From the Museum Attendant 2008-09-15 14:36:23.000 - Sharon Nothnagle,  Summit Museum Attendant My Home in the Summer As I woke up this morning, I was aware of the howling of high winds outside my bedroom window. We had hoped, after venturing out in the winds last night (I am on the left), that the morning winds would fulfill our expectations, and they certainly did! It’s always fun to go out in the big winds and, this time, the temperature was unseasonably warm (in the 50’s). At around 8:00 AM, one of our volunteers, Melissa, and I went up the tower

Marty's Adventure 2008-09-14 11:10:09.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer I promise, Marty is in this picture! When Marty, our cat, arrived on the summit back in January, we quickly discovered that he is a very adventurous and curious cat. Since then, I have also discovered that he enjoys following me around with things I do through the day, so much so that I began calling him “my shadow” back in the spring. Almost every day he follows me on the morning “walk-around”, which is when I take a few minutes to walk through the building to make sure everything looks ok

There's a first for everything. 2008-09-13 05:03:31.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Sunrise from 09-11-08. The first light of the day. Nothing compares to the emotions and memories of experiencing something for the first time. And life is full of firsts from the time we enter this world until the time we depart it. Our first cry announces our entry to the world. Our first words, allowing us to learn how to communicate our experiences to others verbally. Our first steps allowing us mobility to explore the world around us. Our first written word allowing us the ability to provide

Doing Some Work at Lakes 2008-09-12 16:04:33.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Looking down into Oakes Gulf On Wednesday, Ken (Director of Summit Operations) tasked me with going down to the Lakes of the Clouds AMC hut to make sure that the temperature and humidity sensor that is located there is ready for the long, harsh winter months that are quickly descending upon the mountain. By this time next week, the hut will be boarded up for the winter, so this is our last chance to easily check things out.nnThose that frequently read the Observer Comments may remember that back in

September 11 2008-09-11 18:09:51.000 - Mike Carmon,  Summit Intern NULL My welcome back to the summit was a blustery and cold one—a stark contrast from the 80-90 degree weather I enjoyed on my week off. When I arrived at the summit Wednesday morning, the temperature was around 29 degrees and winds were blowing near 50 mph, creating some chilly wind chills. I thought I was prepared for it, but as soon as I opened the door of the van I knew I wasn’t. My hands nearly froze during the unloading/reloading process, but I quickly recovered. I’m definitely not in Jersey

volunteer comment 2008-09-10 06:28:13.000 - Priscilla and Harriet,  Summit Volunteers NULL Here are a few words from Priscilla and Harriet (Thelma and Louise) -- volunteers who cooked at the MWOB this week. What a week it was and where do we start with the many firsts and experiences? Deb, museum attendant extraordinaire, filled us in on all of the important facts. The food, weather, rock scrambling and hiking and a really GREAT CREW made it the best of weeks. Steve and 'the kids' always popping in for second breakfast or lunch. Cookies and brownies disappeared fast.nnWell, first the food --

Dreams and Sunsets 2008-09-09 02:16:16.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Inside a Sunset Looking Out This morning I had a refreshing night’s sleep, however confusing that may sound. So it goes when you work nights. The previous nights had been a bit restless regarding dreams. The problem was one of computer programming. After working on a project involving the Auto Road and Mesonet site verifications, my mind was racing with thoughts of how to solve problem x or what are steps y and z now that x has finally been solved. Dreams at this point became very linear; not the

weather discussion 2008-09-07 18:25:17.000 - Jeff Wehrwein,  Summit Intern Island in the sun. Yesterday was a return to the days of early August, when rain and fog were a daily occurrence. Even the temperature was reminiscent of August, peaking just below 60 degrees. At the morning synoptic today, our first rain of the month had already accumulated to 2.07 inches over the preceding 24 hours. The average monthly precipitation for September is 8.55 inches, so we received nearly a quarter of our quota in one day. This wet weather was brought to us by the remnants of Hurricane Hanna (and

Child's Play 2008-09-06 20:34:49.000 - Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern NULL Hello there – this is Jordan Scampoli and I am the newest fall intern here on the summit. I graduated last May from St. Michael’s College in Vermont with a degree in mathematics. Now I know you may think this is strange - a mathematician where a meteorologist should be, but I assure you, they’ve got some work cut out for me up here! nnToday was my third full day on the summit, and I must say that I believe that my first few days have been a little more

Painting 2008-09-05 21:38:09.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Mount Washington summit from Lakes of the Clouds With summer rapidly drawing to a close we are taking every opportunity to finish off our outside task list. Since it was warm and mostly fog free today we were all busy with outdoor painting tasks. Jordan and I spent a few hours this afternoon giving the top of the parapet a fresh coat of safety red paint. After a winter of being hit with a crowbar, to remove rime and glaze ice, it was certainly in need of a touch up. We soon