NULL 2011-03-11 16:08:40.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist The weather is gross and mean and it beat me up today. In addition to a disgusting mix of precipitation, incredible amounts of glaze ice, and (to say the least) difficult walking conditions on the deck and parapet, southeast winds also seem to bring whiny, petulant observers. It is currently drizzling and 32F. Now that sounds pretty harmless. Drizzle is dreary, but it usually doesn't make observers want to curl up in the fetal position and cry for their mothers. It's not the drizzle that has rendered us into the four

Icy night 2011-03-10 16:42:56.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer NULL Well it looks like we have another bout of mixed precipitation heading our way very soon followed by rain tomorrow. From past experience we may well lose the radio link to the valley for a while as that wonderful freezing rain and sleet causes glaze ice to build up on everything. Please be aware that if we do lose our link then the current weather conditions and Mesonet pages will fail to update until the radio link is re-established.So this is turning into an interesting shift from the get go.

vol com 2011-03-10 00:11:13.000 - Michael Lalancette,  Summit Volunteer NULL What a week at the top of New England. This was my first solo week and needless to say I was quite busy. A photography EduTrip early during our shift had banner weather which gave everyone a chance to get some great photos in their time here. I also had a great time getting to know the EduTrip participants in addition to the various hiking groups and guides. In addition to experiencing several great groups of people, I got to see some weather extremes as well. Winds reached over 100

We're Back 2011-03-08 08:41:52.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL As expected, the microwave radio link between the summit and our Weather Discovery Center in North Conway went down on Sunday morning as temperatures rose to the freezing mark. The warm temperatures coupled with glaze ice cause water to sit on the microwave dish, in turn refracting the beam enough to keep it from connecting to the valley. Among other things, this means no internet access for the summit, which then also means no current conditions, observer comments, etc. for the website.Despite temperatures plummeting on Monday afternoon, the link

Pizza 2011-03-05 13:15:46.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Last night Brian, Mike and I took the opportunity to make some pizza. We all started with the same Italian Herb Rustic Crusts but the end results were far from the same. Last week when Rustic Crust made the ultimate pizza delivery to the summit Brian was not there. Besides being able to see the video blog of the trip by Tom Guilmette, Brian had not tasted the wholesome goodness so we filled him in. I chose to make a tomato, basil, garlic and mozzarella pizza while Mike went in a completely

Music and Stars 2011-03-03 22:31:23.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Walking outside before heading to bed, it feels quite warm out now that it has warmed to around -1 F and winds have dropped. Looking at the ARVP we are actually warmer here on the summit than in the valley thanks to a nice inversion setting up. The temperature difference should increase over the coming hours as more cold air sinks to the valley with high pressure cresting. Looking skyward, it is nice and clear out and the stars are quite amazing. I don't think I could ever get tired

3 interesting things 2011-03-02 22:36:11.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Light on northern peaks from my last shift. Another Wednesday, another shift change. And it was a quick shift change to say the least. All the snow that had fallen and was falling was blowing about lowering visibilities and creating some tough drifts of snow to go through. Once up, we unloaded, did about 15 minutes of greetings and meetings then we parted ways. Such are winter shift changes up here. The ride up can take hours with only minutes on top or they can take about and hour with

crap 2011-03-01 16:22:58.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer NULL What a day. It started with shoveling - lots and lots of shoveling - as Mike alluded to in his comment yesterday the front entrance had drifted in with piles of lovely snow. I really wish it would drift somewhere else for once. Later this morning the sun decided to put in an appearance, it's always a welcome sight, especially after days of fog and snow. The 100 foot views of gray just don't compare with the 100 plus mile views of distant peaks and valleys. It looks like there'll also

NULL 2011-02-28 21:00:59.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist A Bit of Drifting...eh? I have the pleasure of writing the final comment for the month of February. The month has certainly not gone out with a whimper.While we began the week with 130 mile visibilities and clear skies, the clouds have since gathered, producing snow every day this week. We are now experiencing (along with the valleys below) our third winter storm of the shift!Winds have not disappointed either, as we've peaked at 103 mph, a mark that was reached on both Friday and Saturday.As I compose this comment right now,

Saturday EduTrip 2011-02-27 18:53:05.000 - David Quigley,  Summit Intern NULL Yesterday I had the privilege of joining the EduTrip for some hiking around the summit. Conditions were snowy, winds sustained in the 60s, gusting into the 80s. This made for a fun and educational hike. The afternoon started with a discussion of gear recommended to be taken on winter hikes. Then came some crampon education as this was the first time using crampons for a number of the EduTrippers. After everyone had their crampons on, we learned various stepping techniques that are useful on different types of winter terrain. We