Lightning on the Summit 2014-08-15 19:41:15.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist NULL Our shift change on Wednesday was a bit exciting. With torrential downpours in the forecast and winds gusting into the 80 mph range, the drive up was a bit exciting. We received a total of 2.80 inches of rain during the 13th, which totals to over a quarter of our precipitation for the month of August! Towards the tail-end of the storm, we received a strong thunderstorm with several direct strikes to the summit. With the windows cracked to hear the thunder, the summit staff waited with

Honoring our Veterans 2014-08-14 23:13:22.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Annual service honoring the 10th Mountain Division Today was a special day on the summit. This afternoon, several veterans of the 10th Mountain Division along with their family members, as well as those currently serving, gathered in the rotunda of the NH State Parks Sherman Adams building to commemorate all of the fallen members of the Division. If you are not familiar with the 10th Mountain Division, it is a division of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Drum, NY and currently operates as Light Infantry. Historically, during

A Week of Volunteering 2014-08-13 16:08:52.000 - Sue Barnes,  Summit Volunteer NULL Well, it has been a good week up here. The weather has been fairly quiet, which allowed for some hiking and I got to see the Alpine Garden. This is a great place to hike from if you want to see other areas around Mount Washington. Also, it really befuddles other hikers when I say my hike is 'down and up' for a day trip, instead of up & down the mountain. We had some really sunny weather on Saturday and Sunday, and it was busy up here.

Last Sunrise 2014-08-12 16:56:08.000 - Ethan Wright,  Summit Intern Sunrise at Morning Observation Well my summer internship is coming to an end tomorrow. It's hard to believe that it is already mid-May and time for another semester of school. The trip back to North Carolina will be bittersweet as I think about all of the experiences of the summer here at the Observatory. My summit family will be dearly missed but I know that they will enjoy the company of intern Caleb Meute, who is switching to this shift next week. I could not ask for a better last week

Four S's 2014-08-11 12:31:02.000 - Michael Kyle,  Weather Observer The Four S's Yesterday was a very exciting day here on the summit of Mount Washington. The day started off with a beautiful sunrise, and only got better from there. During the afternoon, thunderstorms began to develop along the Northern New Hampshire/Maine boarder and travel south towards the White Mountains. By the end of my shift the thunderstorms were quickly approaching the Presidential Range. Contrary to the norm, the summit refrained from going into the clouds, giving us great views of the approaching thunderstorm and its associated phenomena. When the thunderstorm

But Summer Is Still Here 2014-08-09 18:06:43.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL It's hard to believe that August is here, and has been here for nearly ten days. For those of us who are summer-lovers (myself included), the warm season seems to pass by all too quickly every year. Meteorologically, our summer at 6,288 feet lasts from late May/early June through August, making our effective summer season lasting another three weeks after today. Our normal daily average temperature remains at 49F for another week or so, which is the maximum normal daily average we experience throughout the year,

Winter is Coming 2014-08-09 00:05:20.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Deicing in 80mph winds last winter With the past few days being on the chilly side in the 40s and upper 30s, I'm reminded that the all-too short summer is almost over already, and in only a few months it will be full blown winter across the higher summits. I have mixed feelings about this, since I do enjoy winter and all the extreme winter weather Mount Washington has to offer, but on the other hand doing weather observations in shorts and a t-shirt is quite the luxury. In addition

Lightning Tidbit 2014-08-07 19:18:27.000 - Brett Rossio,  Summit Intern NULL The day started with a quiet morning on the summit, but gave way to a busy start to the afternoon. A couple thunderstorms rolled through the summits, yielding some pea sized hail showers. Our shift leader, Mike Carmon posted some great pictures of the hail on our Facebook page! For meteorologists, this is what makes us jump out of our seats. Thunderstorms are truly a treat up here, but also very dangerous. Though the chances of getting struck by lightning are slim; standing on the summit completely exposed becomes exponentially

The Week-On/Week-Off Lifestyle 2014-08-06 17:07:49.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Washington from Mt. Isolation Working as an observer on the summit of Mount Washington, life is far from any semblance of what most would consider 'normal.' There's the unique living environment, the not-so-typical commute, and then there's that crazy weather that we like to harp on.One of the more interesting facets to summit life is the week-on/week-off work schedule--something that is necessitated by the extreme environment we find ourselves in. As one can imagine, keeping such a schedule does have its advantages, and some drawbacks as well. Being atop

Wimpy Weather, but Wonderful Week 2014-08-05 18:32:53.000 - Joshua P. Cohen,  Summit Volunteer NULL From July 30th through August 6th Tom Henell and I spent a fantastic week atop the Northeast's highest peak, volunteering for the Mount Washington Observatory. Having your temporary home at the summit of a mountain is an adventure. In some ways there's isolation from one's everyday existence. In my case, I felt removed from the routine of living in Beacon Hill and working on the Boston campus of Tufts University. In other ways there's bonding with your fellow summit inhabitants; a fun, humorous, intelligent, and motivated