June Snow on the Horizon? 2019-05-30 16:45:49.000 - Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   GFS Model surface pressure and precipitation showing low pressure and precipitation parked over New England Monday afternoon. Image courtesy of Tropical Tidbits.  Although June is a month when most folks are thinking of vacation and time spent on the beach, here on the summit of Mount Washington we’re no stranger to June snow! We actually average roughly an inch of snow for a typical June, but some years we see no snow followed by an inch or 2 every few years. Looking ahead at early next

MWO Instrumentation by the Decade: the 1930s 2019-05-30 10:16:30.000 - Charlie Peachey, IT Intern                   This past Memorial Day weekend marked the 87th anniversary of the first funding for the Mount Washington Observatory. Nearly nine decades ago Joe Dodge walked into the Copper Kettle Tea Room in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire for the 1932 New Hampshire Academy of Science Annual Meeting Memorial Day weekend to present his grand idea for a new observatory at the summit of Mount Washington. With the 50th anniversary of the first International Polar Year coinciding with this meeting Joe and Robert S. Monahan saw

From the Valley to the Peak 2019-05-27 09:03:22.000 - Benjamin Charles, Summit Intern   Hello I am Ben Charles and I am one of the new summit Interns at the Mount Washington Observatory. I am from Sparta, New Jersey, where I sparked my desire for adventure by spending my free time hiking, mountain biking and most importantly skiing. As an avid skier I constantly was forecasting for snowstorms in hopes for great powder days on the slopes. This is what brought me to SUNY Oswego where lake effect snow dumps hundreds of inches of snow a year. After four great

Long Way From Home 2019-05-26 17:20:29.000 - Austin Patrick, Summit Intern   Coming from Ohio to New Hampshire to Mount Washington is an experience, and it’s one that should be shared! My name is Austin Patrick and I am one of the multiple interns for this summer. As I already said, I am from Ohio, near Mansfield, Ohio to be specific. I just graduated from Ohio University this May. I guess you can say I have friends in high places as both me and observer Ian Bailey are fellow alumni and have known each for two years being in Athens,

Atmospheric Long Waves and Short Waves; not the hand kind 2019-05-25 06:20:51.000 - Jay Broccolo, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Often times in our forecasts there a couple terms we use that describe a wave pattern in the atmosphere. Normally, these terms are associated with low-pressure and high-pressure systems. We will say or write descriptions like; “the ridge of the high pressure will crest over the region early this morning” or “a shortwave trough will pass through the area and” bring some sort of weather phenomena to the region. What we are talking about are the different types of waves in the atmosphere. I grew up

Country Roads...Mount Washington Edition! 2019-05-20 11:25:35.000 - John King, Summit Intern   Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong, the White Mountains! Howdy, my name is John King and I am the new summer summit intern. I am originally from Barkhamsted, Connecticut. I have spent the last 3 years at West Virginia University studying environmental and energy resource management. Before you ask, yes it is a state, and no it is not the Western part of Virginia. With grandparents doing 60 years of volunteering on the AMC, and parents who have strong passions for walking among the

Goodbye MWOBS! 2019-05-19 07:20:25.000 - Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern   As my second internship comes to a close, I have had a chance to think upon all the incredible experiences I have had in the past 9 months. When I started my fall internship last August, I had no idea the unbelievable journey I was about to partake in. I was excited to have the chance to live in a remote location while also getting a chance to learn more about forecasting and conduct some research. I didn’t know I was going to experience 171 mph winds, 6 foot drifts

Spring Cleaning and Spring Volunteers 2019-05-18 15:22:11.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer/Research Specialist   Happy spring from the summit of Mount Washington! No, I know it’s not the first day of spring, but with nearly a week above freezing, things are finally starting to feel like we’re heading away from winter, if only a little behind the rest of the region. I wanted to take a few moments and talk about what spring looks like up here in the alpine zone, because there’s a lot going on! It starts with the visitors. As the snows melt and conditions become slightly

What is a Wintery Mix? 2019-05-14 15:44:36.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   We’ve reached the time of year where you may often hear phrases such as “a mix of precipitation” or even “a wintery mix of precipitation” in the forecast product you peruse. And you may find yourself wondering what exactly that means. Why can’t meteorologist just tell you that it’s going to rain or snow? Well, unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Allow me to explain. Precipitation forecasting is one of the more difficult tasks a meteorologist faces for a number of reason. Current technology

Bring on the Snow! 2019-05-13 12:58:02.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Once again there is snow in the forecast for the summit of Mount Washington. Snow storms like this one are always exciting up here, no matter the season, at least for me anyways. This storm has been fairly complicated to forecast for due to weak dynamics aloft. This is really to be expected at this time of the year as the jet stream weakens and there is not as big of a temperature gradient between the north pole and the equator to help increase baroclinicity (One of