A Year Ago Today 2019-07-26 08:11:26.000 - Anna Smith, Summit Intern   July 12, 2019 A year ago today. It’s a phrase that floods our social media these days, but we don’t always think about it. Where were we? What were we doing? Was the Mountain in the clouds then, too? Probably, it is a majority of the time but, hey, maybe a year ago today was a special day. I know it was for me. It’s a Friday, and a dreary one at that. Rain and fog fill the air, and winds are just high enough to feel slightly

Instrumentation by the Decade: the 60s 2019-07-23 22:32:43.000 - Charlie Peachey, IT Intern   As projects for the military began to wind down in the early 1960’s, several more projects began. The opening on the summit enabled Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to step in with their own research. Collaboration with MIT goes back almost to the beginning of the Observatory itself. MIT contributed their help over the years to help make the observatory a successful research station. By lending everything from personnel to equipment, they set up a partnership that still continues to this day. The picture below is

Behind the Scenes: Intern Research 2019-07-21 07:39:41.000 - Austin Patrick, Summit Intern    Research is one of the many tasks that interns such as myself are given as part of our time up on the Summit. It tends to be one of the more time extensive tasks as forecasting may take hours and other tasks like writing this blog may take forty-five minutes or more if you count the writer's block. Research extends over the whole summer. Everyone will be able to see the research we produce on August 14th at the Weather Discovery Center, but no one really knows

Heating Up for Seek the Peak! 2019-07-18 17:07:43.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   We are officially less than 24 hours away from Seek the Peak 2019!!!! The Observatory is buzzing with excited energy as everyone is cranked into 10th gear and finishing preparations. The valley staff is in full swing setting things up for the Kick Off Party and Hiking Expo at the base. And the summit crew is working hard as well, getting the Observatory prepped for tours, baking cookies and, of course, monitoring the weather for the event. Speaking of which, the weather is looking fantastic

'Twas the Night Before Shift Change 2019-07-16 08:42:59.000 - Emma Penafiel, Summit Intern   T’was the night before shift change, when all through the MWobs, Not a creature was stirring, except Ryan taking the obs*. The weather room was clean through Tom’s survey and care, In anticipation that the next shift would soon be there.  The interns were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of data swirled in their heads. Nikki, Tom, and AJ changed into PJs early that night While our two volunteers turned off the last light.  When on the bedside there came a beep beep,

Visiting the Jefferson Snow Patch 2019-07-12 05:29:57.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   During our previous shift on the summit, my coworkers and I discussed where and when we would hike in our off-week. After discussing everyone's schedules, it seemed as though Tuesday, 9 July would work out the best for most. As for the where we narrowed our decision down to the peak of Mt Jefferson via the Caps Ridge Trail. But if we were going to hike Mt Jefferson, we were all in agreement that we would add a side-journey down to the “Jefferson snow patch” on

The White Mountains temporarily become the Smokey Mountains 2019-07-10 06:26:37.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   The past couple of weeks have been quite hazy, lowering visibility down to as short of a distance as 8 miles today and even lower in the valley areas. Today, the 10th of July, could be even hazier, dropping visibility below 7 miles, which is mildly exciting for us because we can code a weather phenomenon that we normally do not get to see, FU, which is smoke (types with a smile). That also means the air is dense with particulates. The NWS defines Haze (HZ) as

Marty's Trip to the Vet 2019-07-08 18:24:06.000 - Ethan Rogers, Summit Intern   Marty the cat, our world-renowned summit mascot, made his yearly trip off the mountain today. His annual trip to the veterinarian came today, and boy was it an interesting morning. Keeping a close eye on Marty’s health, who is now 14 years old, is an important job for those who work here on the summit. To get a cat off the summit of a mountain in the middle of a work week, there was a lot of planning and personnel involved. First, because Marty does not like

Plant Terrarium 2 years on Summit 2019-07-06 17:33:32.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   I have been taking care of a carnivorous plant terrarium on the summit for several years now. I have always had the hobby of growing carnivorous plants and I wanted a way to continue that while I worked on the summit. I had an old fish tank that I have had since High School and have modified it to support plants. All I had to do was get a bulb that would support the light spectrum for photosynthesis. I have also got a timer that

Heat and Humidity on the Rise 2019-07-01 09:20:17.000 - Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   After a cool and often rainy start to the summer season, it looks like the heat and humidity will be rising across the Northeast to start the month of July. For the summit of Mount Washington we really haven’t seen a truly “warm” day yet this summer, with our maximum temperature for the year so far sitting at just 60°F. Most summer seasons we typically reach the mid-upper 60s, with last year reaching 71°F; just one degree shy of our all-time record high of 72°F.