A Little Bit of White Mountain Tornado History 2020-08-03 19:33:11.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   This past week, I spent some time researching tornadoes in preparation for a distance learning program on tornado development. Aside from learning some fun facts for the presentation, I got rather curious about tornado history in New Hampshire...  While Mt Washington isn’t exactly known for its tornadic activity (to my knowledge there has never been an observed tornado on Mt Washington), but New Hampshire does average around a tornado a year, and tornadoes have been observed in every state in the US.  After

The Overcoat: A Meteorological Perspective 2020-07-27 12:41:43.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Despite having a particularly busy week on the summit, in my downtime, I finally got around to reading one of the all-time classic Russian short stories by Nikolai Gogol, The Overcoat (Spoilers! You’ve been warned!). It’s a tale of a man (Akaky Akakievich) who finds himself in need of a new coat, a necessity given the harsh winters of Northern Russia, and he undergoes considerable personal sacrifice in order to afford a suitably warm jacket. Once he finally acquires sufficient funds to pay the tailor, he

Science In The Mountains Returns! 2020-07-20 16:49:23.000 - Brian Fitzgerald, Director of Science and Education   On Tuesday, July 28th at 7pm, the Science in the Mountains lecture series returns to Mount Washington Observatory with some exciting new changes. For starters we’ll be delivering our Science in the Mountains programs virtually for the first time ever, allowing each lecture to reach an even-broader audience than before. On top of this, lectures will be offered throughout the year instead of six consecutive weeks in July & August.   The flexibility of virtual programs and year-round scheduling gives MWO staff the ability

Reflections on My First DL 2020-07-13 16:23:37.000 - Nicole Tallman, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Today I led my first distance-learning program since being hired as the Education Specialist. After many days fine-tuning my presentation and rehearsing to others and myself today was finally the day! In some ways, preparing for this DL was much like preparing a lesson for a classroom. 2 years of teaching definitely prepared me for this first step! After creating the content, I had my presentation peer reviewed by coworkers. They were able to give me pointers on how to captivate the audience further and caught

Follow Your Dreams, They Know the Way (to the Summit, In My Case)! 2020-07-06 16:21:06.000 - Sam Robinson, Weather Observer/Engineer   Hello from the Highest Office in the East!* My name is Sam Robinson and I am the new weather observer in training at the observatory. The first few days here have been nothing but surreal for me and I am still in pure awe. Having never been to the summit of Mt. Washington before my first day on the job, the shock has still not worn off. I find myself staring out the windows at the view whenever I

Reflections on Drought, the Dust Bowl, and the Ghosts of Tom Joad 2020-06-29 20:56:45.000 - Nate Iannuccillo, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   With Mt Washington currently 5.12” shy of its average monthly rainfall for the month of June in spite of significant rains the past couple days (check out our data for the month of June here), much of the state of New Hampshire has been experiencing moderate drought over the course of the past couple months, and as a result, I spent my first week on the summit reflecting on this climatological state as it pertains to human culture and

So Long Mount Washington Observatory! 2020-06-22 15:38:58.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   It’s crazy to think that it has been 2 years since I returned to the Observatory as an Education Specialist. What’s even crazier, however, is that this will be the last blog post I ever write as an Observer. This Wednesday, I will be heading down on Shift Change for the last time, and bringing my time at the Obs to a close. I have mixed emotions about leaving for sure. While there have been both highs and lows to my career as an Observer, I

Right Back At It Again! 2020-06-16 13:02:37.000 - Nicole Tallman, Weather Observer/ Education Speacialist   May 2017 I began my adventure on Mount Washington as a summer intern who had never been to New Hampshire let alone the summit before. All it took was one day on the rockpile and I knew this place would change my life. I was able to experience thunderstorms, hail, glaze, and rime ice all within my first month of living on Mount Washington. As my summer internship came to a close I applied for and received an extension on my stay on the summit

Whats With The Warm Record Breaking May Temperatures? 2020-06-08 18:40:15.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist    The summit broke a couple records late last May during the most uneventful week I have experienced thus far.  Having said that, even during an uneventful week, apparently, the summit of Mount Washington can still be quite eventful.  When I say uneventful, what I mean is beautiful sunny weather, dry conditions, low winds, and a few fair weather cumulus clouds.  Essentially, t-shirt and shorts weather, which is exactly what I was wearing during this week up.    Often times, the summit is unaffected by

Seven Years at the Top of New England 2020-05-28 08:11:09.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist    The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone. Let others follow, if they can! Let them a journey new begin.   J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings   My road with the Mount Washington Observatory has