Icing on the Summit 2013-12-06 17:24:32.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Glaze Ice Covering the Deck Icing events can occur at any time of the year-if you have read the book "Not Without Peril," you are familiar with one of the stories in which a mid-summer icing event allowed glaze ice to coat the entire range many inches thick. More commonly, however, are shoulder-season icing events, like the one that occurred last night and this morning. The thin coating the summit received, combined with winds that made it feel like gravity had switched directions, was enough to make observations interesting

Winter Is Here! 2013-12-05 17:25:37.000 - Pratik Patel,  Summit Intern NULL The snowcat is officially operational and was put into use for the first time this winter season during our shift change yesterday. During winter trip season, we use the snowcat to transport people up and down the mountain safely. Since the facility is closed for the winter to the general public, the Mount Washington Observatory offers winter trips, which is a unique opportunity for folks who want to experience the extreme winter conditions up on the summit. You can enjoy an in-depth guided tour of the summit area and

Winter Trip Preparation 2013-12-04 14:41:01.000 - Krissy Fraser,  Events and Marketing Manager Summit View The Obs staff is busy ramping up for a great line up of winter trips to the summit. As part of the preparation several of the Obs staff who generally work out of the Weather Discovery Center offices in North Conway, took a trip to the summit on Tuesday. The day could not have been more pristine with sunshine, over 70 miles of visibility and incredibly calm winds - it made it hard to imagine that we were at the Home of the World's Worst Weather!

Another week unlike any other. 2013-12-02 16:46:35.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Our 16 pound bird! Today, Monday, marks day number seven for our shift, after coming up a day early last week due to weather concerns. While no two shifts are typically alike, this week will certainly remain memorable. For starters, our shift leader and staff Meteorologist Mike is on vacation for the week, reducing our staff number to just 2 observers and one intern for the week. Secondly, during November we typically do not have volunteers up with us being that November is usually pretty quiet to

Meteorological Winter 2013-12-01 17:31:18.000 - Samuel Hewitt,  Summit Intern A Black Hawk Circles the Summit Saturday Happy meteorological winter! As meteorologists, we define winter to be the three coldest months of the year. For most places across the Unites States, including the summit of Mt. Washington, those months are December, January, and February. This is contrary to an astronomical winter, which begins at the winter solstice (December 21st) and ends at the vernal equinox (around March 20th). Even though it may be the "first" day of winter, it has felt like it for much longer here on the Rockpile. This

A unique holiday season 2013-11-30 18:25:01.000 - Cyrena Briede,  Director of Summit Operations NULL We're always incredibly grateful for the generosity and support of our members and fans through this special time of the year, with this year in particular being pretty unique.Not only is this the week of Thanksgiving, but for our Jewish members and fans, Thanksgiving overlaps with the start of Hanukkah for the first time since 1888. Many religious holidays follow a lunar calendar, which makes their celebration day change slightly from year to year when compared to a Gregorian calendar, the January through December type most

Wednesday's Nor'easter on The Summit 2013-11-29 13:44:54.000 - Samuel Hewitt,  Summit Intern 7:00-9:00 PM 11-27-13 Thermograph In anticipation of Wednesday's Nor'easter, my shift-mates and I arrived at the summit early on Tuesday evening so that we would not have to battle the storm Wednesday morning. Snow had already begun to fall by the time we reached the summit cone and temperatures were hovering in the middle 20's. The snow continued to fall during the overnight hours and temperatures began to rise ahead of the system's warm front. During the early morning hours of Wednesday, the snow transitioned to a period

Happy Thanksgiving from the roof of the Northeast! 2013-11-28 11:03:19.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL While the observations are as routine as ever (albeit in snow, hurricane force winds and wind chills of -40 degrees) today, our actual routine will incorporate most of the things we would love to be doing if at home with friends and family. To start the day, deicing, radio shows, forecasting, shoveling and data check will proceed as normal, only to be hopefully followed up by football, roasting the turkey, finishing pies, and whipping up side dishes.I imagine that we will also have

First early shift change of the season 2013-11-27 21:46:55.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer Our snowy truck arrives on the summit Due to today's large storm system moving up the coast, we decided to move up our normal shift change to Tuesday. This is an infrequent occurrence, but it does happen from time to time during the winter season when road conditions may make travel up and down the Auto Road unsafe. Last night we arrived at the base of the Auto Road around 5:30 PM, with the storm just beginning to knock on our door in NH as snow

First early shift change of the season 2013-11-27 17:56:48.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer Our snowy truck arrives on the summit Due to today's large storm system moving up the coast, we decided to move up our normal shift change to Tuesday. This is an infrequent occurrence, but it does happen from time to time during the winter season when road conditions may make travel up and down the Auto Road unsafe. Last night we arrived at the base of the Auto Road around 5:30 PM, with the storm just beginning to knock on our door in NH as snow