A Gusty Return 2014-06-18 20:00:54.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL Weather conditions on the summit were far different from the muggy morning we left behind in the valley today. Throughout shift change, winds were sustained above 50mph and at times, gusted to well over 70mph. After several past shifts with eerily calm conditions (for Mount Washington standards of course!), I for one welcomed this change of pace. With an area of low pressure slowly departing the region, gusty winds and lingering rain showers will persist overnight tonight before gradually clearing as an area of high pressure moves in

Exciting Times 2014-06-17 22:38:10.000 - Jan Berriochoa,  Summit Museum Attendant It is an exciting time on the summit. The Museum is now open and droves of visitors have come to Extreme Mount Washington. Due to the weather, the Auto Road was only open halfway causing the ribbon cutting to be held down below at the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center. After spending four days in the fog with rain and high winds, we ended our Friday's shift with a spectacular sunset and rose Saturday morning to a glorious sunrise. Since this is my first summer on the summit, this week

Windy Day 2014-06-15 15:56:44.000 - Brett Rossio,  Summit Intern Slightly Breezy Day (By Rockpile Standards) Summit-seekers got a real treat today with winds gusting to 70 mph in some cases. Higher gusts like this are far less frequent during the late spring/summer months. An unseasonably cooler airmass funneled into the region from Quebec (imagine a mountain of dense air rushing into a location that previously had low air pressure...physically-speaking the dense object will want to rush to the location of low density.). This coupled with conducive vertical conditions allowed stronger winds to mix to the summit level. Ethan and I

The Day's Watch 2014-06-14 12:34:40.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Marty on Daytime Duty As Kyle mentioned in his comments yesterday, we are a man down this week, so he has flipped to the 5PM-5AM night shift. This has left me as the sole observer on the day shift. Its been quite a hectic shift, so it's been a bit of a challenge to keep up with all of the goings-on at the summit this week!Luckily, I have two well-trained interns that have lent a tremendous hand, in addition to having a sort of 'guest' observer from the other

Up All Night 2014-06-13 20:19:37.000 - Michael Kyle,  Weather Observer NULL Like the weather, work here at the Mount Washington Observatory is 24/7 365 days a year. To cover every hour of the day the staff on the summit is broken into different shifts to cover the 24 hours of weather observations in addition to the other daily tasks we are responsible for. When one of us get to go on a much deserved vacation that means the rest of the staff is left to fill void of being an observer down. While we do not mind helping fill the

Busy Times 2014-06-13 07:35:56.000 - Cyrena Briede,  Director of Summit Operations NULL To say things are busy right now at the Observatory is an understatement! We just completed installing a complete solar array on the roof of the Weather Discovery Center, the new Extreme Mount Washington Museum has reached the day of it's grand opening, and we will be premiering a brand new website this summer. But that's not all!We are so fortunate to have many media requests from Quebec to Boston that want to come to the summit and tell their viewers about Extreme Mount Washington. I spent all

2014-06-11 18:08:10.000 - Ethan Wright,  Summit Intern NULL Living on the summit guarantees that you will meet a wide range of people with unique personalities. I am just starting the second work week of my internship and I have already seen many individuals at the summit with differing ethnic backgrounds and areas of interest. The observatory itself draws individuals for many different reasons. One of the groups that frequent the summit are hikers. The Appalachian Trail runs through the White Mountains and crosses the summit and offers the chance for hikers to experience the views of the highest mountain in

What a Week!! 2014-06-10 19:48:43.000 - Gary MacDonald,  Extreme Mount Washington Docent NULL As one of the first volunteer docents in the new Extreme Mount Washington exhibit, I've had the opportunity to be living on the summit the last week. I've seen gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, clear days and days of zero visibility, no wind and gusts to 60 mph, and to top it off the incredible experience of seeing the Northern Lights from the summit. But even more importantly, I've witnessed the incredible work that is going on at the Mount Washington Observatory, and the passion and dedication for

New Faces and Interesting Weather 2014-06-09 20:33:12.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Kaitlyn and I pause to look at the storm. Yesterday, our interns went for a hike to Lakes of the Clouds/Mt. Monroe to visit a new peak and meet our closest neighbors - the Lakes of the Cloud Hut Croo. Today, it was the Observers turn as Weather Observer/Educational Specialist Kaitlyn O'Brien and myself made the quick trek down to the hut. We briefly made introductions and conversation to some of the Croo before we decided to head back to work. As we headed out the hut, fellow

Painted Sky and Parapet 2014-06-08 18:56:39.000 - Caleb Meute,  Summit Intern Arielle and I painting the parapet today. As I sit here contemplating all of the different things I want to fit into this comment, I am enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee. I don't usually drink coffee, but when I do, I prefer it to be due to the result of being tired after waking up in the middle of the night to see the northern lights. Yesterday, we received word about the potential to see these Northern Lights overnight, due to a large coronal mass ejection from