Extremes 2008-11-08 17:12:58.000 - Mike Carmon,  Summit Intern NULL Mt. Washington is known as a place of extremes—and it never ceases to amaze. You’ve probably read many of our comments about the “good weather” vs. “bad weather” shift. It’s definitely seemed to work like clockwork around here. But—as I had been begging for in a comment I wrote last shift—I finally got a taste of winter on Mt. Washington. The last Wednesday morning of my previous shift (October 29th), I had the privilege of doing my first bit of de-icing since arriving at the Observatory back in late August during

A rare sight 2008-11-07 17:11:59.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer As far as the weather is concerned, shift change this past Wednesday was extremely uneventful for this time of year. With temperatures in the low 40’s and the summit in the clear, we set off from the base of the Auto Road with both the truck and the van and no plans of putting chains on for the entire trip up. It turned out that there were only a couple spots on the road that had any significant amount of snow left, and those were easily taken care of by the

Summit votes. 2008-11-06 14:54:07.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist I, or should I say, we voted! If you are an avid reader of our comments, you are probably aware that we do our shift changes on Wednesdays. One group of observers, interns and volunteers comes up for a week on while the other group heads down. In the summer, it is fairly easy to go up and down the mountain as the need arises. But since we are in what are considered winter months (although the last couple of days you wouldn’t think it as it is in the 40s

volunteer comment 2008-11-05 09:01:58.000 - Summit Volunteer,  Summit Volunteer NULL A great big “Howdy” to all of you Mt. Washington Observatory supporters and followers. I am closing in on the end of my volunteer week here on the summit and it has been a gas. Stacey, Steve, Mike, Jordan, Jeff and Marty have made me feel right at home and I know I have made some new fair and foul weather friends. I've gotta tell ya, these folks are true professionals. They absolutely love what they do. They truly enjoy taking time to work with the volunteers and embrace their

cold weather 2008-11-04 06:40:17.000 - Jeff Wehrwein,  Summit Intern Snowy sunrise Friday This week has been the coldest I have seen yet. We arrived on the summit last Wednesday with temperatures around 10 degrees, and they did not climb above freezing until yesterday afternoon. Also, from our arrival through Sunday, the wind was typically in the 60s and did not drop below 40 mph for more than a few minutes. On Sunday morning the temperature dropped to 2 degrees above zero, something I would consider unusual for November were I not on top of Mount Washington. Ironically, Sunday was also

Lakes Work 2008-11-03 11:53:01.000 - Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern Crew upon return Yesterday we were finally able to show Anna and Tanya the rarely seen sunny and friendly side of Mount Washington. Jeff, Mike, Steve the volunteer, Anna, Tanya and I went for a hike down to the Lakes of the Clouds hut. The true purpose of our hike was to shut off some of our remote sensing equipment for the winter season that we have at the hut. Since it is closed and locked up for the season, I had to stand guard at the door while Jeff, Mike

Sunday 2008-11-02 18:51:40.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Sunset on Friday When I started my shift at 5am this morning the weather was foggy, cold (3 degrees) and windy (60 mph) - it was definitely a little chilly venturing outside to take observations. But as they say, if you don't like the weather in New England just wait an hour or two. Sure enough just after sunrise the fog lifted leaving us with fine views over the surrounding snow capped peaks. As high pressure continued to built in, the winds dropped dramatically and, thanks to the ample sunshine, the temperatures

Happy Halloween 2008-11-01 14:34:03.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer rime and snow blanket the summit High winds and cold temperatures kept the trick-or-treaters away from the summit last night, but that didn’t put a damper on our Halloween festivities. Our Halloween was extra special because we were able to share it with our friends from Russia, who don’t normally celebrate this holiday. Costumes were adorned and the celebration included Russian mushroom and barley soup (made by Anna and Tatiana), two desserts (pumpkin pie and marmalade turnovers), popcorn, and appropriately scary movies. Even Marty dressed up! Today is Tatiana’s 23rd birthday, and

Lost in Translation 2008-10-30 21:35:45.000 - Tatiana and Anna,  Russian Meteorologist and Interpreter Tatiana with the Precip Can Lost in translation. Lost in all those mountains of clouds, ice, fog and wind. Luckily we have found ourselves in this warm company of all those people, who are talking, working, laughing, pottering around and making us feel – life is going on! Thanks all these guys here – Steve, Stacey, Jordan, Jeff, Mike, Steve and Ernie – we have a chance to talk with them about Russia and show them pictures of Russia. Achievements of this day: deicing, deicing, deicing. A

lobsters and music 2008-10-30 11:19:07.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Tatiana's first lobster! Music has always been an important part of my life, from listening to my Mom play the piano when I was young, to falling asleep listening to Neil Young’s Harvest during high school, to playing harmonica, now one of my favorite past times. This activity has provided me with countless hours of enjoyment with friends, a constant companion on hikes or car rides, another thing my Papa and I can share (he can play “Springtime in the Rockies” like no one else), and now a connection between