Founding Day! 2021-10-14 15:25:42.000 - Mount Washington Observatory Staff, Weather Observers   Today we celebrate the founding of Mount Washington Observatory…   Setting the stage on October 15, 1932, Bob Monahan, Sal Pagliuca, Alex MacKenzie, and Joe Dodge set up a permanent presence on the summit. Using funds obtained from a research grant and a few private donors, the Mount Washington Observatory was formally established, with a mission of advancing the understanding of weather, climate, and the mountain itself.   Photo 1. Original four observers   Just two years later, on April 12, 1934 the Observatory captured what was then

Some September Stats As We Transition Seasons 2021-10-06 08:12:23.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer and Meteorologist   September has come to a close and with it comes some end-of-month stats. September Stats: September averages compared to 1991 – 2020 climate normals (NCEI) Temperature: The average temperature was 43.1° F with a departure from normal of 0.0. The highest temperature this month was 56°F on the 18th and the lowest temperature was 26° F on the 29th, which was also the first observed snowfall and glazing event on the summit of Mount Washington. The average high temperature for the month was

From Texas to New Hampshire 2021-09-28 03:30:42.000 - Adam Muhith, Summit Intern   Howdy, y’all! My name is Adam Muhith and I am proud to be one of the new interns for the Fall 2021 season. I recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in environmental engineering, and I am so excited to begin my career in environmental research up here. I can’t think of a better place to do it.I’m from Houston, Texas, and this will be the first time I’ve ever spent a fall and winter out of state. I’m so excited to

First Week on the Summit! 2021-09-21 12:25:41.000 - Abigail Fitzgibbon, Summit Intern   My name is Abigail Fitzgibbon and I’m absolutely thrilled to be interning for Mount Washington Observatory on the summit this fall. Having grown up on the North Shore of Massachusetts, I’m no stranger to extreme weather. As a kid, I loved watching storms roll in, often flooding my coastal town. I just graduated from UCLA where I studied geography & environmental studies with a focus on GIS and remote sensing. While in Southern California, I got to experience some amazing hiking, backpacking, and all around good times

My First Week at 6288' 2021-09-14 23:49:45.000 - Sam Gawel, Summit Intern   My name is Sam Gawel and I am ecstatic to be up for my first week at the Mount Washington Observatory. I was born and raised in Detroit, but the White Mountains have always been a second home, as much of my family lives in or comes from the area. Just this summer, my family moved to Piermont, NH, and we couldn’t be happier for it. This has allowed me plenty of time to explore these beautiful peaks and valleys. I am a junior at Dartmouth College

Hello, Meteorological Autumn! 2021-09-08 07:01:22.000 - Jackie Bellefontaine, Weather Observer   A big warm welcome to You may be thinking, “Wait? September only just started!” well, what is known as orological autumn.tart of autumn on the calendar astronomical autumn. what is the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons?    Earth’s rotation around the sun punctuated with rotation that define the changes between different seasons. These pointsknown as the Earth’s tilt over the equator determine the two equinoxes and two solstices. occur at the times when the sun passes directly over the equator, March 21st (ernal equinox) and aSolstices are the points when the sun each its highest or lowest point, around December w and June 21st (summer

Turning the Page for Windswept, the Bulletin of the Mount Washington Observatory 2021-08-25 07:36:19.000 - Charlie Buterbaugh, Development Coordinator & Windswept Editor   With each edition of Windswept, we gather perspectives. These connect our community through themes like Mount Washington Observatory history, life at our summit weather station, or the important meteorology and climate work carried out bravely by scientists who call this extreme environment home. Bringing these and other storylines together for the past 14 years is an instrumental member of the Observatory family, Marty Basch. Since 2007, Marty has served as the editor of our bulletin, writing and

A Cooler and Wetter July 2021 2021-08-09 16:52:13.000 - Brian Fitzgerald, Director of Science and Education   July 2021 was much wetter and cooler than normal, particularly down in North Conway where the Mount Washington Observatory operates the“NCON3” Cooperative Weather Station (more information about the station and its history can be found here). Up on the summit of Mount Washington, weather observers recorded similar conditions throughout July, but with some both obvious, and not-so-obvious differences.     Figure 1: July temperature, precipitation, and, and wind statistics at Mount Washington (KMWN) and North Conway (NCON3).   Down in North Conway, daily

The Next Chapter 2021-08-04 07:16:47.000 - David DeCou, Night Observer   It’s hard to believe that today will be my last shift change as the Night Observer at Mount Washington Observatory. After an extraordinary 17 months of incredible weather and awe-inspiring views, this last week has been a relatively ordinary one. We’ve had days of fog, rain, and gusty winds with a few sunrises and sunsets sprinkled in. We even had a brief taste of winter, with temperatures falling to around freezing combined with sustained hurricane-force winds. I may be experiencing some of these things for the last time on

Until the Next Time 2021-08-02 14:33:19.000 - Nicole Tallman, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   This Wednesday marks the end of an amazing journey working for the Mount Washington Observatory as a summit Weather Observer and Education Specialist. Through the last year plus I have had the honor to be a part of an organization that means very much to me. I began as a summer intern in 2017 and fell in love with the uniqueness of the work that MWObs was doing. I extended my stay on the summit as the fall intern and I knew upon leaving the internship that my