NULL 2006-05-19 11:49:09.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer A spring landscape...a dwindling snowpack! In a brief break in the incessant clouds yesterday, we were able to scan the landscape, and specifically note how it has changed in the past 9 days of fog and rain. For snow lovers, the scene is not good! The remaining snow pack has been eaten away by the fog, now only residing on the usual late season snowfields, and very few other soon to melt patches remain. Even comparing pictures to previous years, the Jefferson Snow Patch, which can last until August, is looking mighty thin!It

NULL 2006-05-18 07:54:13.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Radar estimates from the last storm More rain (and a little wet snow) continues to impact the peak this morning. In the last 24 hours we have picked up another half inch of rain bringing our monthly total to 10.38 inches. This number however is remarkably low compared with areas just south of us, all the way down through Massachusetts where they are dealing with historic flooding.The picture at right shows the radar estimates for rainfall totals for the past week's storm from the NWS radar in Gray, ME. The widespread 8 to

NULL 2006-05-16 13:36:28.000 - Christy Schultz,  Summit Intern One of the side effects of inclement weather at the summit of Mount Washington is difficulty with technology. With the odd weather pattern that has been in place this past week, the wind and moisture have caused internet access to be unreliable and, at times, non-existent. This greatly complicates things for the observers working in the Observatory. No internet means not only a lack of web updates but also no radar, satellite imagery, model outputs, and email. When it comes time to forecast, the observers find themselves back in the situation meteorologists

NULL 2006-05-14 14:46:49.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Contrast Fleeting glimpses of the sun, mostly seen as a diffuse disk through thinning cloud, has broken the monotony of four days of fog. Low stratocumulus are racing up and over the summits leaving an occasional opening on the down slope side to the northwest. Through this window the tops of the low clouds are white set against a rich grey of water laden mid level clouds. The sky is, as a whole, chaotic with clouds at all levels. Lenticulars to the northwest, ragged cumulus below, gaps of blue to the north and

NULL 2006-05-13 16:41:37.000 - Christy Schultz,  Summit Intern My first trip up to the summit of Mount Washington as an intern was very exciting for me this past Wednesday! I had started off my day in Vermont wearing my sunglasses, but soon had to change into warmer clothes and rain gear as I ascended the mountain with the summit crew. We were quickly in the clouds and haven’t seen the sun since.Along with the foggy weather there have been high winds and cold temperatures (for me, that is!). The first observation I helped take in hurricane-force winds was quite a

NULL 2006-05-11 07:54:12.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer "Moist and grey," that is how Mike Davidson described yesterday. The same can be said for today. It will likely hold true for tomorrow and the next day as well. Driving up to the base of the Auto road for shift change the notch looked like fall. Swelling buds of red to orange mixed with the pale green nascent leaves to suggest, at first glance, the flip side of summer. The Warblers have been flooding back in this week. The woods are a chatter of song and call. The summit just looks dreary.

NULL 2006-05-09 01:23:34.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Taking in the View The lingering ice from Sunday was all but a memory by the time I went to bed yesterday morning, even though temperatures had remained below freezing. The reason, the air had been so dry overnight that it all sublimated away in the wind. Simply put, it 'evaporated' directly from solid ice to water vapor seemingly (actually) overnight. This process happens all the time up here, but to lose so much ice that quickly was rather impressive!Tim mentioned in yesterday's comment that the weather has seemingly been keeping the same

NULL 2006-05-07 16:40:42.000 - Tim Markle,  Chief Observer The Summit from Rime-Covered Cog Tracks As of late, the weather atop the summit seems to have the same 12 hour shift as the two observers…Such was the case yesterday when the cold front pushed through just after 4pm. Temperatures quickly dropped below freezing as moderate bursts of sleet and snow fell. The thick fog which had only rolled in a couple hours prior now was enveloping the summit in a clear coating of ice. Jim had the pleasure of having to de-ice this coating of glaze ice away from the instruments

NULL 2006-05-06 15:03:40.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Fair weather clouds above the snowfields... An unfamiliar sound woke me from a deep sleep this afternoon, and honestly in my delirious state it took me some time to figure out that the cog railway had made its first trip to the summit this season! The summer season is truly here!The picture at right shows the clouds that have been above the slopes of Mount Washington the past few days. Though these clouds have been nothing more than summer-like stratocumulus clouds, they tell a lot about the state of the atmosphere. Here's fair-weather

NULL 2006-05-05 05:01:02.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Watching a great sunset from the tower... By yesterday afternoon, the memories of the soaking misery of earlier this week had just about faded, as the weather turned downright spectacular. A morning undercast slowly rose above the summit, and temperatures also rose to their highest levels since before the October snow. And while 47 may not sound that warm, with bright sun and light winds it felt pretty fantastic.By sunset, as winds turned southwest it felt like a summer evening, complete with the familiar ring of haze around the horizon. The clouds were