Benifits of Rain 2012-05-04 16:03:57.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL Today the weather has been quite different here on the summit. Rain and fog have once again confined us to our summit home. Only venturing out to get the precipitation can and read the thermometer. I will admit I am a little excited that we are receiving rain on the summit and in the valley. With the small amount of rain we have been receiving lately the fire danger in the valley has been high and consequently prevented the ability to have a fire in the backyard. The

Preparing For Summer 2012-05-03 17:19:09.000 - Steve Welsh,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist Summer Deck It's been a really pleasant day up here with just a light breeze, some patchy fog, a nice undercast and very mild temperatures. The sun is noticeably stronger now and has been rapidly melting away the last remaining patches of snow. Marty and I took the opportunity to get outside this morning and enjoy the great weather. While he explored the rocks I started on getting things ready for the rapidly approaching summer season. The winter shovels have been put away (hope I haven't jinxed anything here)

Volunteer Comment 2012-05-01 23:32:11.000 - Joe Egan,  Summit Volunteer NULL Today is May 1st. A day set aside in many parts of the world to recognize the efforts of the worker.During the past seven days I had the opportunity to volunteer here at the Observatory. The MWO workers certainly deserve that recognition. Kim Henry, the volunteer coordinator, gave me a thorough orientation after I accepted her invitation to be here. Although orientations are crucial, what helped to allay the little anxiety I felt was a phone call the night before my departure on the 24th from Joe Kayan a veteran

A Buffet of Weather 2012-04-30 19:28:20.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Sunrise today- it's colder/windier than it appears Since we live on the summit for a week at a time, this means we have to pack clothes for a week at a time. In the winter, it's easy to pack because you know it's going to be typically cold and snowy. In summer, it's easy to pack because it's going to be generally cool or warm and wet. But as we transition in spring and fall, it's a whole other story at times as we find ourselves packing everything we

A New Daily Record Low 2012-04-29 16:49:20.000 - Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist Distinct freezing line on the Carter-Moriah Range It's been an interesting month and a half for me. After being away from the summit for 25 days while on vacation, my first week back was spent working the overnight shift to cover for Ryan while he took his turn on vacation. Of course, I typically work during the day, and the one time every year that I work nights is the week Ryan takes vacation. Then, for this current shift, I spent half of it working down at

Weather on the 'rock' pile 2012-04-28 19:36:13.000 - Roger Pushor,  Weather Observer/IT Specialist Marty the 'Weather' cat After breaking five daily record high temperatures in March and one so far in April winter has returned to the 'rock pile' with a few inches of fresh snow and temperatures today that will be 15 degrees below the daily average. After a few very calm days on the past couple of shifts winds have also picked up with a peak gust yesterday of 91 mile per hour from the Northwest.If you take a look at some of the Webcams you'll see a

Every track can tell a story 2012-04-27 18:13:42.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Fresh snow on the path through the trees. When we go out once an hour, part of our job is to look up and out. We look up to see how high clouds are as well as well as how much of the sky they are covering or what type of clouds might be present. When we are in the fog, we look up to see how high we can see in the fog. Then we look out, in clear and foggy conditions, to see how far

Marty's Mini Musing 2012-04-26 17:06:38.000 - Marty,  Summit Cat I'm cuddly and I know it. Just saying, is it spring or not? Last week I went outside all the time, it was sunny, not very windy even, and I found lots of good places to take a nap or two outside when I got tired of hiking around the summit. I got into the rhythm pretty quickly. I had to be quick though, the observers weren't going through the usual ritual of putting on all kinds of stuff over their bodies before heading out. They just went out in the

Volunteer Notes After a Fourth Visit 2012-04-25 23:15:48.000 - Lisa Carruthers,  Summit Volunteer Some goodies for the summit crew Today marked the end of my fourth shift volunteering on the Summit and I'm already missing this magical place. No two shifts are alike, but what is common to all of them is the opportunity to understand what the MWO is about, to experience a piece of extreme weather, and to meet some awesome and dedicated staff.People always have one of two reactions when they hear that I volunteer on the summit: 'Why would you want to do that?' or 'Wow,

Observing the Observers 2012-04-24 23:30:21.000 - Mark Carruthers,  Summit Volunteer NULL This is my first time as a volunteer at the summit observatory. Finally able to join my wife on her fourth volunteer shift, I was looking forward to helping out and personally experiencing a taste of the ever changing summit weather that she and many others have described in their comments. I was not disappointed as the conditions through day 6 of my shift have ranged from the comfortable, sunny, clear, and calm with climbers in shorts, to rain, ice, fog, gusts to 96 MPH, and below 0 deg