NULL 2010-06-19 18:57:47.000 - Kristin Raisanen,  Summit Intern Spectators waiting for the runners at the summit. Today was the 50th annual Mount Washington Road Race. For those who don't know, every year runners of all ages from around the world converge on Mount Washington to run the 7.6 miles up the auto road to the summit. That's 7.6 miles uphill the entire way!!Hundreds of spectators waited at the summit and cheered on the runners as they crossed the finish line. Our volunteers, Jane and Ron, were two of those spectators, taking pictures of the day's happenings. This year there were

Weekend Events 2010-06-18 20:32:30.000 - Sabrina Lomans,  Summit Intern NULL Today was a busy day at the summit! The clearing out of yesterday's fog revealed a mostly clear day which would be inspiration enough to come to the summit of Mount Washington. Additionally, the weekend's upcoming festivities (fathers day and the road race) and the winding down of bike week, there were certainly plenty of reasons to come out and explore.However, for those who are planning on coming to Mount Washington tomorrow, the Auto Road will be running on a slightly different schedule. Due to the road race, the Auto

Smoke Returns 2010-06-18 04:32:08.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Fiery Sunrise As I pondered all evening regarding how on earth to fill this space with words, I found myself coming up with nothing. Sure, I've had writer's blocks before, but I've managed to work through them. However, I was drawing a complete and utter blank on what to talk to you about today. I was hoping that somehow, someway, from somewhere, inspiration would come. My wish has come true.We had been in the fog for about 29 hours straight, from approx. 5 p.m. EST Wednesday until 10 p.m. last night.

NULL 2010-06-16 17:13:51.000 - Margaret and David,  Summit Volunteers NULL Hello and goodbye to all at Mount Washington!It's the end of a very unique experience at the top of the mountain, cheffing for the crew of the MWO. We were warmly welcomed and went straight to work with non-stop prep, cooking, baking, cleaning, polishing, scrubbing, baking, cooking, baking, cooking...This crew never stops eating!! And they're all so happy with the continuous baked goods and fresh meals! Easy to please!One gorgeous afternoon for David and I, hiking to the Lakes in the Clouds. Rough terrain, wet fog and occasional light drizzle

"New" Thermo-Shack 2010-06-15 21:32:50.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Currently in use at the observatory is a thermo-shack that was installed about 15 years ago and has received numerous beatings from the harsh Mount Washington winter and numerous coats of paint. The "thermo-shack", for those of you who may not be familiar with it, is an outdoor protected housing for our minimum and maximum thermometers. In need of some serious repair I was called into action. We had acquired a second thermo-shack from the National Weather Service last year that was in need of some repair but overall in excellent

Bear! 2010-06-14 14:30:15.000 - Hanna Brewer,  Summit Intern Life on the summit isn't quite as hard as I expected it to be when I applied for this internship. Don't get me wrong, there is always a lot of work to be done while on the clock, but unfortunately most of this work involves sitting at my computer. The sedentary work day combined with the baked goods and feasts our volunteers prepare for us... Well let's just say I definitely won't be wasting away during my time here. In hopes of balancing out the meals we eat with some exercise, I've

Forecasting woes 2010-06-13 16:43:50.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL I went down the mountain yesterday in order to attend, and present at, the Observatory's Annual Meeting. This meeting gives an opportunity for our members to connect more intimately with the organization, and also for those members to connect with staff like myself, as well as our board of trustees. The event went off without a hitch (thanks Karen!) and a good time was had by all. If you missed out this year, be sure to watch for an announcement about the Annual Meeting around this time next year.

NULL 2010-06-12 22:29:47.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Sunset from Mt. Clay Mount Washington is an interesting place to forecast for. Well, this is what people tell me anyway. It's the only place I've ever forecasted for, not being a meteorologist. This works out a bit in my favor at times though because I have an out when what I forecast is wrong. I haven't written the forecast the last two days, but it has obviously been difficult to pin down accurately. Yesterday we were supposed to be in the clear. I awoke to a beautiful undercast which quickly lifted

Relaxing After Work Walk 2010-06-11 22:18:53.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Summit Intern Alpine Flowers After feeling a bit cooped up over the past two days and in need of some fresh air, observer Mike, museum attendant Ryane, intern Hanna and I ventured out for a stroll in the fog. We headed down the Auto Road hoping to get a glimpse of the sun overhead. Approaching the 7 mile marker we were privileged enough to have the fog lift for just a few short minutes and expose a distant cloud bank before it quickly fogged back in shielding the sun once again.

Saffir-Simpson here, Fujita there. 2010-06-10 23:40:58.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist No winds or tornadoes here tonight. Working on the summit of Mount Washington, I have become accustomed to using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to categorize our winds, especially in the winter. On average in the winter, we see category 1 (74-95 mph) strength wind gusts every other day with one out of every four days seeing category 2 or higher winds (96+ mph). All of us working up here have seen and worked in 100 mph winds and all have our own high bar for highest experienced winds.