No really - it's May. 2009-05-11 18:44:47.000 - Ali Boris,  Summit Intern Looking west at the mixing layer above the summit No really - it's May.We awoke yesterday morning to a wintry scene rather than the sedgey, golden mountaintop of the night before. I finally experience a thunderstorm up here on Saturday night, though! Friday night, Mike and I took a hike which ended at Nelson Crag in time to watch a big cumulonimbus with real lightning potential roll by, but the big event came as Ryan predicted the following night. The observers claimed that the storm was only a

Happy (day late) Mothers Day! 2009-05-10 23:43:38.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist A true sight of summer. Greetings, from the summit of Mt. Washington! I hope all the mothers of the world had a Happy Mothers Day. I heard that some people hiked up the summit yesterday with their mothers or rode the cog up with them. If your mom is a fan of winter-like weather, then yesterday was awesome for them. If not, you're probably thinking of some other way of making it up to them for ruining their special day by taking them to such a cold and

A Mixed Weather Day 2009-05-09 16:18:52.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Interesting Rainbow from Yesterday It has been a nice mix of weather today. I woke up at 5:30 to find a chaotic sky, with patchy fog in the valleys below, convective cumulus at eye level, several layers of alto clouds, and even some high cirrus to top things off. As the hours passed and daytime heating commenced, the once small cumulus clouds rapidly grew in size, hovering just a few hundred feet above the summit. Clouds were building in fast and it would not be long before they lowered

Letting go of winter 2009-05-08 16:53:34.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Warm temperatures and wet fog take their toll It's getting to be that time of year on the mountain that I am forced, kicking and screaming, to let go of winter. The average temperature for tomorrow is 33 degrees, the first day with an average temperature above freezing since October 9. Temperatures have been above the average lately and that, coupled with plenty of wet fog, has eliminated pretty much all the snow on the summit itself. Of course the gullies, ravines, and deeper snowfields are still hanging

Hopping Rocks in the Fog 2009-05-07 16:00:04.000 - Ali Boris,  Summit Intern Undercast on the rocks As we head into the summer season when one and all can come up to enjoy the observatory, spring has sprung and the snow has all but melted away on the summit cone. It's still quite a change of climate to arrive at work every other Wednesday, but I'm discovering new details about our mountaintop home as I see it for the first time in its rocky, sedgey glory. Angles, ground coverings, and colors are now exposed from beneath the blankets of snow and

Facebook 2009-05-06 22:17:29.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist "Are you on Facebook?"If you are on Facebook, I am sure you have muttered this question at least once to a friend, coworker or family member. If they are, you usually ask to friend them, if they are not, most people follow up with "Well, why not?" A year ago, I was usually on the side of explaining why I had not yet signed up but after a while, I got sick of trying to explain myself and caved in. I was hesitant at first but now, I have found it a

DJ and Bob Lavoie 2009-05-05 19:55:34.000 - DJ and Bob Lavoie,  Summit Volunteers Simply Majestic The mountain never fails to surprise its guests. This is our third year as summit volunteers and every week has been different and awesome!Our week started out coming up from a very warm valley to the summit which was also warm…but not nearly so. The sun was shinning and we had a lovely sunset. What a way to start our week.Thursday was beautiful and great hiking weather. We headed for Mt Clay, but decided not to continue as the trail became very icy near the

what's in a name 2009-05-04 08:42:38.000 - 'Stakey',  Observer and Meteorologist NULL 'What's in name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.'The distressed Juliet Capulet utters this famous line as she deliberates over the conflict between her heart and her family's desires. A name is merely a word; it doesn't change the character of the being. I bring this up because names are simply assigned to variables (or people). It is the way we distinguish others by more than just, 'that dude with red hair' or 'that girl with the green eyes'. However,

SD 2009-05-03 05:20:52.000 - Mike Carmon,  Observer and Meteorologist The Badlands of South Dakota If I may, I'm going to shift the focus of my comment from goings-on at the summit. In fact, I'm going to shift the focus about 2,000 miles away. On our last off week, Stacey, (now former) intern Jordan and I took a road trip out to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Why? Well, besides the obvious pleasures of spending a total of 72 hours in a car with a couple of people you live with for a week at a time already, one of

Super size me 2009-05-01 16:36:23.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL I was able to celebrate the coming of May by going for my first hike without crampons since October yesterday before dinner. I had planned on taking the Gulfside Trail to Westside Trail and up the Crawford Path. Unfortunately, as it happens, I have completely forgotten how to hike on rocks! It took me a lot longer than I anticipated to hike about one mile down the trail. For the first time ever, it took me longer to go down than to go up. Instead, I merely hiked