Climb to the Clouds 2014-06-29 18:29:24.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Slim Bryant's car departing the summit Today was the 110th anniversary of the Subaru Mt. Washington Hill Climb (aka Climb to the Clouds), a timed-automobile race up the steep and winding 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road. This year's race was the largest in the history of the event, which first started in 1904, with 80 cars vying for the fastest time up the Northeast's highest peak. Luckily the weather remained dry for the event, with warm temperatures for this time of year in the upper 50s on the

Beautiful Sunrise To Start The Weekend 2014-06-28 07:01:23.000 - Brett Rossio,  Summit Intern Morning Glory This is how weekend mornings should always start! With high pressure centered over us, it will be a gorgeous weekend for the entire region. The Road Race, or 'Motor Race' up the mountain will be this weekend too. If you're a motor junkie like me, you should come check it out. Other than that, this would be a great weekend to bring the family up and go for a hike. There won't be many sunny days up here, so I would suggest anybody to take

Care For a Cup of Rain? How About a Bucket? 2014-06-26 15:16:42.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL After the recent stretch of stellar weather late last week through early this week, we've experienced quite a soaker over the last two days.As of 1:30PM today, the summit received a total of 4.53 inches of rain since precipitation commenced early Wednesday morning. The heaviest of the rain fell last night, with buckets descending from the sky for hours at a time. Even though our rainfall totals are impressive, areas just to our south and east received even greater totals, with

Spending Time on the Summit 2014-06-25 12:33:26.000 - Tim Taber,  Digital Content Coordinator NULL I had the opportunity to spend two nights at the summit this week. Since it is my second week working at the Obs, I came up to get a taste of summit life. As it goes up here, we were in the clouds for the majority of my stay except for some great views on Monday. Yesterday we had a blast filming some footage for a Seek the Peak promo video both outside in the fog and inside the Observatory. We also went on a night

Rainbows, Sunsets, Twitter, and Tours 2014-06-24 16:30:02.000 - Caleb Meute,  Summit Intern Amazing Sunset Well, call me a rainbow trout because I am officially hooked on this mountain. Speaking of rainbows, on the way to the base of the mountain before this shift I saw a beautiful one spanning much of the sky. I believe this was letting me know that this week was going to be a good one. To start, we had winds which gusted to near 90 mph. I love weather and the extremes that it has to offer, so naturally, Arielle and I saw this as

Scientists and Watermelons 2014-06-23 20:04:52.000 - Arielle Ahrens,  Summit Intern Watermelon Aftermath Last night we exploded a watermelon. This is what happens when you have a bunch of scientists and an idea. During one of the first tours I experienced this summer, we had a visitor that informed us of an experiment where you put rubber bands around the center of a watermelon and the pressure from the bands causes the watermelon to burst. We were a bit skeptical at first, but after watching several YouTube videos, we knew we had to try it!We acquired a watermelon from the valley,

Lightning Safety Awareness Week 2014-06-22 19:36:07.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist The 'Lightning Position' demo. This week (June 22-28) is known in the weather community as Lightning Safety Awareness Week. Friday, I started this discussion with the two big things to do prior to a thunderstorm - know before you go and when thunder roars, go indoors. These are best-case scenarios however, if you are days out in the backcountry, these two options may not be readily available. So what are some options you can do to reduce your risk of injury or death?Time your activity to avoid potential storms.

A Brief Return To The Obs 2014-06-21 18:18:07.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Former Observer NULL It has been a little over two months since I left the summit of Mount Washington for my new job with Backpacker Magazine. A constant thought I have had was how would I feel once I returned? Would it feel like visiting a childhood home that is no longer yours, or would it feel like coming home from college to see your family? Stepping away from a place you have called home gives you a new prospective on the work you did there. I can honestly

Lightning Safety Awareness Week Intro 2014-06-20 19:01:09.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist NULL Lightning Safety Awareness Week is coming up (June 22-28, 2014) so I figured I would get a jump on things and start talking about lightning and lightning safety in the White Mountains. In the United States, it has been estimated that 25 million lightning flashes occur every year with every one of those flashes potentially becoming deadly. In fact, after flood related deaths, lightning is second when it comes to weather related fatalities each year in the US with several more victims succumbing to severe injuries. In

Ride to the Clouds and NECN 2014-06-19 17:43:02.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Motorcyclists make their way up the Auto Road It's been a busy day here on the summit! The second Ride to the Clouds occurred today, which is an event hosted by the Mount Washington Auto Road. To celebrate the Laconia Motorcycle Week, the road closes to everyone but official stage coaches and motorcycles. I don't have an exact number on the amount of bikes that made it to the summit, but there was a steady stream coming up the road for the entire day. Tomorrow should be