Two Summit Volunteers Reflect... 2006-06-27 10:28:14.000 - Leslie Adler and Judy Richardi,  Summit Volunteers Has it only been a week that we’ve been at the summit? Somehow we feel like we were born here. The two of us – Judy Richardi and Leslie Adler – have been treated to a week of beautiful weather, including two days of brilliant sunshine and two amazing sunsets – the sky lit with shades of pinks, oranges and purples as the sun receded behind cascading ridges of mountains. Observer Jim Salge kindly arranged for Leslie to take the cog railway down to the valley

Temperate Rain Forest? 2006-06-26 08:37:59.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Upside down raindrops... Many times the summit of Mount Washington is alone in having poor weather, but this morning we share our misery with the seemingly the entire eastern seaboard. NPR is running reports of mudslides in Washington DC and flooding in Baltimore, while stations around New England are closing in on the wettest June on record, following the wettest May on record, following the wettest year on record. You get the idea. I guess I don’t have to visit the Pacific Northwest to see what a temperate rain forest is

A hike to the Gulfside 2006-06-25 10:21:06.000 - Dan Huber,  Summit Intern A look towards the Gulfside Trail... I would like to offer all of our readers a heartfelt good morning from the crew at the summit of Mount Washington. You may be wondering “why the warm welcome?” Well, it’s hard not to be bright and cheery on a day with mild temperatures, light winds and somewhat clear skies await. So blame our sunny demeanor on the weather. While it’s true that we recorded .17 inches of rain yesterday, that wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits at the site of

Can your IT Department do this? 2006-06-24 11:03:02.000 - Jon Cotton,  IT Staff Looking Northward Not only did the summit clear out yesterday, but it provided a setting for a fantastic sunset. It started with stratus clouds around 5000' piling up against the northern Presidentials like a blanket pulled up snug. They followed the contours up but stopped just shy of flowing over and through the gaps down in the Great Gulf. Slowly that blanket thinned revealing the valley below and Cherry Pond starting to glint with the amber sun. Looking over to Star Lake, I wondered if the guests

"Short 2006-06-23 10:08:27.000 - Christy Schultz,  Summit Intern A break in the clouds... Even after living at the summit for month, I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the weather changes up here on Mount Washington. Yesterday was a prime example: We began the morning in the clear, and if you didn’t know any better, it would be easy to assume that it would be pleasant and fog-free for the remainder of the day. Luckily, our forecast was correct, so when we saw the clouds lowering and went into the fog around 9am it was no surprise to

Summer arrives at the summit 2006-06-22 07:23:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Solstace Sunset... Summer has officially arrived in the Northern Hemisphere! For the solstice on the summit, we couldn’t have had a better day. After a cool start (34 degrees), temps quickly rebounded into the 50s, and winds dropped off to near calm.For the summit crew, the first day of summer brings a point of amazement at sunset. On the day that the sun reaches its northern-most point on the horizon, it sets just south of Jay Peak in Vermont, near the Canadian boarder. Simple reflection reminds us that six

Haze, Skiing, and Thunderstorms 2006-06-20 02:18:39.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer We code haze as a present weather phenomena on our hourly weather forms only a handful of times through a year. Today was one of those days. The suspension of millions of minute particles trapped in the air marred visibility, reducing it throughout the day to less than 7 miles. That is substantial. Think about how different the air is on a day like today from a day where we can see the snow capped peak of Mt. Marcy in the Adirondaks 131 miles distant. The strange thing is that

GET OFF MY LAWN 2006-06-19 10:05:56.000 - Walter Sessions,  Summit Intern GET OFF MY LAWN! This past weekend was a busy time for the Auto Road. Three different philosophies of travel headed up the eight mile stretch to the summit in relatively fog free conditions.Motorcycles have been a regular sight on the road all week. The largest group rode up on Friday, shifting the summit fashions from hiking gear to black leather. Hikers and bikers both have a soft spot for head bandanas, so it wasn't that huge of a difference.Saturday was slightly stranger. One thousand people, out of distain

Ozone and stagnant air 2006-06-18 05:14:22.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer I always forget just how thick summer fog can be. Visibility is about 25 feet this morning. The thickness is in large part a function of temperature… the warmer the air the more moisture content it can have and the bigger the cloud droplets can become and thus the worse the visibility can get. Temperatures today are very warm (Mid 50s is very warm for us during the night!)The atmospheric configuration of pressure systems, and thus wind flows, will be perfectly aligned today to not only produce extremely warm temperatures

Bike Week 2006 2006-06-16 16:48:03.000 - Tim Markle,  Chief Observer End of the Rainbow The beginning of this shift week has been met with a task list of projects a mile long. Unfortunately, this work has made us neglect getting a comment posted sooner. We apologize for that and will try to be a bit more diligent in the future.The weekly departure of Jim and Ryan has meant that much of the weather so far this week has been sunny and mild, albeit a touch on the windy side. This nice stretch of weather has allowed the crew to get