Harbingers of Summer 2011-05-07 17:22:04.000 - Rick Giard,  Observer & Education Specialist First Cog Run of the Season With Old Man Winter reluctantly releasing his grip on the summit, we now begin to witness harbingers of the approaching summer season. This morning the first chugging Cog Railway train reached the top with an excited group of visitors. The Auto Road is also open today up to the 4.5 mile level. Hikers are arriving in a slow but steady parade, looking triumphant and bit fatigued. They pause at the ever-popular peak 6288' sign to savor the astounding panorama and capture the

NULL 2011-05-06 08:15:30.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist winter's wonderland Upon arrival on Wednesday (which occurred sans snow tractor - the first time this season!), the summit looked like summer. The rocks were squashing beneath my boots in mud, the big snow pile next to the A-frame had completely diminished, and it was raining, a lot. True to Mount Washington form, winter will not go gently into that good night. Upon waking yesterday, temperature had taken a trip south of the freezing point, winds were surprisingly calm and we were treated to that rare event on the summit -

Volunteer Comment 2011-05-04 22:30:11.000 - Joe Kayan,  Summit Volunteer Sunset I awake a half hour before my alarm goes off. My room is gray...just enough early light filtering through the two small windows for me to see the clutter of hiking gear, books and late night snacks littering my small space. I put my face up to the window closest to my bed. Grayer still outside. The rocks only 50 feet from the building disappear in the dim morning light and the heavy, thick clouds rushing by.I know that I awoke early today because I'm a bit anxious. It's shift

Monthly summary 2011-05-03 18:18:30.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Blues, grays and gold from sunset yesterday. I just finished the monthly weather summary for April (which is posted here and here) and if I had to think of three words to summarize last month's weather, it would be warm, wet and windy. Temperatures averaged 24F for the month which was 1.1 degrees warmer than normal for April. Precipitation totaled 9.95 inches which was 1.52 inches above normal for April. And winds averaged 42.2 mph which was 7.4 mph above normal for April with a peak of 115mph. And while none

Snowboarding and Geology 2011-05-02 20:22:52.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Skiing or Geology? If you like rocks, then Mount Washington, affectionately known as the Rockpile, is a great place to be. There are interesting rocks to be seen all over the mountain, from erratics deposited down in Cow Pasture to others precariously perched one atop another. These ones in particular I spied as I booted back up a gully in the Great Gulf after riding down with Becca and Brian this afternoon. Being a climber, I see many other wonders of geology around the White Mountains, from the shear cliffs

Spring is in the Air 2011-05-01 18:52:14.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Marty likes the weather It is a beautiful day on the summit. The sun is out, the sky is clear, the winds are light, and it is warm. It is welcomed change on the summit and it seems everyone is taking advantage of it. Not only where there many hikers visiting but myself, Brian, Mike, and even Marty have been enjoying the weather. Earlier I walked down the Mother-In-Law turn to grab some pictures of Airplane Gully. I wanted to make a panorama and it turned out ok.

Getting out for some skiing 2011-04-30 17:28:05.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Tuckerman Ravine Headwall One of the advantages of having the backyard that we do on Mount Washington is being able to play in that backyard when the weather allows. If you follow these comments on any sort of regular basis, you probably already know that during the winter and spring, my activity of choice is backcountry skiing. It is a great privilege to be able to take a break from work to go skiing on some of the best backcountry terrain on the east coast. Also, living

Ch-ch-ch-changin. 2011-04-29 16:53:20.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist A quick changing sunset from yesterday. As I drove by the White Mountains in California/Nevada during my vacation earlier this month, my mind started to drift eastward towards the "other" White Mountains in New Hampshire/Maine that I have called home for the last five years. As I gazed upon these mighty western mountains, I couldn't help but think that at one time, their eastern counterparts once looked as rugged as or even more rugged than the western summits currently are. But over the years, wind, rain, snow, plate tectonics, etc. have shaped,

Springtime 2011-04-28 17:05:02.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Spring Fog Back on the summit here it starting to feel quite a bit like spring as Becca mentioned in yesterday's comment. Walking outside for observations today, the fog is wet and thick, something that is not so common during the winter months. It is almost thick enough for a good game of 'dense fog chicken', where two people run at each other in the dark, foggy weather and see who moves first! The mention of thunderstorms is also becoming more prevalent in our 36-hour outlooks, something more often seen in the

Spring in Comming 2011-04-27 16:36:57.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern NULL It is amazing the change that Mount Washington undergoes in the spring. When I think back three weeks ago the summit was still covered in snow, the temperatures were still below freezing, and we were still taking the snow tractor all the way to the summit. But as anyone who follows the Observatory will know things can change in the blink of an eye here. These past weeks have been no exception.Today Mount Washington was a completely different story. I arrived to the base of the Auto Road as