Anticipating the storm 2010-01-02 22:57:49.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist The feeling of anticipation was certainly in the air around the weather room this morning and afternoon. Perhaps the most excited out of all of us were the people that don't get to be here nearly as often as the full-time staff: the two Plymouth State interns and our volunteers John and Ed. Don't get me wrong, I'm REALLY excited for this storm and I know that my fellow observers Ryan and Mike are as well.Why such excitement and anticipation? Well, this is an intense storm that is bearing

Summit New Years 2010-01-01 22:27:54.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist 9 courses at once. Being the night observer on the night of New Years allowed me to do a few "firsts" for the observatory. Nothing record breaking but sometimes it's the little things. I got to put on the first new wind and temperature charts of the New Year and new decade. But I also got to do the first weather observation, the first deicing, first precipitation can collection, the first synoptic, the first radio broadcasts, the first higher summits forecast online and on the phone, and now the first

It's the end of another year! 2009-12-31 17:48:58.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Yet another year is coming to a close tonight. I know it's a cliche, but it really is amazing how quickly the years can go by. It's crazy for me to think that just ten years ago on this night, I was in 10th grade and celebrated the end of the 20th century in the small town of Howard, PA with a bunch of my best friends.Now, as the first decade in the new millennium comes to a close, I will be celebrating the waning moments

Dennis's Comment 2009-12-30 10:54:06.000 - Dennis Vienneau,  Summit Volunteer Christmas Morning Sunrise This has been a week of extremes. We came up with the usual shift change last Wednesday with a very smooth uneventful Cat ride up the mountain with both the wind speed and temperature in the single digits. In addition to bringing our personal gear, we brought a lot of food supplies up to restock the freezers and the pantry. With the low wind speeds it almost felt balmy as we unloaded our gear and supplies and reloaded the Cat with the down-going shift's gear.Thursday, Christmas Eve day,

Summer intern Scott Wehrwein returns to the summit for a winter week 2009-12-29 12:13:39.000 - Scott Wehrwein,  Summit Intern Mountain Shadow on Christmas Morning Everything is better in the winter.This is what I heard over and over, throughout my summer internship here. My shift was kind enough to invite me up for one more week so I could see for myself. In anticipation, I found myself building a mental list of what would go into a perfect winter week on the summit. I started checking things off this list last Wednesday, and I haven't stopped since.Wednesday morning saw relatively mild

Glaze 2009-12-28 05:34:18.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Generally, the word "glaze" has a positive connotation to it.Glazed donuts are some of the best!Glaze icings are always popular on sweet treats.Glazing agents are added to foods to give them a shiny appearance or to protect them.However, yesterday brought with it a form of glaze that was not so pleasant-glaze ice.We often talk about rime ice, and how it forms-when the summit is in the fog, and temperatures are below freezing. All of the liquid water droplets that make up a cloud will freeze to any surface they may come in

NULL 2009-12-26 14:27:30.000 - Marty,  Summit Cat It looks way better on me! Meow. Marty here. I think I like this 'Christmas' holiday. Two weeks ago, the blond girl and the brunette did something different to the living room. They transformed it into a magnificent play area for me! A small tree had lots of shiny hanging things, and it was lit up! Even when I would knock the funny toys onto the ground and attack the snowflakes, the observers (usually the blond one) would just hang it right back up, for me to play some more! Me-ow!Lights strung up

MC! 2009-12-25 05:28:06.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist NULL Merry Christmas! Today is December 25th, and I find myself here on the summit of Mt. Washington, away from my family for the first time in 23 years! Since I can remember, we have followed our Christmas traditions with no exceptions. Before these days of working the night shift, I used to be an early to bed/early to rise type of guy. So, on Christmas morning, I would normally be one of the first in my family to arise. Next to my bed would be a stocking that 'Santa' had filled

A holiday parody, vol 3 2009-12-23 05:25:40.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! The past two years I have done 'summitized' parodies of Christmas stories/songs and this year is no exception. Last year, I did a parody on the poem/song 'The 12 Days of Christmas' titled 'The 12 Days of Summit Christmas.' The year before, it was the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' with an obs spin on how the story goes. This year, I am putting a twist on the song 'Jingle Bells' which I am titling 'Summit Weeks'. So as your reading it, put

Pete's Week 2009-12-22 13:24:34.000 - Peter Roy,  Summit Volunteer Fogbow Over the Summit My week as a volunteer has been fun, some hard work, but fun. The week started with 100 MPH wind gusts and below zero temperatures. My 25 year old face mask froze over. As I helped load and unload the snow tractor I couldn't see. The crew was very business like and put stuff in my hands to pass on.I settled in and got started. Saturday was great! The temps hit 20 above I think. I got out side and took some pictures. A group of 8