Ira 2008-02-10 04:58:12.000 - Summit Volunteer,  Summit Volunteer NULL Constant Change. Not an oxymoron. Having been a volunteer up here since the program began I have seen visitors become interns become observers become TV star meteorology Gurus. I have met and had wonderful conversations with feline carbon based life form units from Inga to Jasper to Nin to my newest friend Marty on the Mountain (not to be confused with the former Marty on the Mountain). As a volunteer I have conjured up global gourmet gastronomical epicurean edibles for countless staff; visiting scientists; media people; motion picture crews (and of

Ruminations on the Universe 2008-02-09 05:36:14.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer NULL Waking up to the summit in the clear, with clouds above and clouds below was definitely a surprise this afternoon. It was a surprise because I was absolutely sure we’d be in the clouds all day. That’s the weather on Mount Washington for you: fickle, challenging, and the producer of many marvels. Overnight, also unexpected, stars were abundant (they are always abundant, but most times we cannot see them), Orion, the Big and Little Dippers, the Gemini, the Milky Way, and even a shooting star were all crystal clear,

The Wonder of Snow 2008-02-07 22:15:51.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Hiking Back in a Void Snow has finally ceased to fall upon the summit, in a gentle downward fashion. The last 36 hours have produced quite an unusual scene here on the summit, as the observation deck has nearly half a foot of snow covering it, much more in other places where it has drifted several feet. Without the sound of the generators, one can hear the snow pattering on one’s jacket. It has made for an uncommon kind of peacefulness up here. It has been fun to go

Communications Uh-Oh! 2008-02-07 11:02:44.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Observer Keep Sawing! Well it has been one of those rare storms on the summit where winds are light and the snow falls straight down instead of flying right on by. There is even a substantial layer of snow out on the observation deck. Places that usually get scoured clean, have been receiving accumulating snow. It is nice while it lasts, but the wind will always return after taking some time off. It always does!After a smooth shift change yesterday with relatively little blade work to be done by our tractor operator Wayne

My project this week. 2008-02-04 21:35:54.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer Midday Today Early this morning we finally cleared out of the freezing fog. After days of looking at a wall of grayness it has been really nice to see the surrounding mountains and valleys once again. The clouds today also really added to the views, especially the low undercast which was covering some of the nearby valleys. The sunrise was good but the sunset was spectacular. Looking at the most recent weather maps it will probably be the last views we get this week as a low pressure system

My first week. 2008-02-03 20:03:07.000 - Matthew Morin,  Space Grant Intern Me deicing. Hello and thanks for visiting the Mount Washington Observatory website! My name is Matthew Morin and I am the new Space Grant intern who will be spending one week atop this awe-inspiring mountain. This one week shift is just one part of my entire internship. I have another nine weeks where I will be gathering and analyzing data from the Auto Road Vertical Temperature Profile database. This three year data set includes temperature data from seven elevations (1600’, 2300’, 3300’, 4000’, 4300’, 5300’, and 6288’) along the

Internet problems, weather, and of course Marty 2008-02-02 13:44:54.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer Heat! Some of you may have noticed the lack of updates to the website last night and this morning. This occurred because we lost internet access during that time period. On this occasion, it wasn’t a problem with the point to point radio link to the Mount Washington Center in North Conway, it was a problem with the cable internet access that we have down in North Conway. After Steve talked with one of the tech support people at Time Warner(it took Steve a while to convince

Are we connected somehow? 2008-02-01 02:03:39.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Six Degrees of Separation. While at dinner tonight, we met an edutripper and through conversation found out that she knew the girlfriend of a former observer here. All of this brought back the theory of a shrinking world back to mind from college. It is the belief that as the world’s population continues to grow; the more connected people become as the network of personal acquaintances becomes larger but at the same time more encompassing. It is partially what the six degrees of separation game is all about. The

My commute. 2008-01-31 01:02:53.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist This is how I roll. I like to think that my Wednesday mornings before coming up start like most peoples. Get up between 6 am and 7 am and roll out of bed. Prepare a cup of oatmeal, set the toast, and boil up a cup of tea with cream and sugar. Get dressed and get put in order in the bathroom. Check the weather reports and early news online. Warm up my car while loading work materials (in my case, a backpack and ice axe) and pick up the mail.

Island in the Sky 2008-01-28 00:51:13.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer NULL Today was one of those days when you feel most honored to have a job working atop a place such as Mount Washington. I woke this morning to the typical sight of whitish grey opaqueness outside. Around noon we broke out of the clouds, finding ourselves an island in a sea of clouds as far as the eye could see (about 80 miles). To the west, it was a flat plane of grey with hardly a texture to it. In the other directions, there were little undulations. Standing