NULL 2011-01-14 20:14:05.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist sunrise this morning Last night, in an attempt to use up some residual energy from dinner and cake, I invited myself on a walk down the Mount Washington Auto Road with the three interns (the 2 Plymouth State interns, Mike and Jason, and our shift's winter intern David). The moon was so bright that the headlamps we brought with use were merely extra weight. I pointed out the lights from distant towns and cities (Portland, Portsmouth, Lewiston-Auburn) while we walked, our boots crunching on the snow tractor tracks.The snow and ice

First impressions from new intern. 2011-01-13 18:21:18.000 - David Quigley,  Summit Intern NULL I'm finally here! After a few months of anticipation I arrived Wednesday afternoon as the new Winter Intern. It already feels like home. Steve, Stacey, and Mike have welcomed me onto their shift. Our volunteers, Steve and Tom, made delicious chicken and chorizo paella on my first night. I have also just been informed that it is Tom's birthday so Happy Birthday Tom! That explains why he has been working so hard on that birthday cake in the kitchen.I have been at the summit only two days

NULL 2011-01-12 16:31:40.000 - Al and Marion Lake,  Summit Volunteers NULL What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we were outside when the temps and winds were in the single digits and the visibility was only limited by the horizon. Today the the winds are approaching 70 mph and the visibility is down to less than 200 feet. This has been another interesting week volunteering at the MWO. There were a lot of different things happening that made the week fly. The major change was the installation of a new pitot anemometer. It took the coordinated efforts of the whole

PSU intern #2 comment 2011-01-11 18:04:50.000 - Michael Pirhalla,  Plymouth State Intern The ocean as seen from the summit. Yesterday's gusty winds transitioned into a calm, clear day here on the summit of Mt. Washington today. With the visibility greater than 120 miles and winds less than 10mph, it was a perfect day to head outside and explore the summit. My fellow intern, Jason Kaiser from Plymouth State University, and I got some exercise shoveling the top of the observatory. Temperatures topped out in the 20's while we were chiseling away at the snow and ice, so my heavy winter

A Memorable Week 2011-01-10 22:16:46.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer It's My Birthday!!! It has been a pretty memorable week here on the summit. The crew saw our first overnight guests of the season on Friday night into Saturday with a climbing group led by Mark Synnott. As they left to decent the mountain via Lobster Claw gully, another slew of people came to the summit, mainly Observatory staff. Although several tasks were to be completed, the most significant one was the installation of the new pitot-tube static anemometer. We are extremely happy to announce that it has been working

Plymouth State Intern Comment 2011-01-09 17:39:23.000 - Jason Kaiser,  Plymouth State Intern Mike Pirhalla, a fellow Plymouth State Meteorology student, and I arrived on the summit around mid-day yesterday with a delicate piece of equipment in tow - a brand new custom-machined pitot tube anemometer. The majority of the afternoon the summit was bustling with activity in preparation and anticipation for the anemometer's wiring and installation. Luckily, we had calm winds, which made installation on the observatory tower relatively easy. The caveat to low winds was that we didn't know if the new heaters that are installed inside the anemometer

An historic day 2011-01-08 16:48:48.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Al and Marion Lake, and the Grilled Elvis Today was a bit of an historic day on the mountain, for several reasons. For starters, this shift marks 5 years since I spent my first shift on the mountain as an intern. Focusing more on today, it's Elvis Presley's birthday (he would have been 76 today). That only comes around once a year, right? In honor of the King, long-time volunteer extraordinaire Al Lake made Grilled Elvis sandwiches, just like he has every time I have been on the mountain

Before and After 2011-01-07 17:21:38.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Before and After Coming back to the summit this week, it appears the summit did not get away from the quick, but effective, January thaw that struck the Northeast with a vengeance last week. Thursday was a beautiful day with temperatures warming to around freezing, blue bird skies, and snow hanging off the trees. My friend, Michelle, and I went climbing in Crawford Notch and for an hour or so wallowed through nearly 4 feet of snow to get to a climb. Unfortunately, it had been baking in the sun

On The Summit Again 2011-01-06 21:48:45.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern This is not Florida, and I could not be happier! Arriving back on the summit after finishing my last semester of school is an incredible feeling. After this past summer as an intern I knew I needed to come back. Starting as one of the new winter interns I am extremely happy to resume working for the Observatory again. Yesterday's shift change brought me back as if I had not missed a shift. Yes, I made the trip to the summit in the snow tractor, the tower and observatory

Shift change reflections 2011-01-05 23:18:27.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Some Wednesday shift changes are mundane, easy, and very "by the book". Today was not exactly one of those shift change days. Most would assume that the weather played a role in making this shift change unusual and you would be partially correct. But the weather had nothing to do with the physical changing of the crews. We got up and the other crew down in average time on this foggy, windy and cold Wednesday. But the weather did play a role in other ways for the delirium that was