Another Beautiful Day 2013-10-10 17:15:33.000 - Pratik Patel,  Summit Intern Observation Deck It was once again, another beautiful day on the summit with blue skies, plenty of sunshine and unmistakable views of the Appalachians. Seeing how the weather has been so cooperative within the last few days, families and friends have made the trip to the summit to take pictures and enjoy the sights. Unfortunately however, as we all know, weather is always changing. As the coastal low over the Atlantic continues to move northeast, clouds will return over the summits this evening, continuing into the night. In addition,the Geophysical

Five Common Aurora Questions We Receive 2013-10-09 23:46:06.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Aurora from October Second. If you are an avid follower or frequent checker of our Facebook page, you may have viewed a few of our Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) images over the past year or so (on a side note, you do not need a Facebook username or password to view our content; you only need one if you intend to 'Like' or leave comments on any content). While we like to share these images, they always generate a ton of questions. So, I will answer

Out With The Old, In With The New 2013-10-08 16:51:46.000 - Samuel Hewitt,  Summit Intern New Precipitation Can Stand! Every six hours here on the summit, an observer ventures outside to collect the precipitation can. Once inside, a specially incremented ruler is used to determine how much precipitation has fallen over those six hours. When frozen precipitation is in the can (i.e. snow or ice pellets) it is first measured, before being melted in order to determine its liquid water equivalent. At the Observatory, we use a standard rain gauge to measure precipitation. An 8-inch diameter aluminum cylinder, which stands

Summit Museum Exhibit Removal Begins 2013-10-06 16:10:41.000 - Will Broussard,  Outreach Coordinator NULL It has been a week since we began deconstruction of the legendary Mount Washington Museum ahead of the planned opening of Extreme Mount Washington in the spring of 2014. On Monday, September 30th, Director of Museum Operations Bill Grenfell and Director of Education Michelle Cruz began the careful process of boxing and cataloging the exhibits, including the original heated number 2 anemometer, the Northern Presidential panorama, and multiple historical dioramas. With utmost care, each were moved safely to a climate-controlled storage facility in North Conway. Exhibit Fabricator

Changing Weather on the Summit 2013-10-05 22:26:16.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer Lenticulars Undulating in the Twilight I had an interesting first night on the summit on Wednesday. With winds gusting in excess of hurricane force and the summit remaining in the clear, each observation was a struggle against the wind. When we're in the clear, observations involve walking the length of the deck to check conditions to our east. It was easy to get out of control walking across the deck with the wind, and it took all my strength to walk into the wind to get back to

Wii Bowling, Cabin Fever and how Observers get some R&R. 2013-10-04 17:14:20.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Observer Fitzgerald demonstrates good bowling form Another work day on top of the Rockpile is just about complete, which has this Observer considering what is on the docket for tonight's summit activities. We often get asked the question, 'what do you all do for fun up here?' to which there are several answers depending on who you ask. For those of you who do not already know, as Observers at the Mount Washington Observatory we work around the clock, 24-hours a day,

Entranced Marty 2013-10-03 15:07:43.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Soothing Music! A few years ago, I composed an observer comment that discussed music and how it relates to my job up here. During this early morning, as I was performing one of my daily quality checking routines, a classical piece of music popped up on my iPad playlist. The piece was from the New World Symphony No. 9 'Finale', composed by Antonin Dvorak; a personal favorite of mine. It is not often that I turn to classical music, but since it is known to have a calming influence, I decided

The End of an Era 2013-10-02 14:51:14.000 - Will Broussard,  Outreach Coordinator NULL Sunday, September 29, 2013 marked the Mount Washington Museum's final day of operation.Since 1973, the summit museum has served as the primary public face of Mount Washington Observatory atop the 6,288 foot peak. Featuring hand-made exhibits about the mountain's fascinating human and natural history, it has welcomed as many as 100,000 visitors each summer. We recently learned that these figures make it the most visited museum in the entire state of New Hampshire.Unfortunately, after so many years of service, the museum's dusty artifacts and aging exhibits make

Words Captured Through A Camera Lens 2013-10-01 19:10:31.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Mount Washington Summit At Night I have been living on the summit for three years and this past week has been one of the most tranquil. Day after day the weather remained calm and clear with incredibly crisp views. On one night, I was lucky enough to have a friend spend the night on the summit and visit with us. The bonus to this is my friend is an incredible photographer and captured the beauty of the summit in ways I could never explain. Looking at

Out With The Old To Prepare For The New 2013-09-30 17:40:34.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist 'The Museum for 2013 is Nevermore' - Museum Raven In the spring of 2014, our summit museum will be reborn as 'Extreme Mount Washington.' This means we will be gutting everything down to the studs so that we can bring an entirely re-imagined, new, and interactive experience that will deliver the awe and wonder of a Mount Washington winter - the mountain's most extreme season that only a small handful of the peak's 250,000 annual visitors ever get to witness. Through hands-on, high-tech exhibits,