Outdoor Adventures 2007-03-19 07:34:53.000 - Rene Pollrich,  Visiting Researcher Lion Head Whiteout... Yesterday, photographer José Azel arrived at the Mount Washington Observatory. After breakfast, he asked me if I want to join him on a hike around Mt. Washington. So we started our Tour at 9:00 am and went down to Huntington Ravine. The wind speed was about 35mph and the temperature was around 0F. Sometimes, the sun broke through the clouds and spend us a fantastic light. From Huntington Ravine we hiked on the Alpine Garden Trail to Lion’s Head. The weather got worse, the wind speeded up to

Summit Frustrations...Largely fixed 2007-03-18 05:30:53.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Sliding rime... Yesterday was a rather frustrating day at the Observatory for a number of reasons. First off, and likely most notable for those who checked in during the storm yesterday, the weather wrecked havoc on our internet link. Water got into a connector in the antenna cable, and that was the end of it. After many hours working on the wire, and working with a soldiering gun that just couldn’t keep up with the wind, we had a breakthrough around 8PM last night, and things now seem (temporarily?) normal. We

Update: 2007-03-17 09:12:11.000 - The Summit Crew,  Mount Washington Observatory NULL The summit had a bit of a weather induced communications meltdown overnight, and internet remains spotty this morning. We will get the conditions, forecast and comments up as the link allows this morning. Until then, we posted the METAR conditions not transmitted overnight into the forums at this link:http://www.mountwashington.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3854&postcount=12   The Summit Crew,  Mount Washington Observatory

Melted summit and new snow on the way... 2007-03-16 08:23:21.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Storm arrives just in time... Morning dawned clear and remarkably calm at the Observatory this morning, allowing the staff as well as the overnight EduTrippers to survey the changes that occurred on the peak during the past few days in the fog. Temperatures yesterday began at 39 degrees, and combined with the strong winds and dense fog, melted a significant amount of the summit snow pack. Granted, with the well below normal snowfall this season, combined with the windy conditions of February, there wasn’t much snow

Changes in the snowpack... 2007-03-15 07:28:50.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer First sign of mud season at the base... Less than a week after ending our 60+ day streak without hitting the freezing mark, we find ourselves in a 24 hour period without going below freezing. In fact, the high temperature of 43 degrees yesterday tied the record high for the date. The mountain had a much different look yesterday as we ascended for shift change. Many bare spots, plenty of slush, some runoff, and the beginning of mud season down low, as evident from this picture. It’s all part of

Winter, where have you gone? 2007-03-14 08:03:12.000 - Alan Metcalf,  Summit Intern Rain wrecks havoc with our winter conditions Well, my plea for help seems to have backfired. It appears that the overwhelming participation in my little plan to provide us with some high winds, instead injected a large amount of humidity into the air. Just before Kyle and Mike headed to bed the rain began, and has continued through the night making Jon's night observations wet and miserable. We've woken up to the same dreaded scene that has become all too familiar this shift, clouds. Nothing but clouds as

We need your help! 2007-03-12 13:12:43.000 - Alan Metcalf,  Summit Intern NULL What is it that has Jon, Kyle, Mike, and myself so upset? What drives us to craziness? Why have we developed such a great dislike for the other shift, even though their our friends and a group of great guys? Well...THEY'RE GETTING ALL THE GOOD WEATHER! I'm sorry about that but enough is enough. We all come to work here looking forward to the winter weather. What do we get? Moderate winds, predominantly "in-the-clouds" visibility, and temps that tend to plummet so far down, we can't get out

Weather Changes 2007-03-09 01:00:38.000 - Mike Finnegan,  Summit Intern Shift-change Bocce After a couple cold and windy days, it seems the temperatures are finally beginning to moderate. We bottomed out today at -28 degrees around 5PM and have rapidly increased to a pleasant -6 degrees at 11PM, but winds are still up around 70 mph. Walking outside to take this last observation, I was greeted by a beautiful, orange moon low on the horizon. Wanting to get a closer look, I walked (with help of the wind) to the other end of the observation deck. With just a hint of

Dawn, clear and FRIGID!!! 2007-03-07 06:38:06.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Dawn through the window... Quick Video LinkMore info below...For the second day in a row, the summit of Mount Washington has set a new daily record low temperature, as -30F replaces -21 (1937) in the record books. But this morning, as we look around New England, we are not alone. Our temperatures at the Observatory have been warming steadily (and slowly) since they bottomed out at -37F yesterday morning, while valley locations are having their coolest temperatures as we speak. In fact, the summit is just a bit warmer than

Cold, now with video... 2007-03-06 14:49:06.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL Quick Video Linkdetails below:An afternoon update on the conditions on the Rockpile. Temperatures bottomed out this morning at -37F, shattering the old daily record of -23F set in 1950. The temperature fell but one degree short of tying the all time March record of -38F also set in 1950. But the real news is that this was the coldest temperature seen on the summit, not just this season, but in over three years, going back to January 25th, 2004. Such a cold air mass so late in the year