What is that? 2008-09-27 15:33:39.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Meteorologist Hark! What light through yonder window break. The unknown invokes various emotions from individuals based on their knowledge, beliefs and environment. These emotions include, but are not limited to, fear, happiness, curiosity, hate, love, excitement, or apprehension. Fear of the unseen, happiness about possibly meeting someone new, curiosity from an area we have never been before, hate or love from expanding into areas outside our comfort zone, excitement about what is to come, or apprehension about a negative outcome awaiting us. All valid emotions evoked by big and small events in

Meteorologist 2008-09-26 17:13:31.000 - Mike Carmon,  Summit Intern Undercast on 9/16 The life of a meteorologist is not your typical one. nn I’m sure that there are other professions in the world that may be more competitive, stressful or meticulous. However, one substantial truth separates meteorologists from the rest of the pack—weather is a passion for us, not just an occupation. And you can bet that in the many years prior to finding a niche, each one of us goes through some significant realizations as to why we are the way are. That is, why do we find those clouds

Northern Presidentails Overnight 2008-09-25 16:47:00.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Crag Camp Today’s comment is not going to be about Mount Washington. However, it is going to be about “The Greater Mount Washington Area”, if such a place even exists.During the weekend of my shift off (September 20-21) I had the opportunity to go for an overnight trip on the northern slope of Mt. Adams in the Northern Presidentials. The idea actually came from well known former observer Jim Salge (often referred to by us as the Jim Salge). As many of you reading this may remember, he is an avid

volunteer comment 2008-09-24 08:31:23.000 - Sarah and Bill Young,  Summit Volunteers Glory (Brocken spectre) 'Baked (Alaska) Mount Washington' was cooked up to celebrateSarah's birthday and the final festive meal of our volunteershift on the rockpile. Like the dessert, life up here is cold and hot; the weather is delightfully chilly while the weather crew is wonderfully warm. We had ablast of wind (61 mph peak for the week) and a blast of fun.nnWe hiked everyday, eventually circumambulating the summit cone.The opportunities to start at the top, to sometimes scout the routefrom the weather tower in advance, the excitement of hiking

Microwave Dish 2008-09-23 05:30:53.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Observatory Tower So why a picture of the observatory tower? Look again and you may notice something different. Yesterday we took down the old bashed up microwave dish and replaced it with a brand new one. The dish houses a microwave antenna which is set up to talk with a similar unit on the roof of the Mount Washington Observatory headquarters building down in North Conway. Through this dish passes all our internet, email, polycom and phone data.The new dish is slightly larger and has a flat front instead of the

sunrise and sunset 2008-09-22 06:36:39.000 - Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern NULL Finally! I saw my first sunrise and sunset after almost two weeks up here. The unusual thing is that they both occurred on the same day! Mike, our bearded Vermonter nighttime observer came in to Jeff and my room at 5:00 AM. 'Wake up sweethearts' he said. With a wake up call like that, how can one not get up? I threw some warm clothes on and sprinted up the stairs. With 20% less oxygen in the air, two flights of stairs seemed like twenty. I got out onto

hike to jefferson 2008-09-21 06:29:56.000 - Jeff Wehrwein,  Summit Intern Peaking out from the summit of Jefferson The weather this week has been wonderful, if a bit chilly. We spent all of Thursday below freezing with a brisk wind and clear skies. Yesterday the sun shined brightly and the wind was calm, so the 45 degree air felt like 60 on the summit. Jordan and I took advantage of this comfortable weather to take a hike to Mount Jefferson, which is the next peak to our north in the presidential range after Mount Clay. It is about 3 miles each

Sunrise Hike 2008-09-20 07:58:07.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Sunrise Well, it has been a couple of beautiful days and nights here on the summit. I got out for a nice sunrise hike yesterday, a bit by mistake. I only went out for a short walk, but I was in the fine mode of moseying and when in such a mode, it is quite easy just to keep going. After being up all night I was a bit tired, but this was alright. I didn’t need, nor did I want, to hike quickly. There will be other times for that.

Fall Bug 2008-09-18 10:26:37.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer The only cure for the Fall Bug Spring Fever is a feeling of restlessness, yearning, or even laziness believed to be brought on by the coming of spring, as per the MSN Encarta free online dictionary.nnWell, I’ve got another one, the Fall Bug. The Fall Bug manifests itself as intense cravings for apples, cider, and pumpkin flavored baked goods and ales, at least for me. The way my breath hangs in the air during the early morning makes me giddy and the contemplation of Halloween costumes gets me floored. Some of my

A volunteers POV 2008-09-16 15:32:06.000 - Melissa Rudin,  Summit Volunteer This mornings undercast. Even though I grew up in a suburb just outside of Chicago I have never considered myself to be a city person. However now that I live in Maine, the extremes of Chicago weather is what I miss most. Some of my fondest memories as child are of my Father and me sitting on the back porch watching intense lightning displays. Even now as a photographer, weather continues to captivate me and it is what I find so alluring about Mount Washington.nnI feel fortunate not only for