NULL 2010-08-15 16:47:25.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist goal: waking up before the crack of dawn I remembering hearing somewhere that the trick to happiness is setting attainable goals, but goals that aren't too easily attained. The feeling of triumph and satisfaction of having completed something, and the personal improvement associated with the achievement often leave a residue resembling happiness. I've been setting goals my whole life, starting with tying my own shoes. I spent hours making bunny ears and chasing the rabbit under the bridge before I finally, successfully created the knot that would pervade throughout my lifetime.

NULL 2010-08-14 16:02:00.000 - Kristin Raisanen,  Summit Intern Marty snuggled up to the 1960 observations Like Jennifer said yesterday, the last three days on the summit have been gorgeous. The high pressure overhead has brought very light winds, fairly clear skies and good visibility. The highest wind speed over the last 3 days was 17 mph on Thursday. Overall visibility has been nice over the last few days as well, with only intermittent fog at times and low clouds obstructing the visibility. This has lead to some great hiking weather. In fact, our observers have been getting out for a

NULL 2010-08-13 16:17:28.000 - Jennifer Finn,  Summit Intern Sunset on the mountain Fist off, let me introduce myself. My name is Jen and I'm one of the fall interns that will be up on the Rockpile until December. Today marks the third day that I have been on the mountain, starting my fall internship. As a recent college graduate with a B.S in Meteorology looking for a 'real job' in the economy we all know is rough, I knew that my best bet was going to be an internship and I knew exactly where I wanted to do it. I

10th Mountain Division 2010-08-12 14:25:51.000 - Jeff DeRosa,  Outreach Coordinator 10th Mountain Division Memorial A bit of haze on this warm summer day has turned the surrounding White Mountain landscape into a pleasant shade of grayish-blue. Warm August sun has found its way through lazy clouds that pass by the mountain intermittently - a few below the summit; many above, and some right around the 10th Mountain Division plaque where a touching memorial service was held this morning. With light winds, relatively warm temperatures, and the good company of folks visiting the observatory for one of our summit adventures, it's

10th Mountain Memorial 2010-08-12 14:19:08.000 - Jeff DeRosa,  Outreach Coordinator 10th Mountain Division A bit of haze on this warm summer day has turned the surrounding White Mountain landscape into a pleasant shade of grayish-blue. Warm August sun has found its way through lazy clouds that pass by the mountain intermittently - a few below the summit; many above, and some right around the 10th Mountain Division plaque where a touching memorial service was held this morning. With light winds, relatively warm temperatures, and the good company of folks visiting the observatory for one of our summit adventures, it's hard

Perseid 2010-08-11 23:26:37.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Be Sure to Look Up! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!Not exactly in the style of Chicken Little, but an impressive show nonetheless.I'm referring to the Perseid Meteor Shower, streaking the skies above for the next few days. The shower is created by earth passing through a field of debris, which are the remnants of an ancient comet. As these heavenly bits collide with our atmosphere at over 140,000 mph, they burn up and create a dazzling spectacle amongst the heavens, visible across the globe. NASA officials say, at the

MWO Tetris 2010-08-10 20:14:25.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Window Tetris Back in 1992, I had saved up my money for three years with one goal in mind: to buy a Nintendo Game Boy. To kids these days it might not be anything special; it was the size of brick and weighed about the same, had a "tiny" monochromatic screen (green) that had to be played in sufficient light, the pixels were blocky (8-bit), it had only two buttons and a directional pad, and the sound was mono. But, at the time, it was THE portable system to have and

Time flies! 2010-08-09 17:26:37.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes when you live and work on a mountain for 8 days at time. It's already August, and that means that we start to see a drop in average daily temperature that then continues into the next calendar year. In fact, this coming Thursday August 12 is the first day the average daily temperature drops, from 49 to 48 degrees. Of course, this means that winter is just around the corner!If time didn't already go by quickly enough, it will

Final Week 2010-08-08 19:45:16.000 - Hanna Brewer,  Summit Intern Ahhh my last week on the summit. It's a bittersweet feeling... Part of me is excited to be able to go back to Florida to the sunshine, the ocean, and my friends. I've basically been living out of a suitcase for 3 months so it'll be nice to be back in my apartment where everything is in its place and I don't have to keep wearing wrinkly t-shirts. Then again, I'm going to miss everyone here and the mountain itself. I've learned so much this summer, probably more than I have

Thermoshack Update 2010-08-07 18:45:08.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Dry fitting the thermoshack It is now time for the thermoshack update. This past off week I spent a considerable amount of time working with Wayne in his shop working on the housing. As of now it is completely welded together and painted with primer. Tuesday afternoon Wayne and I took the housing and new thermoshack to the summit to dry fit it in the brackets. It was a perfect fit. All that is left to do is paint and install. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product in