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

Sunny Skies Ahead 2014-06-07 11:59:57.000 - Arielle Ahrens,  Summit Intern NULL Week two began with a staff retreat where both shifts and even the valley staff came up to the summit to attend a day-long developmental staff meeting. Even though we are a small non-profit, like any organization, there is always room for improvement. We discovered different ways to communicate as well as when each mode of communication is appropriate. We also learned and practiced these new communication skills through small group discussions. It was an educational and fun experience and I will definitely try to implement the techniques I

Instruments Here on the Summit 2014-06-06 16:42:09.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Not a Bad Office View this Morning It constantly amazes me how many different instruments we have here on the summit to measure various variables. Here is a brief description of the variables we measure and the instruments we use to measure them.Wind Sensors: Our primary wind instruments here on the summit consist of a pitot tube anemometer and an alpine RM Young. The pitot tube measures wind speed by measuring the pressure of the wind, and the RM Young measures wind speed and direction with a spinning

Mount Washington is Calling You! 2014-06-05 16:32:48.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist View of the Summit from Boott Spur Trail I can't believe it's already June! It's amazing how quickly the time passes, especially when off-weeks overlap between months. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of the beautiful weather this past off-week and enjoyed a great hike with my friend Ashley. Speaking of hiking - after looking at the calendar today, I noticed we're getting closer and closer to our 14th Annual Seek the Peak Hike-a-thon event on July 19! If you enjoy spending time outdoors and hiking

Back And Ready For Action 2014-06-05 00:44:50.000 - Jan Berriochoa,  Summit Museum Attendant NULL It is great to be back! As much as I enjoy the shores of Rhode Island, I found I can't wait to return to the summit. This is truly a magical place.Whahoo!!!! The new summit museum experience opened Saturday to the public and as we could hear the 'toot-toot 'of the Cog, we eagerly waited to show off Extreme Mount Washington. I must say it is pretty impressive. Kudos to Mystic who worked day and night to get it up and running. Insomuch that the truck

Thunderstorm Season Begins! 2014-06-03 18:29:51.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Nice Sunrise This Morning, T-Storms This Evening? Waking up this afternoon (being the night observer) I was greeted with sight of a line of thunderstorms on radar approaching from the west, with some of the tops of these storms already seen with the naked eye about 100 miles away. Having spent two previous summer seasons on the summit, I am no stranger to thunderstorms up here and am excited to see what this summer may have in store. Some of the most exciting weather events I have seen here have

Enjoying The Weather 2014-06-02 18:06:14.000 - Michael Kyle,  Weather Observer NULL After several shifts of rocky unsettled weather on the summit, this week has finally broken that trend. For the past 48 hours the summit has been in the clear with no precipitation. Visibilities were reaching 85 plus miles yesterday, and even though visibility has dropped slight today it has still been 65 miles or greater. Best of all though; temperatures on the summit have been trending above average. Even pushing into the lower 60's for a stretch during the afternoon today. Like Brett mentioned yesterday this weather is too

Enjoying The Day 2014-06-01 16:23:05.000 - Brett Rossio,  Summit Intern Looks Much Better! The summit is in full swing now with many filing up the Auto Road and even the COG Railway. We ended up with a beautiful day today with very few clouds. It's great to see the many visitors enjoying the sights, including our new interactive museum that gives the public an idea what the observers do up here. Our lead meteorology cat, Marty has been hard at work outside taking observations and scoping the nice weather we have today. Ethan and I have been taking advantage of