Volunteer Comment 2008-10-01 09:41:33.000 - Summit Volunteer,  Summit Volunteer NULL As one of two volunteers here at the Mount Washington Observatory, I have spent this past week at an observatory observing the observers observe. This got me to asking, 'just what does it mean 'to observe.'' The online dictionary (Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.1) provided the following as one of the definitions of 'observe'--'to regard with attention so as to see or learn something.' What have I learned in this time observing on the rockpile? nnI have learned about clouds, barometric pressure, fog, wind, and rain, to list a few. More importantly

Volunteer comments. 2008-09-30 18:19:41.000 - Elizabeth Kennedy,  Summit Volunteer Undercast skies. In June 1999, I exited the 'Dungeon' at Lakes to pink sky, no wind, and enough early-morning warmth that we quickly packed up outside for the day's AT trek over Mount Washington's summit.nnI remember people at the observatory being excited about the record heat--I couldn't confirm that just now--but we spent enough time touring there that we arrived later and more exhausted than we had hoped at 'The Perch,' RMC's tentsite locale west of Mount Madison. But, I had learned one could volunteer to cook a week for the

Abnormal Wx? 2008-09-29 17:08:47.000 - Mike Carmon,  Summit Intern A little clearing in the middle of a foggy week The weather around here has been fairly warm (by our standards) recently. The daily high broke 50 degrees Thursday-Sunday. The almanac shows a normal high of about 37 for these days.Hurricane Kyle gave Maine a scare, placing the state’s coast in a Hurricane Watch for the first time in 17 years.Mt. Washington has yet to see snow this season. Generally the summit will see its first couple of inches in September. October is less than 36 hours away.This past Thursday, the

Update on Nin 2008-09-28 17:16:38.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Nin doing what he always did best As many of you will remember, for roughly 15 years, Nin the cat was the beloved mascot and pet of the summit crew. In late December 2007, Nin retired from his post on the summit because of concerns regarding his health and age. It’s hard to believe that in just a couple months it will be a year since Nin left the summit. Of course, Marty arrived in January of this year and has done a fine job filling the role of the summit

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