Utter crap 2011-01-28 16:57:22.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer NULL This has been a strange kind of nondescript day - not very windy, yet enough of a breeze to make it chilly outside, not too cold - just kind of hanging around 0 to 5 degrees all day long, mostly clear this morning with a few clouds flitting around then thin fog this afternoon. In fact this entire week looks like it will be very uneventful weather wise - oh how I miss a good storm! The howling wind and shaking tower, blowing snow and flying ice - hopefully next

NULL 2011-01-27 18:37:42.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL By no means would I consider myself a history buff, but I do enjoy learning about how the United States of America became the United States of America (I also harbor a strange obsession with King Henry VIII - but I digress). Let's rewind to the last Independence Day. I wrote a comment about the Revolutionary War and how on July 4th, the Declaration of Independence was read and distributed to the public. In retrospect, I am shocked at how little I actually know about the American Revolution. Growing up

Snowy winter 2011-01-26 22:05:29.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Snow Depth as of 1/26/11 Snow, snow, everywhere! At least along the eastern seaboard.Before the added snowfall that this latest Nor'easter will dump has been tallied, here are the seasonal totals so far during the 2010-2011 winter season for some of the northeast megalopolis' most notable hubs, with their seasonal average totals in parentheses:Hartford, CT: 59.1" (46.0")Boston, MA: 50.4" (41.8")Newark, NJ: 42.9" (25.9")NYC (Central Park), NY: 37.1" (22.4")Providence, RI: 31.9" (32.9")Atlantic City, NJ: 30.4" (13.5")Philadelphia, PA: 22.7" (19.3")So, ranking these cities by the greatest departure from average, we have:Hartford, CT: +17.3"Newark,

Musings from the Vols 2011-01-25 16:36:26.000 - Gates Ingram & Lance Stouenburgh,  Summit Volunteers Sunset yesterday. This has been quite a week for us, some of the 'Worst Weather' seen or experienced for several years at this time (Jan) and certainly the most dynamic of volunteer shifts. Winds for most of the week were above 50+ (mostly 65+) MPH sustained, with gusts up to 102 MPH; combined with temps at -15F when we arrived at shift change dropping to -34F thru Sunday night. Throw in the wind chill factor of - 50F to -84F until today (Tues) AM when it

Frozen Bubbles! 2011-01-24 18:42:08.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Blowing soap bubbles and watching them freeze. Last night I experienced my personal lowest temperature of -34 degrees Fahrenheit. Since it was the first time I had experienced such temperatures I wanted to venture outside and throw boiling water and watch it turn to snow. I will admit I did have lots of fun. After about 30 minutes I had had my fill of throwing cups of water and watching a white cloud of snow form. Ryan and I decided to see if we could freeze soap bubbles. Boy were we

C-c-c-cold!!! 2011-01-23 20:46:52.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer It's c-c-c-cold!!! It is cold, no matter how you look at it. As of now, the thermograph is reading -31.7F and winds are gusting into the 70 mph range and the temperature continues to fall. Every step outside is accompanied by the telltale squeak of arctic cold snow and every breath freezes the hairs inside one's nose (unless of course you are breathing through your mouth). It's temperatures like these where boiling water can turn to snow and stars shine brilliantly in the cold, dry air. Smiles for cameras turn to stiff,

Here comes the cold! 2011-01-22 23:10:02.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL Over New Year's, I went out to southern California to visit my dad and step Mom. My step mom teaches fifth grade and just started teaching about weather after the holiday break. So, one day I went into her classroom with my dad (who is also a meteorologist) to talk to them about Mount Washington and meteorology. During my presentation, I asked the students: What temperatures do you consider 'cold'? I got a variety of answers, but as you might expect from children that live in southern

PSU interns parting comment 2011-01-21 18:21:58.000 - Michael Pirhalla,  Plymouth State Intern Halo around last nights moon. An interesting optical effect of the moon occurred last night. Around 9PM, I decided to take a walk around the observatory deck for some fresh air and to check out the lights of the surrounding towns. The full moon brightly illuminated the summit. As I stepped outside, I immediately noticed there was a large halo encompassing the moon. This ring around the moon is caused by the refraction of moonlight from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals

Pitot Anemometer 2011-01-20 17:22:32.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern My internship this winter is much different than this past summer. Where I spent most of my time giving tours, working in the museum, and stripping paint off the tower ladders, I am now reading papers and working on my intern project. Different from this past summers multiple projects I have turned in my tool belt for my computer. I am working on the intricate detail that is the pitot-static anemometer and recording devices. On the exterior anyone can see our unique pitot tube mounted to a vane at the top

A Dense Shift Change 2011-01-19 22:49:12.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Not much but enough to slow us down. Wednesday shift changes in the winter are always interesting because you never know what to expect heading up or down the mountain. Will the road have barely a trace of snow on it or several feet? Will ice bars greet us in the upper elevations? Are the drifts between the 4 and 6 mile markers small and made up mostly of light snow or are they deep and dense? Will visibility be infinite or barely beyond the blade requiring assistance from