An Amazing Mountain 2011-05-27 17:17:34.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Still some snow left out there There are certain things about this mountain that never cease to amaze me, and I was reminded of several of those things today.First, there's the unpredictability of the weather. Now, I think that Ryan, Mike Carmon, and the rest of us that forecast for the mountain's weather do a great job. A few years back, a couple of our interns completed projects that looked at the accuracy of various aspects of our Higher Summits Outlook. The results showed that our forecasts were roughly

Lighning 2011-05-26 21:10:54.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer NULL After a nice sunset last night, we are now in the clouds and look to remain so for the foreseeable future. The snow is all but gone here on the summit, with only small patches remaining in the East Snowfields, or at least that is all we could see with the 50 foot visibility when we went for a short walk to investigate this afternoon. Looking at the radar, the thunderstorms that have been sitting over Vermont are nearly here and the fog is pulsating as distant lightning illuminates it. It

NULL 2011-05-25 07:28:44.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist the prettiest picture I took all week. Warning:A long and sappy comment follows. Be prepared.3 years and 10 months = 2 summit cats (Nin and Marty), 2 snow tractors (yellow and white), 2 pitot tubes (3 if you count the back-up pitot), many shift partners (Brian and Ryan, then Kyle and Zach, then Kyle and Mike, then Steve and Mike, then a Mike swap) countless volunteers, 33 interns (that includes both shifts but not Plymouth State interns), and 6 museum attendants. Time isn't only measured in minutes and seconds, it apparently

NULL 2011-05-24 15:56:01.000 - Lou Milanesi,  Summit Volunteer NULL I volunteered for a "week on the peak" not really knowing what to expect as I am sure most first timers would claim. With the exception of day hikes I have never spent any real time above tree line. Although cooking is something I enjoy, what really drew me up here was a passion for meteorology, and I certainly got what I bargained for."Living in the weather" rather than at the "bottom of its reaches" gives a person a whole new perspective of what is really happening. You are introduced to

Birdies 2011-05-23 15:25:15.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Nightime Visitor Early this morning our ever vigilant night observer noticed a couple of feathered guests resting on the window ledge outside our main office. Fortunately he managed to snap a few photographs which, I believe, show that one was a Magnolia Warbler and the other a Blackpoll Warbler here's another. I'm guessing they were migrating north on the southerly winds present at the time and seeing the lights through the fog probably became disorientated and decided to stop by for a while. I wonder how many other birds were heading north

Sun Glory Over Undercast Cloud Tops 2011-05-22 16:07:08.000 - Rick Giard,  Educational Observer Sun Glory Over Undercast Cloud Tops For more than a week the daily mantra has been fog, drizzle and rain showers, with only occasional breaks as the stubborn low just off the coast continued to supply mostly moist, mild flow from the Atlantic side. Yesterday a Canadian cold front finally traversed the summits to usher in a drier air mass and produce partial clearing and good visibility. In the afternoon the summits were intermittently obscured by fog, which later dissipated to reveal widespread dense valley undercast surrounding

NULL 2011-05-21 15:41:37.000 - Tom Padham,  Summit Intern What a difference a day makes...today not being one of those days, but tomorrow will be! After enduring many days in the fog (with the exception of a few hours of clearing to allow for two beautiful sunsets) most of our time spent on the summit has been wet, cool, and with little in the way of visibility. As a new intern starting just this week, all of this time stuck inside takes some getting used to. Luckily there are many things to keep me busy such as learning to give tours

NULL 2011-05-20 14:59:46.000 - Peter Strand,  Summit Intern NULL Peter here. One of the new summer interns on the shift with Steve, Mike and Rick. Since I arrived on Wednesday, I've been running around the summit getting acquainted with anything and everything. Stacey's been training Tom and me to give tours and do observations. I also trained in the museum and learned about some of the projects I'll be working on during my time here. I haven't given a tour yet, but if you're up to the summit this weekend you might be lucky enough to get my first one.

May Sunset 2011-05-19 23:19:11.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist NULL The reliable unreliability of Mt. Washington provided us with quite a treat this evening. Looking at the models during the forecasting process in the wee hours of Thursday morning, I did not even think twice about predicting the summit would be in the fog for the entirety of the day. However, in the mountain's infinite incomparability and unpredictability, the fog inexplicably cleared during the early afternoon hours, revealing an impressive undercast below, with several layers of clouds outlining the skies overhead. 'This won't last' I thought to myself, a notion

NULL 2011-05-18 15:37:56.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end - Semi-Sonic, "Closing Time"If you listened to the radio at all during the turn of the century (yup, we've lived through one of those!) the aforementioned lyric may sound pretty familiar. The song became a party-ending, bar closing anthem. It is particularly poignant to me this week. This is the beginning of my last week on the summit as the educational weather observer. It has begun true to Mount Washington's reputation - foggy and wet.My new and exciting beginning will be in