NULL 2006-05-28 05:15:01.000 - Tim Markle,  Chief Observer Spring Morning What do train whistles, morning bird song, the chatter of people, and the sound of tires on gravel all have in common? Answer: They all signal the start to the summer season atop the rockpile! Indeed, yesterday was the unofficial start to the summer season, and that meant plenty of people ventured to New England's highest peak. The weather did not cooperate, however, as the rain showers and fog which were projected to move away from the region yesterday morning lingered through much of the afternoon. As if Mother Nature

NULL 2006-05-26 11:45:17.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Laminae (individual cloud elements) and conjoined sections of altocumulus morphing as air lifts over the mountain barrier has been the highlight of the past two days. Altocumulus Lencticular formations were evident in all quadrants of the sky yesterday. Higher layers of cirrocumulus were showing similar deformations and periods intricate rippling. A warm front crossed the region and summit temperatures jumped yesterday afternoon. They didn’t fall at all overnight, remaining in the mid 40s. The amount of snow that melted by morning was impressive. The sedge is back and the snow is retreating to

NULL 2006-05-24 14:35:00.000 - Christy Schultz,  Summit Intern With a week off the summit at a time, it is quite easy to forget that Mount Washington’s weather is completely different from the rest of the region’s conditions. ‘Warm’ becomes redefined as temperatures above 50 degrees instead of above 25 degrees Fahrenheit and ‘windy’ changes from hurricane force to only a relative breeze of a few miles an hour. This all changes, of course, with the ride back up the mountain. The trip up the auto road was simple and ordinary until the halfway point. Here it was necessary to put

NULL 2006-05-23 10:13:56.000 - Cindy Terry,  Summit Volunteer Snowshoes in May!!! What a wonderful way to wake up in the morning! We are seeing intermittent sunshine! My stay here, sadly, is almost coming to an end. We have been fogged in for the last week but regressed to winter-like conditions over the last three days. Upon walking around the summit, there are piles that are up the eves of some buildings. I keep thinking, I'm gonna roast when I get back to Pennsylvania.I had one of the most exciting hikes in my five years as a volunteer up here last

NULL 2006-05-23 09:04:36.000 - The Summit Crew,  Mount Washington Observatory A full comment is to follow this morning, but here are some pictures taken while wandering the summit briefly this morning. Certainly back to winter!!! Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5   The Summit Crew,  Mount Washington Observatory

NULL 2006-05-22 10:12:50.000 - Walter Sessions,  Summit Intern Back to winter... "I miss warm." opines Jim as more snow piles onto Mount Washington's summit. Over the past 18 hours another 9.3 inches dropped, making shovels handy and hiking unwieldy. I don't particularly miss warm; I flew up from Florida last week for a summer internship on the summit. When the choice is between hurricane force winds throwing around snow and throwing around palm trees, I'll take a little winter.With a snow to liquid water ratio of about 4 to 1 inches, this snow is heavy. I can not personally attest

NULL 2006-05-21 07:26:14.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Heavy glaze icing...with a twist! Ice and snow continued to pile up yesterday afternoon and through the night last night. Glaze ice now coats the summit quite thickly, and 6.6 inches of snow have fallen in the past 36 hours now. Not bad for mid May!There was one thing about the ice up here though that I initially found quite disturbing yesterday afternoon. The ice forming on parts of the peak had taken a BRIGHT YELLOW HUE?!?! While I was immediately able to dismiss the obvious stigma in this case, the ice did

NULL 2006-05-20 07:53:23.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Suprise snowstorm... A big sloppy mess! That's the only way that the ground conditions on the summit can be described this morning after 2 inches of rain and freezing rain, followed by 5 inches of snow! Snow covers ice, ice covers slush, and water oozes underfoot. Mesh this with the new snowdrifts that range in high up to a few feet, and you get about the most varied conditions imaginable!The amount of snow that fell was quite a surprise for all of us up here. In earlier comments this week we spoke of

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