Looking back at November 2009-12-05 10:40:06.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL Things have been a little 'off' this shift. For starters, Marty the cat hasn't been around because he went down the mountain on Wednesday to go see the vet. Luckily it's nothing too serious; he has been scratching and licking his back excessively and this has caused it to become a bit raw. He has been staying with the other shift's intern, Mary Ellen, and will be returning to the summit today. Also, Ryan, who usually works the overnight shift of observations, is on vacation this shift.

Snow, Snow, Snow! 2009-12-03 20:03:44.000 - Will Tourtellot,  Summit Intern Summit Buildings At Dusk Yesterday was shift change and with my time here on the summit drawing to an end I couldn't have been more excited about getting back on the mountain. My excitement was due to several different things, but chief among them was the possibility of a snow tractor ride! As we were loading the van and chaining tires there was a bit of chatter about the snow tractor. So, as any snow-tractor-ride-desiring person, I thought that we would SURELY pile into the snow tractor at the half-way

Seek the Peak 10 2009-12-02 13:38:52.000 - Cara Rudio,  Marketing and Communications Coordinator Registration for Seek the Peak 10 is officially open! New England's premier hiking event and the largest annual fundraiser for thenonprofit Mount Washington Observatory, Seek the Peak 10 will be held July 23-24, 2010. This 10th annual hike-a-thon will feature a number of exciting new additions,including:- A new and improved registration process- A special 10th anniversary premium package (available for purchase)featuring a short-sleeved wicking hiking shirt in both men's and women'ssizes (and yes, you can still get the classic cotton tee for free!)- Expanded hours for Friday

NULL 2009-12-01 09:22:42.000 - Rob Jones,  Summit Volunteer Me on Deck! It is my observation that MWO operates on the maxim 'Waste not, want not'. Someone is always in the process of figuring out how to do something with what is on hand. This is also the guiding principle in the observatory kitchen. Volunteers are encouraged to use up ingredients that are about to expire, the crew and volunteer make every effort to eat any leftovers, and recycling is the order of the day. Early in this volunteer week I was asked to do something with some bananas that were

NULL 2009-11-30 09:43:39.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL Weather and this mountain never cease to amaze me. The amazing amount of snowfall and the incredible winds whipping the snow off and around the summits created a winter-wonderland landscape; dangerously beautiful. Rime formed on every surface, making the buildings appear to be blanketed in snowy clouds. In one day, on a previously snow-less summit, the Yankee Drift is back to normal and the brilliant sunlight peaking through the clouds and reflecting off the newly frosty summit and hurts your eyes. After spending much of the shift week in fog

137 2009-11-28 22:36:24.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist Now that's a good looking Hays Chart! Good things come to those who wait! orBe careful what you wish for...All of you avid followers of our observer comments are probably intimately familiar with the tame November we've been experiencing on the summit. Every day since November 8th has seen temperatures averaging above normal, and up until yesterday, we had experienced a mere 4.3" of snow. This past Wednesday (November 25th), we were able to ride all the way to the summit in the 4-wheel drive van without the use of chains! We

NULL 2009-11-27 14:11:57.000 - Mary Ellen Dunn,  Summit Intern Tip-Top in the Snow Conditions on the summit have certainly changed in the past 24 hours as a strong low pressure system has entered the region. The past few days we have been following this storm move up the Atlantic coast with the hopes of it bringing cold temperatures, accumulating snow, and high winds to the summit. November temperatures on Mount Washington have been above average with precipitation mainly rain so, wintry conditions are welcome and have been for a while. As the storm approached this morning, snow began to fall

NULL 2009-11-26 14:27:52.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist I think that says it all! Warning: The following passage may, in fact, become quite sappy. Thanksgiving is a national holiday. When we're small, it means eating a lot of food at the kid's table, and running under-foot while dads, uncles, and grandpa's watch football and drink beer and while moms, aunts, and grandma's putter around in the kitchen. As we entered kindergarten, we made paper turkeys and paper pilgrim hats and learned that it was a celebration of a new beginning. In middle school we were giving thanks to be

NULL 2009-11-25 16:38:43.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL As many of you already know, as summit staff we essentially work a week-on week-off schedule with Wednesday being the traditional shift change day. Something I noticed very quickly when I started working on the summit as an intern in January 2006 (has it really almost been 4 years?!) is that this schedule makes time fly by. I think it was former observer, 'Holywood' Jim Salge, that once said something like 'the days and weeks don't go by particularly fast, but the months sure do'. I have certainly found this

Why, November? 2009-11-24 23:29:00.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Tonights view. When I started my meteorology classes in fall of 1999, the general meteorology classes had about 100 students or so in them. As the second semester came about, that number was cut in about half. But it wasn't until sophomore year that my peers started jumping ship left and right to engineering, computer science, physics or other majors. By the time I graduated, there was about seven of us, and that was considered a big class for my department. So why such a large drop off rate? Well, the