NULL 2007-04-07 11:07:53.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Observer Sailing the high seas I got out of bed this morning and headed to the weather room for a quick discussion of the weather with the night observer. As I was preparing to go out and do my first observation of the day, I peered out the window and noticed we were still in the fog. Glancing at the previous observations indicated that light snow was still falling on the summit for the fourth day in a row! I bent down to tie my boots before stepping out into the winter landscape and

A Happy Crew 2007-04-05 18:52:54.000 - Kyle Paddleford,  Observer Yankee Drift Making A Comeback The snow has been falling since shift change yesterday and will continue to do so through the evening. The other crew is happy because they are finally in the valley for a good storm and are able to hit the slopes while the snow is good. We are happy because our shift has been asking for a good winter storm on the summit for a while and we finally got it. It seems to me that this fits the definition of a win-win situation. Snow totals

Volunteers Reflect 2007-04-04 08:32:18.000 - Charlie and Jeanine Kinney,  Summit Volunteers Spring on the summit... How does one capsulate a myriad of experiences over a period of time which by the calendar was only a week? Having read numerous comments from the observatory over many years there aren’t enough new adjectives to explain the sensation of being on Mt. Washington. This trip was our third and, by far, the busiest but that only adds to the excitement. Mt Washington in March means bring along skis, but alas, there was nothing to put them on that resembled snow. Oh well, with

NULL 2007-04-03 09:01:54.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Presidentials Window Considering that we had April in early January, it’s only fair that we get a bit of January in April. Light snow moved in yesterday, and combined with some rather heavy rime and glaze icing, has re-flocked the mountain in a showy winter coat. Visibility on the summit is limiting the ability to take a picture of the new snow for the website, so we’ll leave it to the webcams today. This shot, one of the more unique I’ve seen, was taken from the new Presidentials cam this morning. It shows

NULL 2007-04-02 10:04:31.000 - Brent Antkowiak,  Summit Intern Me above the bowl... With the temperatures expected to reach the freezing mark, light winds, and nearly clear skies, we were certain that the eastern snow fields would soften up yesterday and make for some great spring skiing/snowboarding. So the plan for myself was to pack up and head out during the afternoon to get some turns. The action began early though, as just before noon, I was sitting at my desk working hard on my project when Jim mentioned that it was clouding up, potentially losing any solar help to loosen

April fools joke on us... 2007-04-01 11:09:27.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL Typically we would have spent this comment writing about some nonsensical April Fools joke, and honestly we had one all lined up. Something about John McCain and Joe Biden visiting the Observatory on a campaign stop, and then in a display of bipartisanship, skiing down together over the headwall like the late, great Gerald Ford had done during his years leading up to the office. Would have been fun...But honestly, anything we write here couldn’t top the real life April Fools that Mother Nature is playing on our

Clear skies and a look ahead... 2007-03-30 07:52:37.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Sad snowfields sunrise... I think that this is the longest stretch of fogless weather that I’ve seen on the peak since October. Clear skies and clear horizons were the dominant (lack of) weather reported yesterday in our observations, and views extended right to Mount Whiteface in New York at sunset last night. No fog since our arrival midday Wednesday!Having not caught a sunset in some time up here, it was amazing to me how far the sun has transited north on the horizon since the dead of winter.

A spring-like trip back to winter... 2007-03-28 18:22:01.000 - Jim Salge,  Meteorologist A bare stretch of road... After a nice week in the valley, with mild temperatures, melting snow, corn slopes and a general spring like feel, we find ourselves in an alternate universe now back on the summit. Temperatures are plummeting from their overnight highs near the freezing mark, and windchills combine for temperatures near -30F. I’m not sure it’s a cure for spring fever, but it’s certainly a reality check for the upcoming crew. Until today’s cold outbreak, the warm weather this past week really worked havoc on

A Foggy Night Hike 2007-03-26 23:51:40.000 - Mike Finnegan,  Summit Intern The Citadel It's important not to become complacent of the weather up here. We live in this citadel atop the highest peak in the northeast and go out every hour just to make sure it's still weathering out there, but we don't always stray too far. Every once in a while, it's good to remind yourself why people get lost and in trouble on this mountain (without doing so yourself).Jon woke up this evening and asked if I wanted to go on a hike with him over to Clay.

Fog and Clear Skies 2007-03-24 19:06:43.000 - Mike Finnegan,  Summit Intern Good day for a nap Today is quite a change from yesterday. For one, it's Saturday instead of Friday. But even more outstanding than that is the fact we can see further than a couple hundred feet. We spent yesterday in the fog while images from the west-facing webcams showed clear skies except for a cloud layer on top of us. It was not all so bad though; being in the fog does make taking an observation quite easy and gave us a chance to practice our rime-whacking techniques