Shower 2008-03-11 22:51:37.000 - Ryan Buckley,  Summit Intern NULL The feeling of showering, after 8 days up at the observatory, may be one of those things that is better described in words than in a picture. It is Tuesday night and all that I can think about is the sound of water falling from a shower-head and gushing onto the floor of the bath tub in 15 long streams, each a 1/16th inch in diameter. I lift my foot over the lip of the shower and instantly feel the hot water on the bottom of my feet. I wait a

Century club 2008-03-10 23:29:21.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Windswept: This is the name of the Mount Washington Observatory’s quarterly publication. It also describes conditions on the summit yesterday. I have to admit, my forecast was a little off. I called for winds to be 65-85 mph, with gusts approaching the century mark. However, winds were sustained over 100 mph for quite a bit of time. These high winds provided the perfect opportunity for those who were awake to attempt membership into that exclusive club: The Century Club. How does one attain membership? Well, the first step is that winds must

Some Interesting Weather 2008-03-09 06:11:39.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Well, the beginning of the weather we were not so much looking forward to came yesterday. After a bit of a drizzle in the morning, we were given a brief respite before the second storm system came upon us. During that time, we were fortunate enough to experience a complete undercast. This is like an upside-down overcast; there is a continuous layer of cloud below you, and one that you are unable to see any ground beneath. We are past that now, and have been in the clouds with rain

rain and snow 2008-03-07 23:43:00.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Precip anyone? We had to say goodbye today, not only to the group of charming German students, but also to the fair weather that had graced the summit for a short time. Shortly before the start of my shift, the clouds began to roll (I mean literally roll) in, undulating and crashing over the northern side of the mountain like waves. For the first time this week, it is ten fifteen, and all is quiet on the summit front, but only inside. Outside, Mother Nature is unsettled, to say the least.

fickle mountain weather 2008-03-06 17:04:41.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Windy yesterday Only twenty four hours ago we were all watching the hays chart in anticipation, awaiting the moment when winds would hit that daunting century mark. We were not disappointed, as gusts got up to 110 mph at the peak, and it was as suspenseful as watching the most recent Superbowl. At the dinner table, at random intervals, everyone could hear the gusts through the vents, and the more powerful the gust, the louder the roar from the table. Freezing fog, ice pellets and freezing rain dominated yesterday’s weather. However,

NULL 2008-03-05 15:23:34.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Observer Glazing Yesterday I was in a tee shirt taking advantage of the warm temperatures and softening snow to widen the snow banks in my driveway. It felt really nice to not be all bundled up. The air had a warm spring like scent to it. This morning was a different story. The warm spring like scent was gone, the temperatures had fallen and sleet was now accumulating on all surfaces. I got an earlier start today since I knew the driving was going to be bad. The trip up interstate 93 from Concord

Another volunteer week with new excitement 2008-03-04 17:05:33.000 - Dick Lindstrrom,  Summit Volunteer NULL After serving a winter week as a volunteer for over 8 years, I thought I had seen everything. However, the mountain always has a new surprise around the corner. In the past years, I have seen the temperature hit a record daily high of 34 and then the following day, hit a record daily low of -26. I’ve seen winds constantly over 100 mph for 12 hours. This year after 5 days of near zero (above and below) temperatures and winds varying from near zero to

Slide Show 2008-03-03 18:34:56.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Sunrise Cap Cloud With the end of one month (February) and the start of another (March), that means one thing for the staff meteorologist: Monthly Summary. This is when I crunch through the numbers and find out climatological stats for the summit. I always like to relay this information on to you the reader by an interesting method each month. So for this month, I will relate the information by a slide show of sorts. So I will be like the friend or neighbor that forces you (usually after a dinner

Lots of Shoveling! 2008-03-02 15:51:48.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Big drift Since last Tuesday, about 21 inches of snowfall has been measured on the summit. A good portion of that snow fell on relatively light winds. This left a lot of loose snow about treeline, just waiting for the right wind speeds to whisk it away into the ravines and snowfields. Well, we finally got those wind speeds last night and into today, and trust me, there is no shortage of snow blowing around out there. In fact, enough snow has been getting swept into the ravines for the USFS

German Trip 2008-03-01 17:59:24.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Auto Road At Cow Pasture For several years now the Observatory has played host, each winter season, to a group of students from Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. They spend a week up here and work on a variety of weather and climatologically related projects. This year they were over for a week in early January with their leader Dr Andreas Pflitsch. For the first time Andreas is also bringing over a group from the University of Essen and right on schedule they arrived in the US yesterday. The plan was