NULL 2010-02-03 21:18:10.000 - Charlie & Jeanine Kinney,  Summit Volunteers After numerous trips here over several years this week promised to be a good one. There were guests scheduled for most of the week which keeps us busy and makes the stay very interesting. The most notable stir, however, was news of the wind speed record here being broken. As volunteers, our interest in the weather comes more from seeing how beautiful it is here and how daunting it can be when Mother Nature rears her ugly head. Actually it was a rather "mundane" week with the wind only topping

January thoughts. 2010-02-02 18:46:35.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist An artistic look at the 7 stages of grief? January can produce some the best winter weather on the summit. In the past, it has produced highs of 47F (1995) and record lows for the station and the state of 47 below zero (1934). It has seen 94.6 inches of snow in one month (1978) and winds as high as 173 mph (1985). This years January is not one of those months. In fact, January was kind of a downer on many levels.Let me highlight some of things that dragged January

Fog-driven Stir-craziness 2010-02-01 16:44:49.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer The Northern Presidentials It has been a bit of a cold, foggy week here on the summit. The temperature hasn't risen above 0F during the last three days and Saturday afternoon was the only significant period of clearing. The webcams have been teasing us throughout the entire time, allowing us to see that, in fact, our 'fog' was often the only cloud in the sky. Actually, we are in the clear as I write this and can see the snow blowing off the top of Jefferson, but I don't know how

Shoveling 2010-01-31 14:42:56.000 - Nick Lovejoy,  Summit Intern Wolf Moon Shoveling is my favorite intern responsibility.Don't get me wrong there are many activities which I love taking part in up here at the Observatory, but shoveling has recently been near the top of the list. After I wake up in the wee hours of the morning, I'll pull on some snow pants, get a few warm layers, strap up my boots, and head out the door. I like to shovel with a 'Top Down' approach, where I'll start in the tower, move down to the Observatory deck, then shovel the

Remembering an imporant record 2010-01-30 16:54:37.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL Of course, the big news in the last week has been the new world record wind speed that dethroned our 231 mph wind gust and moved it to second place. We have gotten tons of calls from various media outlets and there have been countless articles and blog entries posted on the internet about the topic. With all this hoopla, it was easy to overlook the passing of the anniversary of another important record in the long history of the Mount Washington Observatory yesterday.On January 29, 1934

Internship to a close 2010-01-29 23:56:36.000 - Andrew Foley and Kyle Itterly,  Plymouth State Intern Sunset on our last night As our last night on the summit is drawing to a close we reflect back upon our amazing experience as interns at the summit. We have seen every varying degree of weather we so hoped to see during our 14 day winter internship. From balmy temperatures of 25F with calm winds and unlimited visibility to a peak 104.5mph gust, no visibility and wind chills as low as 70 below. Our first trip came with a strong winter storm that disappointed

Hedda Returns to a wintery Summit! 2010-01-28 11:31:16.000 - Hedda Peterson,  Former Intern Eastern Snowfields Five months have passed since my last visit to the summit. Having worked as an intern last summer I was eager to experience the mountain in its other, less familiar element: winter. I just finished the first semester of my junior year at the University of Vermont, most of which was spent with my head bent over an open text book in our not so cozy library. However, one overnight visit to the Observatory has been an excellent reward. In the last 24 hours I

NULL 2010-01-26 20:02:35.000 - Cara Rudio,  Marketing and Communications Coordinator Not such a g'day, mate! For once, the big news on Mount Washington isn't our extreme weather.Sadly, it's about how our extreme weather--our world record wind speed, to be exact--was outdone by that of a warm, tropical island...According to a report released Friday by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a new world record wind speed was recorded on April 10, 1996 at an unmanned station in Barrow Island, Australia during Typhoon Olivia. According to the report, the new record stands at 253 mph, far surpassing the Observatory's record of 231

Trip Promo 2010-01-26 17:34:26.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Mt. Washington Summit Have you ever wanted to visit the summit of Mt. Washington in the winter? Why wait? Our winter EduTrip program allows you to visit the Observatory overnight during the extreme weather winter months, when the summit building is closed to the general public. Your trip includes a snow tractor ride up and down the Mt. Washington Auto Road, home cooked meals, and the opportunity to learn about mountain-related topics such as climatology, glacial geology, mountaineering, and even the challenges of cooking at high altitudes! Also, you'll meet the

Marty here 2010-01-25 23:40:31.000 - Marty,  Summit Cat Can I help you? Meow!Guess who...it's your favorite summit cat, Marty, with a few of my deep and distinguished thoughts (translated by Mike, my second-favorite observer). I wanted Steve (the one with the accent) to interpret, but he wouldn't give me the time of day! Since I last checked in with all of you wonderful, adoring fans, there have been some changes amidst my summit domain.Those interns Mary Ellen and Will are gone. I especially miss Mary Ellen, because she used to keep MY spot on the couch toasty warm. But now