Rapid changes in the weather 2006-11-11 08:01:50.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Waves off Lafayette Changes in the weather occurred rapidly overnight, seemingly mirroring the indecisive nature of the weather for this shift thus far. When I went turned in last night, temperatures were in the mid 20s, but I found myself far over bundled this morning for my first ob, when temperatures had risen to nearly 40 degrees in just a few hours under cover of darkness. All while the valleys are now in the 20s. Skies were also clear for my first observation right at sunrise, however in this

What Season Is It? 2006-11-09 13:14:27.000 - Bryan Farr,  Summit Intern Fog Bow We seem to be on a record breaking streak here atop the northeast’s highest peak. However this record could have some mixed emotions set with it. We could come close to tying or break a record high for today. The old record is 48 set in 1943. An unusually warm airmass is being pushed well north, at the same time, cold arctic air is being held back thanks in part to the jet stream being pushed up north. Looking ahead at some of the week long models,

Shift change... 2006-11-08 13:09:46.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL Shift change day finds the road in a similar condition to when we last rode on it a week ago. Cold temperatures this past week preserved much of the snow pack above 2 mile, though with warmer temperatures this morning the snow was soft and melting fast down low. Even at the summit, temperatures are in the upper 30s now, and with rain in the forecast, much of the snow could be in jeopardy. Fortunately there are some very large drifts around the summit though shouldn’t be going anywhere until next

Why We Are Relevant 2006-11-06 08:18:38.000 - Jon Cotton,  Observer Sunrise in Serenity Saturday night's EMS climbing trip was a blast. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a few things about us as an observatory and a mountain. Right from the start were inquisitive questions about weather specifics, climate change and our jobs. The big question was "why are you relevant"?I won't give a comprehensive answer. A complete answer to such a broad question would require input from our education, outreach, scientific and research facets as well as of course us rockstar Observers. Such an answer would be a

NULL 2006-11-05 11:15:32.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer NULL Still not much to report on the weather front. On and off snow showers, moderate west winds and cold temperatures have been the rule since Wednesday. We've spent much of the time at the very top edge of a low level layer of clouds, with gaps of blue sky darting by overhead. There were some nice breaks last night providing glimpses of the full moon. Temperatures bottomed out at 6 degrees, the coldest so far this season. The landscape remains a very wintry one.We played host to our first winter trip from

Fog (or Partly Cloudy as they say down in the valley) 2006-11-04 04:35:57.000 - Jon Cotton,  Observer NULL There really isn't much to say about the weather. No tales of high winds or yarns of treacherous deicing. High pressure has stationed itself over the eastern US bringing nothing exciting or even variable. Consistent west by northwest winds, cold temperatures, and fog has been and will continue to be the story. We've picked up 5 inches of snow in the last two days. But besides its horizontal passage across the deck, we can see none of it. I am looking forward

Fresh snow 2006-11-02 06:22:27.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer NULL The severity of weather exhibited by this mountain over the past two weeks seems far away this morning. Winds are moderate and so to is the fresh snow that is falling, falling mostly as unbroken stellar dendrites and mixing with shattered wind propelled snow. In front of the various outdoor flood lamps there is a glitter of planning flakes. Right along the edge of the deck there is an obvious “jet streak” of wind. The accelerating flow in this zone is evidenced by parallel streaks of snow that show no evidence

Improving weather...and a video! 2006-10-31 06:40:43.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer NULL Yesterday was simply a hectic, and continued extreme day at the Observatory. After the highest blast to hit the peak in 10 years, winds were very slow to abate. Gusts over 100 mph continued until 5PM yesterday, making it 35 straight hours of winds above 100mph. Temperatures remained in the teens through the day as well, and with winchills below zero throughout the storm, I think this crew is tempered for winter.Last night conditions took a considerable up tick though. Skies cleared, winds dropped back into the normal 40mph

Highest gust in 10 years! 2006-10-30 08:40:31.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Off the moderate speed chart!!! I was awakened at around 1:30AM last night by a thunderous roar throughout the building, a sound louder than I’ve ever heard in the building. And my memory wasn’t that short, wind speeds earlier in the day were topping 140mph with some regularity, so I knew this was big. I just about jumped out of bed with excitement and ran upstairs and found Mike Pelchat from state park also recently awakened eyeing the charts. Ryan was across the room checking the database by the

Rapid changes on the summit... 2006-10-29 09:00:11.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Observer Frozen Footprints... Working night’s means that I sleep during the day, but that proved to be difficult yesterday with winds blowing out of the southeast. When winds come from this direction, every time an observer uses the tower door, the winds funnel down the stairs and blow into the observatory living quarters. This in turn causes the bedroom doors and bedroom ceiling tiles to shake. So after waking up every hour thinking that my room was possessed by a poltergeist, I went to work.Waking, I found it raining with