Obs coming to a school near you...soon 2008-04-24 23:22:18.000 - Michelle Cruz,  Outreach Coordinator Marty Traveling…one of my favorite things about life…that opportunity to learn about another culture…place yourself in location that you might’ve read about in an intriguing book, article, poem, or see in a painting, photograph…or it just might be that experience that you know you will take with you through life. Yep, an experience. The knowledge gained through traveling is priceless. However, the cost of a ticket for transportation is another story.It seems fitting when I think about my job…traveling to schools, science centers and other organizations

First thunderstorm of the spring 2008-04-23 18:32:05.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer NULL As I write this, we are in the midst of experiencing the first thunderstorm I have been on the summit for in quite some time. In fact, it was probably September or October when I was last here for a thunderstorm. I am actually having trouble remembering how to code a thunderstorm on our weather forms.This is the first big change in the weather the summit has seen in over a week. In fact, as this thunderstorm approached, fog engulfed the summit for the first time since the

NULL 2008-04-22 13:05:11.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Here's a picture of the diminished snow pack. The calm weather has allowed us to work some other projects this week. Mike has been working on making the Observer’s life a little easier by writing some essential programs, Ryan has been diligently working on his research project, Kyle has been spending some time with wind instruments, and I’ve been working on ideas for the Observatory’s distance learning project. There are more projects. For example, we are currently replacing a Plexi-glass window in our pressurized barograph enclosure, which has turned into a slightly larger

Water Water Water 2008-04-20 22:34:34.000 - Ryan Buckley,  Summit Intern Water water water. We had some flooding problems today. The bottom of the tower started to overflow into the living quarters up over a 4 inch lip between the two rooms. The observatory went immediately from weather mode and shifted to water removal. We tried to open the summer exit door at the bottom of the tower, but the door was still iced in. This made water removal much more difficult. We set up the sump pump and filled three 20 gallon barrels to lower the water level in the

NULL 2008-04-19 04:25:53.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist When packing on Tuesday night for my work week I had some decisions to make. Was I to pack flannel or cotton sheets, and should I pack a pair of shorts just in case it gets really warm? Well, I chose the flannel sheets which I am happy about, and I packed the shorts. Obviously I have been using the sheets, but have not put on the shorts yet. I should have last evening when Stacey, Ryan, and I were playing catch on the deck. Today may be the day when I wake

Dog Days of spring 2008-04-18 14:26:54.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer NULL 50 and 8.1 These numbers are the high temperature and average wind speed for yesterday, respectively. Is this a mistake? Was it really that warm and calm on the summit? I know I’m used to seeing those numbers switched: 8.1 degrees F and 50 mph winds. Spring has revealed herself on the summit, in a rather summer-like fashion. Snow pants have been replaced by sturdy Carharts. Coats were scarce and sunglasses were flashing reflections of the brilliant sunlight as they replaced goggles on observers’ heads. As we spent some

Melanie 2008-04-17 07:06:33.000 - Summit Volunteer,  Summit Volunteer NULL Has Wednesday come so soon and my 8-day volunteer shift at the Mt.Washington Observatory really come to an end? Many of my friends, all of whom seem ecstatic to see winter snows finally retreat, looked at me as if I were crazy as I described packing for this week... crampons, ice axe, snowshoes, goggles, overmitts, winter gloves, balaclava, 3 layers of -20 winter clothing.. Winter is over, isn’t it?? Well, the calendar may indicate spring has arrived but I traveled back in season here at the home of some of the

Spring scenery 2008-04-16 01:55:31.000 - Matthew Morin,  Space Grant Intern Summit sign With the end of another shift on the summit just about completed, I stop to review all the pictures that I’ve taken over the last week. One thing that catches my eye right away is the landscape last Wednesday as compared to today. Spring is truly a transition season and the brown to white to, later on this week, brown color change of the ground around the observatory certainly shows that. At the beginning of this shift last Wednesday, the temperature got up to 41°F and there was

A Different Week 2008-04-14 16:06:57.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Everything Is White Again This week has been very different for me. Since Ryan is on vacation until May 7th, that leaves just Steve and myself to cover the observational duties. Now I wouldn’t exactly say that we are short staffed, considering that just a year ago two observers per shift was the norm. However, it certainly has allowed much less time for me to work on other projects and tasks that I have on my to-do list. Also, since Ryan is our usual night observer that means that either me

Wind Gust 2008-04-12 20:48:51.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Wind Gust Of 118mph Today is the 74th anniversary of the world’s highest ever recorded wind gust which, occurred during a storm, right here, on the summit of Mount Washington back in 1934. On starting my shift this morning I assumed it would be a pretty quiet day wind wise, since there were no significant storms in the forecast. Certainly there would be no 200 mph plus gusts. So I was a little surprised when, around 7 am this morning, the building suddenly started to rattle and shake. I had just