The Lakes 2010-01-13 09:48:19.000 - Al and Marion Lake,  Summit Volunteers Sunrise this morning WOW !!! What a difference a year makes! Marion and I have volunteered at the Observatory since the early 90's and have come to expect changes as the Observatory improves with the times. However, this year is one that ranks at the top of the list!First, we started from the base in the 'new' Bombardier tractor which has a heated compartment for the crew and passengers, and each person has their own cushioned seat facing a flat screen TV. No! We did not watch TV on

High Mountain Haircut 2010-01-12 18:25:49.000 - Drew Hill,  Summit Intern Artist, Marion, works her magic. I woke up this morning to Observer Steve Welsh's voice looping in my head: ''Get a haircut, you hippie.''It had been eight months since I last cut my hair, and, well, it was about time... or at least that's what my parents (and shift leader) had been telling me. Truth be told, the hair-in-the-eye thing kind of gets old-- no matter how dashingly rugged it makes me look (hah!). So, this morning, I solicited Observatory volunteer Marion Lake (you may have heard of her) for

An Intern's First Sunset 2010-01-11 20:31:37.000 - Andrew Foley,  Plymouth State Intern Sunset between two cloud layers Generally speaking when we hope for 'good' weather up on the summit it is something on the order of category 1 hurricane winds, snow, rime and all the wonders that make the summit of Mount Washington so unique. However, the dominant high pressure yesterday was an event that you hope for every once in a while as well. Along with this calm system, winds were only at a lulling 50 mph, with a visibility at a maximum 120+ miles below some higher clouds.

NULL 2010-01-10 20:24:40.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL First and foremost, Happy Birthday to fellow observer, Mike Finnegan! Two years and one day ago, Mike Finnegan began working as an IT Observer on my shift (I miss him terribly) and that's how I remember both his birthday and his start date. Secondly, the breath-taking beauty of Mount Washington never ceases to amaze me. Fresh blood (interns and visiting guests) always seems to reinvigorate my own appreciation for the mountain and all it has to offer. Their excitement at seeing a sunset, sunrise, interesting cloud formation, high winds, or

Back Again 2010-01-09 22:59:01.000 - Aubrie Pace,  Former Intern NULL Oh, the Summit of Mount Washington! How I have missed thee. It truly is a joy to be up here again on an EduTrip for the MWOBS. I would almost swear it is back to the good ole days of the fall of 2007 when I was a young intern. After an interesting Saturday-- instead of Wednesday-- journey to the summit, the group and I were welcomed by the shift and volunteers. We took a safety tour, ate some lunch, and played in the 61 mph gusts. I then returned

Happy Birthday Elvis 2010-01-08 16:51:24.000 - Drew Hill,  Summit Intern The a-frame greets a sleepy intern. So, I didn't sleep through my alarm this morning. And good thing; 6:30 found me on the observation deck, fighting off frostbite and snapping pictures of a glorious sunrise. Picture this: Undercast to the west. Overcast to the east. A sanguine sun rises slowly in between. The Wildcats, dappled with iridescent fog and coated in an unreal sheen of rime, snake their way along the horizon. Along the southwestern flank of the Presidential ridge, Lakes of the Clouds floats on a strato-cumulus ocean. It

NULL 2010-01-07 17:08:09.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL Nothing inspires better than singing, disillusioned muppets who live in New York City. I am sitting in the weather room. It is foggy, chilly, and only a little windy with no exciting weather in the near future. We do have a new intern to train (you'll hear from him in the near future) but he seems to have a handle on things (aka, shoveling, de-icing, and fog obs). So, it is comment writing time and I've got nothing! The muppets sing about how life isn't quite what they expected. In

Partial clearing on the summit, beautiful views! 2010-01-05 17:24:32.000 - Kyle Itterly,  Plymouth State Intern Here comes the sun! Today was my fifth day on the summit, and it is the first day my fellow intern Andrew Foley and I have experienced any decent stretch of good visibility. The day started off with relatively light winds and what a surprise, fog. Fairly significant rime ice had formed from the past few days, adding even more white to the foggy landscape. As Brian went to do his 2 p.m. weather observation, Andrew and I followed along and were greeted to partial

Plymouth State Interns Go for a hike 2010-01-04 17:58:14.000 - Andrew Foley,  Plymouth State Intern Kyle hiking towards Mt. Clay As the week drew ever near to my internship at Mount Washington I began to wonder what it would be like and how things would turn out. Are you able to walk in 80 mph winds? Will I catch frostbite? How will the food be while I am up there? Well I have only been here for a few days now along with my fellow student and intern Kyle Itterly and we have discovered the answers to all these questions

A busted forecast 2010-01-03 15:37:27.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Oops. That's the best word I can think of to summarize my feelings about the forecast I made for the storm that moved in yesterday afternoon and is now winding down as I write this. In the weather forecasting world, we call the forecast I made a 'busted forecast'. In this case though, I REALLY busted on my forecast. I mentioned in my comment last night that we were expecting wind gusts well over 100 mph and perhaps the highest winds in years. Instead, we got a peak gust