Bring on the Wind! 2019-09-18 10:23:23.000 - Eric Kelsey, Lead Research Scientist   The next step in ensuring a long future of research-quality wind speed measurements occurred this summer when the next-generation pitot static tube anemometer was disassembled and modified to fix a couple of problems that arose this spring and summer. In the spring when temperatures began to rise above freezing regularly, we noticed occasional spikes in wind speed that looked unrealistic. While we expect the NextGen pitot to measure higher wind gust speeds than Pitot 19 (our operational pitot) because of significantly shorter tubing, some gusts were over

Types of Icing Events on Mount Washington 2019-09-17 14:23:48.000 - Ben Charles, Intern   The second week of my fall internship here at the summit of Mount Washington has been an eventful one. It had been since my first shift on the mountain back in late May since I have seen sub-freezing temperatures on the summit, but we were lucky enough to see temperatures dip below the freezing mark twice last Thursday and Friday! However, we were in the clear both times we got below freezing so we didn’t see much freezing other than some surplus trail runoff. Yesterday was

Lenticular Clouds and Mt. Washington 2019-09-16 11:03:58.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Yesterday, we had some incredible views of some Lenticular clouds over the summit! Once we cleared from the fog, I had gone outside for the hourly observation and was pleasantly surprised to find some towering “lentis” in front of me! I quickly dug out my phone and snapped the picture, luckily before my phone was blown out of my hands and down on to the deck (needless to say I’ll be swinging by the iGuys in North Conway this coming down week). But it was worth

When do we Average seeing our First Snow? 2019-09-13 15:29:53.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   With winter coming fast in the White Mountains, it is always fun to look back at our records and figure out some averages. Since we are technically a sub-arctic climate on the summit, the first snow usually comes quite early relative to the surrounding locations. We have had a few good cold snaps recently with temperatures falling below freezing, though it has so far only occurred when we have dry air in the region so no snow yet. Finding the first snow of

In Search of Wintry Weather: A Look at the Week Ahead on Mount Washington 2019-09-09 08:30:46.000 - Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   With our much-advertised below freezing temperatures last night being a bust, (we sat at literally 32.0-34 degrees all night) I’ve decided to take a look at our next chances for potential wintry weather. “Wintry weather” we’ll define as at least some icing conditions, with rime or glaze ice forming on the summit surfaces, or better yet, snow! It’s still quite early for us to see significant snowfall this time of year, but typically by mid-late September the

My Perspective of Being a Summit Volunteer 2019-09-06 12:20:54.000 - Carol Anderson, Summit Volunteer   I have been a summit volunteer for 3 years and I love it. I have been on the rockpile in every season. I have been a co-volunteer with people I did not know and people I did know, and I have gone solo. It is an awesome experience. Never have two shifts been the same -- different weather, different schedule, different staff, different food, different visitors. You never know what you will get. But the one consistency is the great fun and immense satisfaction of

Follow Your Passion, The Rest Will Fall Into Place 2019-09-04 06:52:05.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Hello all!  For this blog post, I’m going to take a different route.  Often times, I write something sciency about some weather phenomena, process, or something regarding the atmosphere and its interconnectedness with the entirety of the Biosphere.  This time, I’m going to share something a bit more personal.  It’s been a quick and extremely rewarding past 8 months working here at the Observatory and I want to write about how I got here.  It’s a bit of a weird path, but at

An Analysis of Hurricane Dorian So Far 2019-09-02 08:57:45.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   This past weekend we had our final Summer Edutrip for the season on the summit. And the theme for this trip, coincidentally, was Hurricanes and the Science of Tropical Cyclones. As such the observers and the trip group were closely following the progression and evolution of Hurricane Dorian. As of early Sunday morning, Hurricane Dorian reached category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and began to make landfall in the Bahamas with sustained winds around 185 mph. With the catastrophic damage being done and the

Fall is Just Around the Corner 2019-08-30 11:02:38.000 - Benjamin Charles, Summit Intern   August will shortly come to an end, wrapping up what was a great summer here at the summit of Mount Washington. So as the end of the 2019 summer grows closer we will begin to see a considerable shift in our weather this next month of September. Typically during the summer is when the Summit of Mount Washington experiences its calmer conditions, warmer temperatures, and foggiest months.  August is actually the first month that the average temperature begins to decrease by 1.0°F to 48.1°F. However the

The Air Was Filled With Laughter: A Letter to Our Fall Interns 2019-08-25 07:25:39.000 - Anna Smith, Summit Intern Graduate   The air was filled with laughter. One last shift change for this set of interns and honestly, it was probably my favorite yet. We were bouncing around the agenda, getting through the important details while trying not to dissolve into laughter amidst flying squirrel jokes, Jay zoning out in his preparation to go to bed before his night shift, and Marty just being weird. Finally Rebecca begins to take out mail from the WDC, and to my surprise, I