A beautiful day 2007-05-12 23:03:44.000 - Mike Finnegan,  Summit Intern A Wee One and the Cog What an incredible day up here on the summit. Winds were but a gentle breeze and sun softened the snow and warmed our faces. Visibility extended from the ocean all the way to the fine state of New York 120 miles away. All this added up to the perfect opening day of the cog railway. Two cogs made their way slowly to the summit today, one oil powered, the other coal. The plumes of black soot and white steam rose in stark contrast to

Showers and a shower... 2007-05-11 12:53:28.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL A line of showers moved over the summit this morning, ending the heat wave and the streak of largely dry weather on the summit. Through the first ten days of the month, the Observers only recorded 0.05 inches of precipitation on the peak, which, having experienced the ‘World’s Worst Weather’ for the past for years, seems absurd to me! A few more showers are possible on the peaks into this evening, and then we’re in for more dry, but seasonably cool weather.And speaking of showers, yesterday was Thursday, yet

Record daily high ... 2007-05-10 10:38:12.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Hazy west view... On April 1st of this year, the Observatory on Mount Washington reported a snow depth of zero, and in the comments remarks were made about how early this report had come. Comparisons were made to last year, when the same observations weren’t made until May 9th. Well, thanks to a great April, we are only now back down to a (second) zero snowpack, which is right in line with last year.Dramatic snowmelt has come during this now record setting May heat wave. Today’s highest reading of 58

Volunteer Comments 2007-05-09 13:31:44.000 - Katherine MacDonald,  Summit Volunteer A Perfect Day I can’t believe this week is over. I’m sitting here with Nin at my side writing these comments and thinking WOW, This has been the most phenomenal week I’ve ever had at the peak of Mount Washington. From the day I came up to my leaving the weather has been incredible. The visibility unending. My hosts, Kyle, Jon, Mike, Alan and Nin have been gracious and fun to spend time with. As hard as they work, they also take time to unwind and have some much needed fun.

SPRING! 2007-05-08 19:54:13.000 - Jon Cotton,  Observer Deep Hues of the Northeast SPRING!At 4:58am Monday May 07 I heard my first twittering spring bird. At 5:56 the next hour I saw a flittering bird settling on a rock. You might assume given those times that I was taking an observation. But no, Kyle was on shift. He was business. I was pleasure. For some reason I felt compelled to continue the hourly ritual. It turns out that 120 mile vis, alto clouds and sunrise aren't so bad a combination. Work is tough.Looking out the window shows the snowpack is melting.

Changes on the Summit 2007-05-07 02:17:52.000 - Mike Finnegan,  Summit Intern Moon in Clouds With warming temperatures and generally friendly weather, things have been changing. The last few days have brought many new sights to the summit. The large snowfield blocking the path of the cog mentioned in the last comment has been cleared and the cog has made it to the top of the summit. Today was also the first day where the snowcat was left to rest and the truck with the new, pointy chains energetically made its first trip to the summit. Nin is the only cat

NULL 2007-05-03 13:16:38.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist Lenticulars It was a tight squeeze fitting into the snowcat during shift change yesterday. Additional staff members, tools, and supplies needed to get to the summit after a few attempts in April were foiled due to snow storms and undermined snow on the Auto Road. The extra crew stayed overnight, and after a long day of hard work, they were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by Katherine MacDonald, our volunteer for the week. Mother Nature then treated us all to a sky full of lenticulars and nice sunset for dessert. It is

Window to ski... 2007-05-01 10:49:10.000 - Brent Antkowiak,  Summit Intern Today This morning I was greeted with the news that we were FINALLY CLEARING! Yes, it does happen on this shift……sometimes. After being in the fog for several relentless days, with rain, mixed precipitation, and then thunder snow yesterday, it’s about time we get to see more than the end of the observation deck. Of course, with that sounding slightly negative towards the weather up here, I should remind everyone that I enjoy that kind of weather, and the extreme weather is why most of us are up here. Back

Lightning strikes again!!! 2007-04-30 12:06:53.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL Just when we felt like everything was finally managed and under control with regard to systems, lightning strikes again. This is, of course meant to be taken in the literal sense, and as the line of showers moved over the peak this morning, lightning struck the summit five times. Everyone remained safe, and though power surges seem to have necessitated resetting some equipment, we seem to be back to the almost normal state we’ve been at through the weekend. A temporary internet dish has been put in place over the

Down links continues... 2007-04-28 15:43:11.000 - The Summit Crew,  Mount Washington Observatory NULL Though updates have been slow on the website, the work at the summit has gone on mainly as routine through some technical challenges, most still stemming from the storm two weeks ago. We appreciate your patience, but must make our readership aware that more outages are likely in the days ahead.While comments and blogs are important for our membership, we also understand that our exclusive 36 hour summits outlook has become an important tool for area climbers. This product may unfortunately also experience outages in the coming