Tent Testing on Mt. Washington 2010-03-29 21:09:43.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer As Ryan mentioned yesterday, we have some new additions to the observation deck. Depending upon when you looked, we may have had more or less additions to the deck. These additions were 4-season mountaineering tents from various companies that Backpacker Magazine has enlisted the Observatory to test and review. The crew set them up yesterday first inside the shelter of the building to become familiar with them, then moved outdoors to the relatively benign conditions as far as the summit is concerned. We set up three tents, with

False alarm 2010-03-28 18:18:49.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist A better alternative to watching TV/web surfing! It never ceases to amaze me how in just a few years, how connected and dependant on the internet we have all become. When I graduated from high school I didn't have an email, a facebook or myspace page, videos took hours to load, the "song" of the modem dialing up was embedded to memory, and research was done by visiting the local library. During the start of this decade when I got to college, I got an email, T1 lines on campus extinguished

family trip 2010-03-27 17:59:39.000 - Nick Lovejoy,  Summit Intern Ken and Family Yesterday was an exciting day for me. My family got a chance to come up to the summit for a brief day trip with Ken Rancourt and Scot Henley. My Uncle Denny, Aunt Lisa, Laurie my mom, and Cousin Sarah all rode up in the tractor yesterday morning.I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was zero degrees with gusts up to 60 mph and miles of clear visibility. If they had come up on a 29 degree day with no wind I'm sure they would have been

Crazy Springtime 2010-03-26 21:17:15.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer A Game of Stump at Sunset Spring is a very interesting time of year. We have already spoken of time change and the difference between the summit and the rest of the east coast (the summit stays on Eastern Standard Time, while elsewhere it is now Eastern Daylight Time). As I was on the summit for time change, I was quite surprised to see it light so late when I headed down to the valley, but quite happy about it too! The weather is also all over the place. Last Thursday,

Shift change POV from the other crew. 2010-03-25 22:50:22.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Ice hanging like tinsel on trees around 4000 ft. If you frequent these comments, volunteered on the summit, sat in on a polycom at our Weather Discovery Center in North Conway, or taken a tour of the summit, you probably know that we hold shift change every Wednesday. And since I started here (Dec '05), I can count on one hand the number of times where we weren't able to hold this weekly ritual on a Wednesday: 3. The first time, we upped the switch to

NULL 2010-03-24 16:55:09.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist Wait a minute. Something isn't right here. Winds are going from 45 mph to 80 mph (and sometimes exceeding 90 mph and forecast for stronger later this evening), visibility is 50 feet at best, and de-icing every 15-30 minutes is absolutely necessary. Could this possibly be the "good-weather" shift? It doesn't sound like it, not one bit. Well, most would think that this is indeed the "bad-weather" shift, as the weather isn't exactly good, and it is Wednesday. That would be a perfectly logical conclusion.It is the wrong conclusion. The "good-weather"

Sick Sick Mountain 2010-03-23 22:33:38.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Patient Name: "Mount Washington"Gazing at this mountain on a sunny summer day, you wouldn't think this mountain was different than any other mountain. Sure, it's the tallest in its range, but it's not all that tall. Surrounding peaks always seem to "stand in awe of its grandeur" (they are shorter), and any passerby has described the mountain as "completely normal" (they say "that looks like an easy climb").Long ago, some brave souls had the idea to venture to the top of this mountain to take a gander at one of

Spring has sprung 2010-03-22 13:55:27.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Spring has arrived! In the valley spring heralds the return of flowers and singing birds. Their melodious twittering and chirping makes for a pleasant change to the peace and quiet of winter (it's certainly a lot nicer that the screeching racket (singing?) currently being made by a certain observer in the other room - anyhoo I digress). In the observatory spring marks the return of milder weather and subsequent thaw - the only sounds are of water dripping down the tower as the ice in the cold room melts. Don't

Cut Offs 2010-03-21 04:37:47.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Lonely Low Left Listless During my nightly forecasting ritual during the wee hours of Saturday morning, I was sifting through some prognostic forecast maps, and subsequently gasped in horror. The reason? It appeared a phenomenon known as a 'cut-off' low pressure system would plague the eastern half of the U.S. for the next week. Thus the inspiration for this comment was born--cut-off lows, which are the bane of any forecaster's existence.According to the American Meteorological Society, a cut-off low is defined as 'a cold low that has grown out of a

You Call Those Mountains?! 2010-03-19 11:48:15.000 - Drew Hill,  Summit Intern I Love New Hampshire (and also NY) I took a little jaunt over to the west coast this past weekend, visiting some friends and seeing the sights in Seattle. The Pacific Ocean? Awesome. Space Needle? Pointy. Public transportation... what is that? It was a fantastic visit, to say the least. Now, I'm not sure if it's their proximity to Canada or a gentleness that comes after spending 226 days a year draped in a dreary overcast, but Pacific Northwesterners are amazingly friendly. I often found myself discussing "the best