Natalie Martin First Week 2008-05-24 16:11:25.000 - Natalie Martin,  Summit Intern Rime ice bulls eye My first shift on the summit began this Wednesday with just a bit of snow left on the auto road and relatively clear skies. I was able to get a few pictures in while we were out of the clouds of my first hands-on encounter with rime ice and some of my favorite “weather”, virga! The past few days have been quite different with winds picking up, staying in the fog throughout the day, and experiencing my first painful weather (ice pellets + high wind

Unusual Weather Phenomena Photo Gallery Part 2 2008-05-23 15:50:10.000 - Matthew Morin,  Space Grant Intern Halo & Cloud Irredescence One of the benefits of being on top of a summit 6,300 feet above sea level is that you have a 360° view that stretches as far as the horizon. When the atmosphere is clear of clouds and haze, one can spot the mountains in southern Canada as well as the sun’s reflection off the Atlantic Ocean. Another bonus of potentially having visibilities up to 135 miles is the ability to see a plethora of weather phenomena. I didn’t come to

A story about Bob T Snowflake 2008-05-22 05:14:44.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Bob et al As I walk around the deck this May night watching the snow slowly falling on the summit, it got me thinking about at quote from college Biology: “Water is life.” But my mind started to wander like it does at night and as I thought about it deeper, I came to the conclusion that water may bring about life but snow mimics life. I will convey this (hopefully) in the following story:This story starts from the beginning as most stories do. Not THE beginning

spring cleaning 2008-05-20 22:24:53.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Master of the Custodial Arts Spring cleaning. Not exactly what you would think of when you think of Tuesday nights on the summit. However, this week, we’ve been given a task...and a Rug Doctor. We have been given the task of carpet cleaning…it’s not exactly glamorous, but necessary. After the long winter, and very little of taking off of shoes when walking on carpets, the Rug Doctor is picking up stuff we can barely imagine. We’re preparing for the summer season, when we’ll be giving tours to members (if you are not

Winter is Back! 2008-05-20 05:27:25.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Deicing The Tower So winter has returned in full force to the summit. Yesterday was spent in the familiar grey abyss, with various forms of precipitation being driven through it by the wind. We had snow, snow grains, ice pellets…all which certainly sting the face if you’re not wearing a balaclava of sorts. Glaze ice formed consistently 2 or 3 inches an hour, creating an impressive display 3 to 4 feet deep on a pole directly outside the parapet door through the duration of the night. Glaze ice of this

NULL 2008-05-18 17:00:25.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist NULL The picture at the right was taken around quarter of four. Virga (precipitation that evaporates before it hits the ground) had begun to surround the summit a few minutes earlier and it was closing in fast. It resembled a shower curtain in mid battle between the hot steamy air within and the colder drier bathroom air, pulsing back and forth in a wavelike fashion. Would it be rain or snow? It was still too far away to tell. A hiker walked around the observation deck looking at what was coming and pondered

NULL 2008-05-17 14:50:28.000 - Lisa Hodges,  Summit Intern My first summit sunset. The story of my internship here at the observatory begins with the mountain’s welcoming beautiful weather. I arrived Thursday in the fog, the summit’s typical view, but the next morning awoke to clear skies, calm winds, and a ninety mile view from the green mountains of Vermont all the way to Portland, Maine. If the haze had cleared a bit further, we may have been able to see the Atlantic at the Maine coast. Despite the mountain’s reputation for extreme winds, I was greeted with such a lack

Whistling Ravens? 2008-05-17 05:17:51.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Wicked sweet sunrise, dude! This morning has started out quite a bit differently than yesterday. It is still quite cloudy, but we are overcast at a couple thousand feet rather than the varying layers present yesterday. The sunrise a day ago was brilliant, coloring the clouds several shades of red and gold. Today I caught only the briefest glimpse of the sun before it ducked back behind this thick stratus layer. Rather than being greeted by the sun, I was welcomed by wee snowflakes striking my face. Don’t worry though –

a dreary day 2008-05-15 16:11:51.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Meteorologist NULL “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…” the first line in Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem, The Raven. It’s the only thing I can think of when I look out the window. Granted, it’s not midnight, I’m neither weak nor weary, and I’m not in particularly pondering state of mind, however it is severely dreary. I think that will be coded on our next observation, in the Present Weather column. It is raining with some extremely dense fog, at one point I could barely see twenty

Hike to Lakes 2008-05-14 18:27:14.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist Brrrrrrrr Today marked the quickest and smoothest accent of the Auto Road so far this year. On the way down after our last shift week, we were able to see sections of the road that has been washed away from the typical springtime nuisances. Luckily, the storminess remained well to our south over the weekend which limited the potential for further damage. The Road Blog has some good pictures and videos of the hard work that they have been doing to get to road in shape for everyone to come visit