Dear Santa... 2013-11-26 14:12:46.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist NULL Dear Santa-How are you? It is wild to think that another year is gone and we quickly find ourselves barreling towards Christmas 2013 with me writing you once again. This will be my seventh letter to you; that's nearly one letter for each year I have been working up here. So, going over our five point checklist, I think we have accomplished nearly all of your requirements: 1. Hand Written note by November 1 - DONE2. Email note by Thanksgiving - DONE3. A preliminary New Hampshire forecast for Christmas night

Snowy Peaks in the Distance 2013-11-25 18:01:48.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Killington on the horizon behind Bretton Woods Another beautiful day on the summit! As we push our way closer and closer to the official start of winter (December 21st), the mountain is looking more and more snowy! After reading the official summit snowfall total so far for the month of 32.1 inches, I was a bit surprised. However, after reviewing our average monthly snowfall of 37.8 inches for the month of November on the summit, it seems as if we're approximately on track with snowfall so far! It's

The Century Club 2013-11-24 18:41:14.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Pushing Against the Wind Back Up the Deck Today was a bit more than just a normal day. All eyes were transfixed on the dials in the weather room, waiting for the next big gust. Temperatures were well below zero (hovering between -5 and -15 the whole day) with winds sustained above 100 miles per hour for much of the day. Some of you may have heard about the Century Club, an informal fraternity of elite observers who can walk around the deck in sustained hundred-mile-an-hour wind. There are only

Arctic Freeze!!! 2013-11-23 17:58:47.000 - Pratik Patel,  Summit Intern cold air seeping over the Great Lakes As you may know, winter has already started on top of Mt. Washington a few weeks ago. Over the next 36 hours, the polar jet stream will dip over the Midwest and the high and low pressure systems over central and northeastern North America will help funnel in cool Arctic air over the northeast. Here on the summit, we will see temperatures plummet to mid teens below zero! As the surface high builds up over the Midwest and pushes eastward, a relatively strong pressure

Summit Views and Marty Calendars Now Available! 2013-11-22 16:36:01.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Calendar store front example. Over the past few years, people would frequently ask if our images were available in a calendar. It is something I have looked into time and time again with limited success. It's not that there aren't plenty of available printers out there. The problem comes down to a numbers game. Of all the companies I looked at, the troubles came in one of two ways. The first was a requirement to buy a large amount of calendars to get an affordable price

Extreme Mount Washington nearing hibernation 2013-11-21 16:07:21.000 - Will Broussard,  Outreach Coordinator NULL We are growing closer to the moment when the former Mount Washington Summit Museum space will be put to bed for the winter ahead of the planned opening of Extreme Mount Washington in the spring of 2014. Most recently, the Appalachian Mountain Club's Construction Crew has been focusing on the finishing touches inside the museum space. Drywall and slat-wall installation and painting has begun and will continue. Electricians have begun installing circuits and conduits. Radiator cowling has been removed, painted, and reinstalled. The gift shop storage area

Night And Day 2013-11-20 23:40:21.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Lake Winnipesaukee as seen from the summit today. Working nights, I see the world around the summit differently. Cities that surround the summit aren't identified by their buildings but by their lights. Ski resorts that are identified by white veins webbing the various peaks during the day are alternatively identified by the lights that line a handful of their runs at night. The sky goes from a large bowl of blue to a large black backlit canopy with holes punched in it with the various constellations walking across the sky

High Pressure 2013-11-19 22:37:53.000 - Tom Padham,  Weather Observer NULL Ever wonder why the "high pressure" meteorologists talk about is usually associated with nice weather? High atmospheric (or barometric) pressure causes sinking motions of air at the surface, meaning the air underneath a high pressure is both warming and drying out as it descends towards the surface. This tends to suppress cloud development, and often leads to clear or mostly clear skies underneath the high pressure like we have seen over the past few days. Winds underneath a high pressure system are generally light because there is typically little change

Severe Weather 2013-11-18 17:34:29.000 - Samuel Hewitt,  Summit Intern 11-17-13 Storm Reports courtesy NWS SPC Yesterday's severe weather outbreak across the Midwest/Ohio River Valley will go down as one of worst in recorded history for the month of November. Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service indicate that more than 70 tornadoes touched down across six states, the majority of which occurred in Illinois and Indiana. The most prominent tornado was a violent EF-4 (winds 166-200 mph) that passed through the town of Washington in Tazewell County, IL. Records show that this is the first EF-4 to strike Tazewell County

Sunday: Food and Tornadoes 2013-11-17 12:28:09.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Tornado Probability: National Weather Service SPC As the calendar closes in on Thanksgiving Day, our shift is beginning the planning phases for our Turkey Day menu just like countless cooks across America. As you may be well aware, our facility here on the Rockpile operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which means that ultimately one of our shifts will be at work for the holiday, meaning without friends and family we will be sure to put an absurd amount of focus into what we will