Marty ventures outside 2010-04-22 21:00:07.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Marty, looking very regal I'm sorry to report there were no thunderstorms today. There was definitely plenty of instability and convection going on though, as evidenced by the towering cumulus that developed by the late morning hours. The contrast between the billowing clouds and the deep blue sky was pretty neat. An hour or two later, showers started to pop up around the summit although no precipitation actually fell on the mountain itself at the time. Besides the cool clouds and distant showers, this morning was very pleasant. Temperatures

An uneventful shift change 2010-04-21 22:01:44.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist As much as the summit staff loves the excitement of an eventful weather day, it's always nice to have a 'good weather' shift change day like today. This is especially true considering how many difficult shift changes we have had this year, and even one postponed shift change, due to adverse weather conditions.Not only was the weather uneventful, but the trip up the road itself was as well. Usually this time of year, that is not the cast regardless of how good or bad the weather is. The

Bad Weather Shift? 2010-04-20 05:19:21.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Not done yet... It seems our fortunes as the good weather shift are taking a turn for the worse!Here are some facts to support that claim:Since this past Friday, April 16th, we have recorded only 10 sunshine minutes (out of a possible 3,307).We picked up 15.2" of new snow in three days (April 16 - 18).Rime ice began to form just after midnight on April 16, and has not ceased yet!We have reported freezing fog for 77 consecutive hours (as of 6 a.m. this morning)!As a result of this persistent

NULL 2010-04-18 18:00:36.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL The Weather Channel didn't ignite my obsession with weather (that was Twister, as many of you readers know), but it sure helped it grow. Being able to tune into weather at any time was definitely a novelty of which I took great advantage. The 'Local on the 8's' was convenient and whenever there was a hurricane or severe weather not where I was, it sated my appetite. The Weather Channel was part of my daily routine. In 2006 at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, in Atlanta, I was lucky

Inferno 2010-04-17 13:40:05.000 - Drew Hill,  Summit Intern The Inferno. That's sort of an ironic name, eah? Temperatures up here haven't hit above freezing since April 9th. In fact, we've been getting ''pounded'' with snow since yesterday morning. I suppose this hellish race may have been named more for Dante's masterpiece, though… that's an interesting thought.If you'll kindly allow me to take you back to your college days of studying 14th century draconian literature, I think I'll write a bit to this. So, according to Dante, hell is made up of 9 circles-- each one more awful than the last.

Skeleton 2010-04-16 22:36:48.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Valley, ho! Sometimes, after pondering the meaning of life, I sit and wonder what the origins of the phrase 'skeleton crew' consist of (well, that might be a tad melodramatic).In any case, that question will remain a shrouded mystery to me, as I did not do the usual bit of research I normally would before writing a comment such as this one. The reason for this lies within my question.A skeleton crew is exactly what is present on the summit this week. Our fearless leader Steve has taken his leave of us

NULL 2010-04-15 04:58:35.000 - Peter Fisk,  Summit Volunteer NULL Be careful what you ask for. About two weeks ago I told Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Hemeon, that as I am retired, my schedule was pretty flexible so if she got desperate for a volunteer, 'give a call.'Desperation had happened as within about three hours I got an e-mail asking, 'What are you doing next week?.''Uh, nothing I guess' replied I.So here I am 6 1/2 days into my first volunteer shift enjoying the solitude and beauty of Mount Washington in winter/spring. Well, O.K. the first 5 days were virtually 0/0, so

Rule of Threes 2010-04-13 20:59:55.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer I heard an interesting rule today, "The Rule of Threes". The rule applies to IT related efforts and goes as follows. When something new is to be implemented, it will take three times as long as initially planned, cost three times as much, and when is all said and done, it will accomplish one-third of the tasks. This seemed very relevant (unfortunately) to the tasks I was working on this weekend. We are trying to move our sunrise and sunset time-lapse videos from a .mpg format to a .mp4 format

Big Wind Day 2010-04-12 23:23:02.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Nothing to do w/ the comment - just neat looking. I awoke this afternoon with a single email in my work inbox that read "Happy..." from Michelle Cruz. Curious I opened it and in the body, I read "...Big Wind Day." On April 12, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory measured a wind gust of 231 mph or as it has been dubbed "The Big Wind", a speed that created a new world record that stood for several years. For the past few years I have worked here, April 12th was

Seasons 2010-04-11 17:09:58.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist The return of some white out of the office window Winter is back! The funny thing is that I shouldn't have to say that thistime of year because winter isn't really over on the mountain yet. Theproblem is that it's been so incredibly warm lately that it has felt likewinter was over. Consider that our average daily temperatures for theearly part of April are in the low 20's while temperatures over the lastcouple weeks have been running, at times, 20-30 degrees above thataverage!As much as I love winter, I really do