Clear Day 2013-03-15 17:04:59.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Marty Taking In The View Today has shaped up to be a beautiful day on the summit with views reaching 100 miles. In the distance, lenticular clouds build and dissipate seamlessly, yielding perfectly stationary clouds. Blowing snow whips off neighboring peaks and the sun shines bright, increasing temperatures. Winters slow demise will soon be changing the landscape.Although winter is the season I look forward to the most, I also enjoy the transitional seasons. Within the coming weeks, the valley will undergo a transition from snow covered ground to budding greenery

Winter Does Not Want To End 2013-03-14 18:57:09.000 - Michael Kyle,  Summit Intern NULL After last weekend's beautiful weather condition many of us in the White Mountain region are looking forward to the spring season. Unfortunately the weather models are showing Old Man Winter doesn't want winter to end. With astronomical spring starting on March 20th, weather models are showing the next winter storm potentially impacting the region on March 19th. Yes, the last official day of winter, the northeast could potentially see the next significant winter storm. While the storm is still six days out and a lot could

Summit Side-Wheeler 2013-03-13 23:16:49.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Some waterlogged snow ahead of us this morning. Earlier today, we got to take a paddle steamer to the summit. Alright, not literally, but it certainly felt that way. The warm temperatures from the past few days along with yesterday's fog and rain allowed a lot of water to start running down the mountain. Some of this runoff was visible on top of the snow pack but a bulk of it was running off underneath making for some supersaturated snow packs; especially in areas where ice jams were allowing the runoff

Follow the Maze of Precip 2013-03-12 22:45:06.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist NULL What an entertaining Tuesday it's been!While forecasting this morning, computer models were advertising temperatures hovering right around the freezing point today on the summit. These temperatures are particularly difficult to forecast for, especially when precipitation is involved. The progression of events was anything but boring. See if you can keep up with this:At 6:45 AM, with temperatures still in the upper 20s, the first band of precip came through, resulting in freezing rain on the summit.At 7:40 AM, despite temperatures warming slightly, freezing rain changed over to

Mount Washington Tanning Salon? 2013-03-11 16:48:51.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Summit Intern Rime Covers the Stage Office on the Summit Although this week's weather started off under the influence of a coastal storm that dropped over 2 feet of snow in the Boston area, it seemed as if finicky Mother Nature decided to spare outdoor enthusiasts this weekend. The summit cleared for the first time in 5 days on Friday, revealing thick rime ice covering everything on the summit. With a building ridge of high pressure, skies cleared, temperatures warmed, and winds dropped off allowing the Rockpile to look more like

Wonderful Weekend Weather 2013-03-10 17:18:40.000 - Steve Welsh,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist NULL This weekend we have seen literally hundreds of hikers and skiers out making the most of the near perfect conditions. Both days have given us continuous sunshine, although with some high clouds present today, along with light winds and mild temperatures. It's certainly been a very pleasant break from the freezing fog, ice and howling gales we normally experience at this time of year. Glancing at the radar it looks like things will be changing soon enough though as a large mass of precipitation is slowly heading our

Data Quality 2013-03-09 16:41:52.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist This is BAD! Here at the Mount Washington Observatory, a fully-functioning mountaintop weather station, we are only as valuable as the quality data that we collect. Our instruments and observations are our life-blood, and it is a full time job (and then some) to ensure this data is of sound quality and flowing smoothly.Sometimes, ensuring quality data is an adrenaline-pumping challenge, ascending to the top of our tower in 100+ mph winds and heavy riming conditions to remove ice from our wind instruments. Although this is exhilarating and thrilling in its

It's that TIME again... 2013-03-08 17:57:20.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist EST left, Zulu right. Here on the rockpile, someone is always watching the clock. That 'someone' is usually the observer on duty who is responsible for starting each hourly observation no earlier than a quarter of the upcoming hour. Case in point, I just checked to see what time it is, and at 14:12 EST (or 2:12 PM eastern standard time) I know I have roughly a half hour before I need to get up, put on my gloves, hat, goggles and jacket, and head out the door

White Out Conditions on the Summit 2013-03-07 17:39:25.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Summit Intern Photo taken by Volunteer Tim Myers of the cat ride Yesterday's snow cat ride up to the summit was one of the most exciting I've had this winter. With 20 feet of visibility and extremely flat light, two observers walked out in front of the cat, hitting the posts that line the road to knock off the thick rime ice that built up on them. After this was done, it was very easy to see where the road was, but without these markers it was extremely challenging

Volunteer Comments 2013-03-06 23:13:22.000 - Joe Kayan,  Summit Volunteer NULL My first winter shift as a volunteer is about to end tomorrow. After experiencing 4 or 5 spring and fall weeks here with the Observatory summit crew, including a very memorable and exciting visit last October when Sandy roared thru, I was expecting and hoping for something dramatically different. Way below zero temperatures, white out snow/ wind conditions, the fearsome, incredible Wrath of Winter on Washington. The week started out as hoped for. Last Wednesday's storm was impressive enough by my valley standards to awe me. I helped change the