A note from the downgoing crew... 2007-02-17 07:31:13.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Be back shortly... Now slightly dated due to the storm the other day, I wish to post the comment left by Jon Cotton on the down going shift written Wednesday morning. A few quick notes though. Our primary, heated pitot wind speed recorder has developed an ice jam that has been difficult to dislodge. Ice is common up here, jams are not! And while regular observations continue, our backup systems do not feed directly to the website database. Once every three hours though, an unheated backup pitot is

Blizzard in the bunk rooms... 2007-02-16 10:02:24.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer How Note: the pitot anemometer is undergoing un-routine maintenance, and the backup systems do not flow directly to the webpage. Indicated windspeeds are likely inaccurate!*************************You did it! Thanks to your support of the Observatory, we’ve completed our membership drive and have flipped on the new Presidential Webcam. And since it’s been flipped on, it’s been nothing but grey. Eh, well, that’s Mount Washington. You take the spectacular with the often endless streaks of ‘in the clouds.’ I look forward to the first clear sunset from this webcam!The continued cold

Storm Summary... 2007-02-15 08:37:21.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Staff in the blizzard conditions... THE NEW PRESI CAM IS LIVE!!!Thanks to those who joined today and through our membership drive.************************************The past 24 hours of weather have brought a myriad conditions that might take a lifetime to experience in a ‘normal’ location. Winds blew from every cardinal direction, shifting from west to south to east back to north and northwest. Speeds yesterday were ever changing as well. Light in the morning, up to hurricane force by evening and then an eerie calm around midnight. Shortly after, we topped out at 117mph! Temperatures

BLIZZARD WARNING!!! 2007-02-14 08:41:56.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Satellite of the storm... Shift change came early this morning, with the snow tractor moving from the base at 6AM, however, the adventure had begun even before we got to the base. The drive through Pinkham Notch was slowed, not by slippery roads (as the snow was a very dry powder), but by extremely low visibility through the notch. So little in fact, that 3 of the 4 cars in our chain drove right past the base road. At the base, we got word that winds at the summit were low, from

Portland Weather Live from the Rockpile 2007-02-13 10:11:59.000 - Jon Cotton,  Observer Jason and Charlie, WGME Only 33 new members until the presidential web cam comes online. Click here, to join the Mount Washington Observatory CommunityThis week we have an old friend visiting from Portland. Charlie Lopresti is Chief Meteorologist for WGME Channel 13. Sure we see him on the tv downstairs, but he worked on the summit as an observer from 1999 to 2002. He arrived on Sunday to do some stories on the mountain as well as do all of his regular broadcast segments. He knows what winter

Rotor Clouds and Cold Legs 2007-02-11 08:37:48.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Rotor Clouds Jon Cotton looks at me and says “Jonny Cotton is losing much heat.” Iconcur and we retreat to the relative calm in the lee of the generatorshed. To the east an elongated roll of benign looking cumulus occupies thesky above the Carter-Moriah and Wildcat ranges. Closer inspection revealsa more insidious beast, a rotor cloud, a tumbling eddy the top of which ismarked by heaps of miniscule cloud droplets. Along the upper fringe ofthis cloud a thin veil of pileus can be seen, suggesting the interactionof this rotor

1.2 inches 2007-02-09 14:07:52.000 - The Summit Crew,  Observer Looking toward Oswego We here on the summit have nothing to comment about today. It is cold, it is windy, and, yes, it is foggy. Joy.New York got six feet of snow (actually as much as 100 inches). We got 1.2 inches. Yeah. That about sums it up. Sorry folks, perhaps we’ll have something more worth your time tomorrow, but for the time being I would recommend heading to the Tug Hill Plateau.   The Summit Crew,  Observer

This week 2007-02-06 10:06:46.000 - Nicole Moore,  Summit Volunteer Ice candle centerpiece ... Considering the current conditions up here, winds 95.3 mph and temp -22 degrees(-72 with windchill factored in), what I am about to say may seem preposterous atbest, but....this place on the summit of Mt. Washington is one of the warmestplaces I have ever been! I joked with my husband a couple weeks ago that Icouldn't wait to get up here so I could enjoy my cozy bunkroom--our bedroom athome is pretty cold. Even with my windows here crusted over with ice, there isnothing more snug than lying

Cold Morning 2007-02-05 09:03:43.000 - Brent Antkowiak,  Summit Intern Virga over the northern peaks... After several days of gloomy skies and typical visibilities under 1/8 mile, the summit finally broke through the clouds for awhile yesterday. Jim jumped on this chance and took some photos like the one shown here of virga to our north. Virga is basically any form of precipitation that doesn’t reach the ground. With our temperatures and elevation, it is likely a mix of snow and ice crystals. The scene was short lived, lasting only a portion of the few hours of sunlight that we experienced,

C...C...COLD... 2007-02-04 06:29:47.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL It’s always nice when you see a dramatic out-performance or over-achievement. Like an underdog winning the Superbowl, yesterday we awoke to the surprise that the snowstorm had strengthened during the night shift, and Ryan had recorded nearly 5 inches of snow on the summit. And upwards of 8 inches fell in other parts of the Whites. In a normal year, would this excite us…probably not, but this winter it’s a huge event.And it apparently wasn’t just us who were excited. Neil, taking advantage of his week of, skinned up to ski the