A New Day, Some Familiar Faces 2013-04-17 17:10:25.000 - Tom Padham,  Summit Intern NULL Shift change day today saw a few additional faces: some new, some old, and even a bit of both. Today is the beginning of my second summer internship at the summit of Mount Washington. After my internship here in the summer of 2011, I returned to school at Penn State to finish my degree in meteorology. Little did I know two years later the opportunity to return to the summit would arise, and I'm very happy to be a part of this great organization once more.

Notes From A Volunteer 2013-04-16 19:32:33.000 - Patti and Steve Chappell,  Summit Volunteers Some Rime Up Close. After numerous times volunteering in the summer, we've finally done a 'winter' week! Some aspects of this week were similar to those in the summer (same food in the pantry, same meat in the freezers, same equipment in the kitchen, same friendly crew) but there were obviously many differences (snow cat ride to the summit, colder temperatures, no people in the State Park Rotunda, and no MWO museum open to help out in). But the biggest difference this time was being able to

Beautiful Day 2013-04-15 17:17:12.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Looking to Wildcat It is a spectacular day on the summit! The sun is shining, winds are calm, and visibility is at it's peak. On days like today being outside for observations is a welcomed part of the job. Although the summit is still snow covered and has wintery touches left by Mother Nature yesterday, Spring is in the air! Today's temperature has inched as high as 28 degrees and the rime is slowing sublimating. If this were the weekend I can only imagine the number of people that would

Vasque Overnight 2013-04-14 16:34:50.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Vasque Group On The Summit Saturday marked the last scheduled overnight trip of the winter season here on Mount Washington. The participants of this trip consisted of representatives from Vasque, our official footwear sponsor. Friday morning, the nine precipitants made the arduous journey up the Mount Washington Auto Road. With spring conditions at the base and winter conditions at the top, the trip up saw a mix of precipitation which lengthened their journey.Once they arrived however, they quickly settled in. While they were here they had the opportunity to tour

An Aurora Borealis for the U.S. But Not Us 2013-04-13 23:43:20.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Let me start by reminding everyone that I am a meteorologist which means I study weather, not space or meteors and I work and the Mount Washington Observatory which observers the weather and not space or meteors. I just want to make that clear because I am about to talk about space and I don't want there to be any confusion as to my profession and about where I work. So with that being said, let get to tonight's Observer Comment. Working nights up

Happy Big Wind Day 2013-04-12 18:35:42.000 - Michael Kyle,  Summit Intern Happy Big Wind Day Everyone! For those of you who aren't familiar with Big Wind Day, Big Wind Day is a day in honor of one of our most notable weather events. It was on this day 79 years ago, that the observers at the newly founded Mount Washington Observatory recorded a wind speed of 231 MPH . Observers Salvatore Pagliuca, Alex McKenzie, Wendell Stephenson, along with several feline observers and two guests, had front row seats to the abnormally strong, late winter storm. In the 48 hours leading

Where Are You Spring? 2013-04-11 17:21:04.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL Where are you Spring? After this past off week I was certain spring had arrived. Returning to the summit I realized I was dreaming just a little too much. Although we were able to take the van with chains for a small portion of our commute, the Snow Tractor was still the primary mode of transportation. Once on the summit I was greeted by snow everywhere with only the occasional rock showing from scouring. It was apparent the summit is still very much a winter wonderland. As

Today Felt Just Right 2013-04-10 23:23:17.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Transitions of Spring. Scrolling through my Facebook news feed today, it seemed like everyone had something to say about the weather. If my friends/family were in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/Southwest US it was too hot, if they were in the upper Midwest/Northwest/Upper Northeast US it was too cold, however for the few that were wedged between the two extremes, today was just right. It was almost like Mother Nature let the three bears (from Goldilocks) take over the weather for the day or something. So where did the summit of Mount

Redundant Redundancy 2013-04-09 17:38:49.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL As you might imagine, it's extremely important for our weather station to constantly record quality data. Here at the Mount Washington Observatory we have numerous strategies for ensuring quality and consistent data which as you might imagine can be a very difficult thing to manage for 80+ years. For each weather variable that we observe and record there are typically several instruments recording at once with several back up instruments waiting in the wings. A perfect example of this would easily be how we record temperature. Here on Mount

Up-And-Down Week 2013-04-08 14:39:09.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Wavy Clouds on Sunday Morning We've had some fairly up-and-down weather this shift.When we arrived (a day late, no dollars short) on Thursday, the summit was fully in the clear, with temperatures about normal (mid to upper teens), and breezy west winds. After rising up into the 20s later on Thursday and Friday, a cold front brought us back down into the negative numbers by Saturday.While Saturday started out as one of those typical Mt. Washington mornings--summit firmly in the fog, visibility less than 100 feet, and consistent rime icing--the sun