Coaster 2009-11-04 01:26:13.000 - Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist This shift week has truly been a roller coaster ride! We arrived to relatively light winds and temperatures around freezing. The winds struggled to break 20 mph on Wednesday (in fact, our peak gust for the day was a meager 22 mph). A few days later, on October 30th, we tied a record high of 48 degrees. But the warmth did not stop there. The next day, very early on Halloween morning, we set a record high of 52 degrees, leaving the old record of 49 degrees in the dust! This was

NULL 2009-11-02 14:40:35.000 - Mary Ellen Dunn,  Summit Intern NULL The weather has finally cleared up from the weekend show of high winds and foggy skies. It still amazes me how quickly the weather can change up here and this weekend was another great example. One second the wind's gusting to a peak of 96mph with heavy down pouring rain and the next temperature drops 10 degrees in an hour, as a cold front passes covering the summit in ice. Yesterday we were socked in the fog all day with teases of blue sky right above, then all of a

NULL 2009-11-01 14:57:58.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist Halloween on the summit. Daylight Savings Time strikes again! As Steve struggles with yet more database issues, Mary Ellen and I occasionally here the frustrated sighs coming from the IT corner. We also hear the sporadic rants about daylight savings time and how it's utterly useless. Steve is attempting to fix these time issues for good, and has been at it for the entire day. I'd say a rant or two is definitely admissible, if not completely warranted. On the bright side, the summit and valley facilities are now on the

NULL 2009-10-31 00:17:38.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist Brocken spectre 'Halo around the Sun or Moon, rain or snow soon.'We observed a halo around the Sun this afternoon, which, according to the proverb, means that the summit will see rain or snow soon. Well, that is indeed true. How do we know? It could be the large green, yellow, and red blob heading our way on the radar. It could be because the forecast models say it will precipitate. It could also be because centuries of watching the sky has lead to the conclusion that if a halo is

Halloween Marty 2009-10-30 01:32:07.000 - Marty,  Summit Cat Yawn! Apparently those lazy observers have run out of ideas, so they're making me(ow) write ANOTHER comment! Don't they know I'm tired after a hectic day of surveying my mountaintop domain and just want to rest up? Oh well...In case you haven't guessed yet, this is Marty cat coming at you with some more thoughts from my perspective very near the ground.As far as my observer and intern subjects up here, I really enjoy playing games with them. Mind games, that is! I still follow around the British observer in the mornings,

NULL 2009-10-28 15:21:15.000 - David Matesky,  Summit Volunteer NULL We had a visitor this week, a photographer from L.L. Bean who was here to shoot some footage for use in future ads and documentaries. He came up Lion's Head trail and was planning to return back to Pinkham Notch via Boot Spur after having spent the night here. Everyone had a good time talking with him and all are hoping that the video will launch them into future stardom.Several days ago there was an unbelievable view of the ocean. The sun was glinting off of it brightly and you could

What a day! 2009-10-27 20:48:20.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Ryan taking pictures at sunrise I'm not going to say much in this comment. Not because I don't have much to say, but because I'd much rather let the pictures and video I took today speak for themselves.Sunrise this morning was nothing short of spectacular. The thumbnail picture attached to this comment is of the sunrise, and here are a few more:Mike and Ryan enjoy the sunriseClouds over the WildcatsGlowing altocumulusAs if having such a fantastic sunrise wasn't enough, Mike and I were treated to some very interesting cloud

A few words from Marty 2009-10-26 21:49:52.000 - Marty,  Summit Cat Spending time outside, while I still can. It's been almost two months since I've contributed to the Observer Comments, so I figure it's about time I make an appearance and, you know, give the people what they want...more of me! So I commandeered Brian to translate for me (even though he says its past his bedtime); I still haven't quite mastered the English language or that darn keyboard. Take a look, in the Comments Archive, at my very first comment on April 28, 2008 to see what happens when

Get ready cause ya never know. 2009-10-25 21:36:34.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Unrelated picture from our drive up Weds. Last night provided a brief period of clearing from the fog to provide a nearly complete undercast out 15 to 20 miles before clouds below the summit billowed up limiting horizontal visibilities. This in itself is a neat site to see day or night but there was something eerie to it last night. The undercast layer was thin with pockets of clearing allowing me to see the familiar glows of Berlin to the north and Conway to the southeast but

Snow snow, where did you go? 2009-10-24 19:55:26.000 - Will Tourtellot,  Summit Intern The snow I long for... As you may already know, Wednesday is shift change day for the summit staff. At the end of any given shift, it's impossible to know how the weather will be when we return the following Wednesday. A little over a week ago, the 14th, each group rode the Cog Railway to the summit and back down, respectively. During the previous week seven inches of snow and ice had accumulated and we were not fully prepared for travel in those conditions. Over the