Volunteer Comments 2012-10-03 21:14:39.000 - Beverly LaFoley,  Summit Volunteer Cairn Golf Ball Sized Hail? No, not quite, but easy to see here on the summit of 'Big George' that it's only a matter of hours between beautiful sunshine and fall colors to snow and foggy white outs. Sound upside down and crazy? That it can be!I actually found the golf ball on day #1, on my first foray, walking down to the 'Cow Pasture' and Nelson Crag Trail, which is just off the Auto Road above the 6 mile mark. This is my week as one of the MWOBS volunteers

Farewell 2012-10-02 21:03:18.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist My final picture with the entire summit crew As I write this, I am just starting the overnight shift, which I have been working this past week in order to cover for Ryan while he is on vacation. This will be the last shift that I do as an observer on Mount Washington, almost exactly 5 years and 4 months after starting as a member of the full-time summit staff. Working at one place for nearly five and a half years may not sound like much to a lot of people,

October Orographic Uplift 2012-10-01 18:12:12.000 - Brian Fitzgerald,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Diagram of Orographic Uplift Happy October! It was quite the surprise to wake up to a blanketed-white summit and snow flakes flying. While a slight chance for mixed precipitation showers were in the forecast for today, it's always a pleasant surprise when you wake up to a new day and month.The white stuff made a transition to rain by late in the morning as low pressure moved offshore, though not quite taking all the rain with it. As most of the rain in the region tapered off, steady light

Internship Memories 2012-09-30 22:03:47.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Me in the East Snowfields, March 7, 2006 In case you're just tuning in, after nearly five and a half years (plus an internship) this shift is my last working for the Observatory. So, I have been taking the opportunity to look back on my time with the organization, and so far I have been talking particularly about how I ended up working for the Observatory in the first place. I really hope that my posts have been half as interesting to you as they have been therapeutic for me;

Releasing a Weather Balloon at NWS Gray 2012-09-29 19:32:39.000 - Roger Pushor,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist Inflating a Weather Balloon at NWS Gray I'm going to break from the tradition of Observers writing about what's happening at the top of the 'rock' pile today and talk about an experience I had during my last off week.It was Thursday morning and I had gotten up early to a perfect day - The skies were clear, with low winds and the temperature was mild. Before I left for my week off I had made arrangements to pick up some equipment and the National

An Incredible Interview Experience 2012-09-28 21:45:11.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Shift Change Day, November 23, 2005 Yesterday I talked about my first Mount Washington experience in the spring of 2005. My second Mount Washington Experience? That came about 6 months later.I remember sitting in my mesoscale meteorology class in October of 2005, which happened to meet in a computer lab. As was probably the case way too often for me, I was not paying as much attention as I should have been and was instead using the computer. Stealthily, of course. On this particular day, I was checking

My First Trip to Mount Washington 2012-09-27 23:37:16.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist My First Trip to Mount Washington, May 2005 Transitions within the summit staff are particularly difficult. This is because of a number of factors, not the least of which is the simple fact that there's only so much knowledge a person can bring into a job here. In other words, the vast majority of the things that one needs to learn to be an observer need to be learned on Mount Washington, on the job. Because of this, I made my decision to leave the Observatory

The Beginning of the End 2012-09-26 21:27:54.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL The beginning of the end. The first of the last. Call it what you will; today was the start of my last shift working on the summit. I know that it has been mentioned a couple times by others in the Observer Comments over the last month or so, but this is the first time that I've personally mentioned it on here. After nearly five and a half years of full-time work on the summit of Mount Washington for the Observatory, my last day will be

And the Snow Has Begun 2012-09-24 19:46:52.000 - Mike Dorfman,  Summit Intern A dusting of snow from today's showers We had our first snowfall of autumn today! The falling snow was relatively brief, but it brought back many memories from the not-so-recent meltout last spring. Pictures of early season snow on Mount Washington either gets people's hearts longing for winter or make people wish the summer hadn't gone by so fast. As fall progresses to winter, the summit will get many feet of snow. Come spring this snow, bitterly cold and dangerously unstable in mid-winter, induces a migration of ski

The Night by the Numbers 2012-09-23 23:47:53.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist NULL Continuing the theme from my last comment, I'll share a little bit more about the unique experience that is the night shift. This time, let's do it by the numbers...12...The number of observations I perform each night. My first ob kicks the night off at 5:45 PM EST, and my last one wraps things up at 5:45 AM EST. 11...(degrees Fahrenheit) The wind chill factor when temperatures dip just below freezing, with winds sustained at hurricane force. This is a good benchmark to remember when considering how