Memories of Marty 2020-11-30 17:54:20.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   This blog post is one of the hardest ones I have had to compose in my 15 years here. Since I was here for the entirety of Marty Kitties life, I was asked if I’d like to write a post about his time on the summit. I started then deleted what I had about a dozen times. Where do I begin? What do I include? What do I write about? I guess I will just start from the beginning and let things flow from there.   When I

Summer Days and Snow-vember Nights 2020-11-23 20:25:41.000 - David DeCou, Weather Observer   Hello and windy greetings from the summit of Mount Washington! My coworkers and I are currently in the middle of a 10-day long shift up on the Rock Pile, and it is shaping up to an exciting time. As I write this, Jay, Nate and I are finally about to experience our first snow event of the season. The summit has had a few snow events already, but so far, nearly all of the snow accumulation has happened while the three of us were off the summit,

Have an Ice Night 2020-11-16 20:20:20.000 - Sam Robinson, Weather Observer/Engineer   Hello from the blustery summit of Mount Washington! I usually write long observers comments but I need to keep it short this time because I am writing this during a storm, while working the night shift alone. As I type this, it is currently around 26 degrees with winds close to 90 mph, and freezing rain (~09:30 PM on Nov. 15). I just came in from de-icing the instruments and my jacket and pants are stiff from glaze ice accumulation. I was outside for less than 10 minutes

Election Polls, Plinko, and Weather Forecasting 2020-11-09 11:57:13.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Like many people in the United States this past week, I spent my evenings watching election results come in. One of the striking things about this election as well as elections in recent years, was the stark contrast between the predicted results and then what actually happened. A consistent question that has seemed to come up in this election as well as previous years is “How could the polls be so wrong?”. As a weather forecaster, this question seems all too familiar, and any seasoned meteorologist

A Spooky Day on the Summit 2020-11-02 14:16:28.000 - Nicole Tallman, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Working for Mount Washington Observatory’s summit weather station means working shifts of 8 days on 6 days off. Sometimes these shifts are normal weeks and other times they fall on birthdays and holidays. On this most recent shift, my coworkers and I celebrated Halloween atop the tallest mountain in the Northeast!    Figure 1: The Great Summit Pumpkin looking at the full moon from the rotunda. Halloween was much different this year for everyone, including myself who has never experienced the holiday in such a

Special Relativity and the Myth of the Passive Observer 2020-10-26 14:32:57.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   A couple weeks ago, the summit experienced what ended up being the most intense thunderstorm that I’ve personally witnessed in the White Mountains. For at least one observation, we even coded “Continuous Lightning” in our METAR (meteorological aviation report). This is defined as observed lightning occurring 6 times per minute. The storm was particularly fierce with a tornado warning going out for Coos County, and the summit even got struck by lightning three times over the course of an hour.  After the lightning

Snow Much Excitement 2020-10-19 16:25:50.000 - Sam Robinson, Weather Observer/Engineer   Hello again from 6288’, As many of you likely already know, the summit saw its first substantial snowfall of the season this past Saturday. What was originally forecasted to be a mostly high elevation snow event with rain for lower elevations ended up being an “early” season snowfall for northern and western parts of our region. I say “early” since technically on the summit we are behind schedule for significant snowfall but it was quite early for lower elevations, although not unheard of. We received no snowfall in the

Founding Day 2020-10-15 19:24:12.000 - Mount Washington Observatory Staff, Weather Observers   Today we celebrate the founding of Mount Washington Observatory…   Setting the stage on October 15, 1932, Bob Monahan, Sal Pagliuca, Alex MacKenzie, and Joe Dodge set up a permanent presence on the summit. Using funds obtained from a research grant and a few private donors, the Mount Washington Observatory was formally established, with a mission of advancing the understanding of weather, climate, and the mountain itself.   Photo 1. Original four observers   Just two years later, on April 12, 1934 the Observatory captured what was then

Delta's Remnants Brings A Series Of Remarkable Weather Phenomena To The Summit Of Mt. Washington. 2020-10-14 06:32:37.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Hello everyone! Last night I was working on a blog about my experience hiking Mt. Whitney and going to Badwater Basin in Death Valley. I thought it might be interesting for some people to hear about some of the weather that sparked off a series of storms over Sequoia and Inyo National Forests, which went on to start a series of unprecedented wildfires out west. Maybe you wanted to see some pictures of the weather station at

Mount Washington Observatory’s Virtual Classroom Re-Launches “Home of the World’s Worst Weather Live” 2020-10-05 16:42:26.000 - Brian Fitzgerald, Director of Science and Education   After taking the summer off, Mount Washington Observatory (MWO) is thrilled to be re-launching the free “Home of the World’s Worst Weather Live” virtual classroom program today meant for students in grades 6-8. Weather Observer/Education Specialist Nicole Tallman will kick our school-year-long series with an introduction to the weekly program and the science and study of meteorology. If you weren't able to join live today be sure to check out the recording at www.mountwashington.org/classroom . While