsidence inversion,occurs when sinking air warms up. An inversion often sets up at the boundary betweenthis sinking layer of air and the air

Under Pressure! 2014-09-24 20:03:00.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   High pressure has moved in and will be hanging around for the next few days, bringing beautiful conditions to the higher summits. In fact, today's pressure reading topped out at 824.03 millibars, which falls within the top ten highest pressures recorded on the summit; the highest of which was approximately 826 millibars. As for what is more typically recorded at 6,288 feet, the climatological normal for the station is 801.22 millibars. If you haven't visited yet this season, be sure to take advantage of these last few summer-like days

A great week atop New England! 2014-09-23 18:02:00.000 - Dennis Rosolen, Summit Volunteer   September 17, the long awaited time to arrive at the Observatory as a Docent, a position where I am a volunteer educator leading groups on an introductory tour of the Observatory then handing them off with a meteorologist to complete the interesting and informative session. A beautiful clear day only enhanced my excitement to begin the week. After settling in I was introduced to the rest of the crew and where I was to be. The weather on Thursday was foggy with high winds so helping

Come up while you can! 2014-09-22 18:38:00.000 - Christine Welsh, Summit Museum Attendant   For a number of reasons, this has been an interesting shift week on the rock pile. The weather has been swinging radically from autumn to winter and back. One morning I awoke to rime ice and a -6 degree wind chill and 110 mile visibility. The next day we reached the low 50s, but had zero view of the rest of the world. We have seen 2 mile per hour winds and we have seen upwards of 82 mile per hour winds. The most remarkable aspect

Cold Winds Rising 2014-09-21 18:38:55.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Some of the first rime ice of the season This week has seen some very large temperature swings on the summit, with temperatures falling as low as a chilly 14 degrees and into the relatively mild lower 50s. Three separate cold fronts will have crossed the summit by tomorrow, with temperatures falling about 25 degrees in roughly 30 hours from the time of this writing. Icing conditions are also looking to make a return to the higher summits late tomorrow, with a much more wintry scene expected by Tuesday. A

Winter Internships Are Coming 2014-09-20 21:05:56.000 - Michael Kyle,  Weather Observer NULL Here at the summit of Mount Washington preparations are underway for winter. Reinstalling storms windows and winterizing our instrumentation are just a few of the winter preparations that we take care of at the start of every winter season. Another task is selecting the winter interns that will be joining the summit crews for the winter season. While the actually internship does not start till after the New Year begins, the process of selecting the winter intern begins much earlier, on October 15th when the application deadline closes.

Thank You to our Volunteers! 2014-09-19 19:39:12.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL Today was fantastic! I know this isn't my normal shift week, but this evening, I joined my friends and colleagues at the Volunteer Appreciation Party. Every year, we throw a party for our wonderful volunteers who so selflessly sacrifice their time and energy to help out the Observatory, both in the valley at the Weather Discovery Center and on the summit. After dinner at the Auto Road Lodge, everyone traveled up to the summit to enjoy the sunset. To all of our current volunteers as well