An overdue visit... 2010-02-23 07:25:15.000 - Jim Salge,  Former Observer Observing the Undercast... On the way up to the mountain yesterday, I found myself in a deep state of nostalgic thought and reflection. I left the Observatory a few years back to pursue a career in teaching, and have since settled down, bought a house, and am getting married in a few months. This has been a huge transition from the part tenting, part renting and part traveling lifestyle that I enjoyed while working at the top of New England. And my reflection led me to a surprising conclusion: there

Fog, Fog, Fog 2010-02-21 21:43:34.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist The week's highlight vista Due to the fact that fog is pretty much the lot of what we've experienced so far this shift week (5 days and counting...), I've had a pretty foggy mind, and would like to clear it by sharing some foggy bits with you.There are many references to the phenomenon of fog in popular culture. In fact, part of my inspiration for this comment came from one of these references. A stand up comedian by the name of Eddie Izzard, in describing San Francisco during one of

NULL 2010-02-20 16:15:03.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist One of the many connections to San Diego! I have a feeling that Mike is starting to feel like a broken record. I know I am. This weather pattern is getting old, stale, and haggard, like last month's rice krispy treats. If I have to say 'Low pressure will linger over the Canadian Maritimes, keeping the summits in fog with a chance for snow showers' one more time, I might scream. 'Short wave troughs' and 'upper level disturbances' are ranking high on my scream list too. My co-workers might want to

NULL 2010-02-19 11:49:33.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist We don't receive much exposure to the to the rest of the world in our little corner of New England, and we're always looking for ways to expand our "territory". The domain of our small organization lies primarily in New England, extending southward into the mid-Atlantic with a few stragglers from all over the country. Weather geeks and mountaineers can most likely account or the stragglers. Recently, we've had some success in expanding our membership. Through an amazing publication in National Geographic and multiple appearances on The Weather Channel and various

Bauhser 2010-02-17 13:19:47.000 - John Bauhs,  Summit Volunteer I am so proud to be a volunteer on Mount Washington. Being a part of the team on the summit is a special privilege that I wish that all of you might be able to experience at some point in your lives. Even if you don't have the time or schedule to spend a week here, I have another option for you to consider. that will come later. First, let me tell you about my week.I never thought that I would come to Mount Washington to escape heavy snow. However, my residence

A great week for sunsets 2010-02-16 18:03:35.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Awesome colors at sunset yesterday It's snowing! I'm happy to say that our snow drought seems to be coming to at least a temporary end tonight as low pressure moves up the Atlantic coast and into the Gulf of Maine tonight. We stand to get at least a few inches here on the summit with the possibility of more if the center of the low manages to stay closer to the coast. Tomorrow will surely be a snowy shift change when my crew heads off the mountain.Looking

1, 2, 3, 4... 2010-02-15 23:21:04.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist You can't always count on something this good! Working on the summit over the years, most of them during the dark, night time hours, I have memorized several sequences of numbers I would have never committed to memory prior to working here. Some daily examples are: 0.0295299278 - the number I have to use to convert millibars to inches of mercury, 1.15 - since most of our forms and instruments measure in knots, I have to use 1 knot equals 1.15 mph for conversions when people ask, 25.4 -

Snow coverage 2010-02-14 17:02:48.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Snow depth over the lower 48 states Regardless of whether it's by accident or on purpose, the comments that either shift writes ends up having some sort of theme to them thru the course of that shift. On my last shift the theme was the new world record wind. This shift, the theme is the lack of snow here on the summit and New England, and the incredible amounts of snow that have been falling in the Mid-Alantic. I am (sort of) going to continue that theme with today's comment.The

A Couple Nice Days 2010-02-13 17:58:35.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Last Night's Sunset The last few days, although there has been little new snow, have been great for getting outside. Temperatures have been warmer than average for this time of year and winds have been fairly light as well. This is quite a contrast from last shift when we were below zero and in the fog for nearly the entire time. There has been a nice undercast hanging around for a while now too and although the models have shown us to be in the fog, we have actually

NO SNOW? 2010-02-12 17:49:25.000 - Nick Lovejoy,  Summit Intern Sun Pillar Well at least it was sunny and warm (12F) today! The sun always seems to put a smile on the faces of the Observatory staff, even if every footfall outside ends in a teeth jarring crunch. Did Brian mention in yesterdays comment that we haven't gotten much snow in a while? In case you missed it let me reiterate, we haven't gotten much snow for a while.Am I bitter? Of course not!So what if Charleston, South Carolina is supposed to get snow tonight. So what if the mid-Atlantic recently