NULL 2006-03-10 06:08:09.000 - Tim Markle,  Chief Observer A colorful sunrise It took a little time, but the warm air finally scoured the cold air away from the summit last night. At 7pm the temperature was 15 degrees with light snow falling. By 9:30pm the snow had changed to freezing rain with a temperature of only 18 degrees! This was the first sign that the warmer air was making its way in. Then at 10:30pm the temperature soared to 24 degrees. By 3:30am the temperature climbed to a whopping 38 degrees! This may not sound all that warm, but a

NULL 2006-03-09 09:35:19.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Starting just before sunrise Tim and I began to observe a sheet of maritime moisture in the form of low clouds back in from the Southeast. Now, these clouds have pushed against the flanks of the mountains obscuring the Mount Washington Valley. Extending from each of the notches and low points of the range is a smooth tongue of stratocumulus that becomes ragged as it mixes with drier and evaporates. A few clouds have now made it as far north as Randolph. Along the Carter-Moriah range the clouds have found enough lift begin

NULL 2006-03-06 18:22:29.000 - Brian Clark,  Summit Intern Intern Brian Skiing The Snowfields Today is one of those incredible days that reminds me of just how lucky I am to get to spend so much time here on the Rockpile and the top of the Northeast.Today turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. We were clear of the fog with blue skies above us and a broken undercast below us. Winds were blowing at a meager 10 to 20 miles per hour for the majority of the day and temperatures were, dare I say warm, in the low to

NULL 2006-03-06 09:59:25.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Clouds have mostly dropped to a few hundred feet below the summit exposing a tidy undercast across two thirds of the horizon. Downwind of the mountains (South to Southeast) the cascading flow of air warms slightly as it adiabatically compresses evaporating the cloud mass that is dammed to our north. Overhead there are two layers of high lenticulars. Yesterday was a good lesson in localized weather. Twin Mountain and a few other locations to the north picked up about a foot of snow. Areas in Crawford notch reported 18-22 inches in the past

NULL 2006-03-02 11:15:00.000 - Neil Lareau,  Observer Looking along the ridge crest to the north it is evident the degree to which wind defines this landscape. The windward side of the ridge appears to be largely exposed black and grey felsenmere (sea of shattered rock) highlighted with patches of snow and ice. The leeward aspects are bright white pillows of wind deposited snow. Trees and rock faces alike are being continually buried on these slopes, and they now look soft and inviting, at least from a distance of a mile away.The sky for the past four days has been a

NULL 2006-02-28 02:24:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Walking in 120 mph... Another day, another record low. Today we dropped to -29F at the summit, and only managed to climb to -15 by days end. Combine this with winds that averaged 88mph for the day causing severe blowing snow, and you have some unbelievably brutal weather. To put it in perspective, it hasnt been this bad up here since well, last week!This shift we are joined at the summit by a group of visiting students from the University of Bochum in Germany, and they got a great introduction to both the

NULL 2006-02-27 01:41:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer 212 to 32... The Observatory has tied the record low of -26 for Sunday the 26th! From this shifts perspectiveits just plain cold outside, really no other way to describe it. There is only one way to celebrate record low temperatures in February on Mount WashingtonHot Water Fireworks!!! Basically, take a pot of boiling water outside, throw it in the airand well, you can see the results for yourself! Tim described the process fairly in depth here last week! I had never seen this before, let me tell youits AMAZING!!! Two quick program

NULL 2006-02-26 05:23:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Wintry Window... Yesterdays clipper came and went just about as anticipated on the summits, with light SE winds allowing the snow to actually fall and accumulate on the summits, then strong NW winds scouring it away again last night. Temps have fallen on cue as well; currently about -15 and falling, and we could set a record low tonight with a mark of -26F. It seems like only clipper storms give (relatively) light winds from this direction up here, and therefore everything about it seems very odd. Winds in the face when theyre

NULL 2006-02-25 04:42:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer Whiteout... Snow lovers rejoice! The summit picked up about half a foot of snow yesterday, in a heavy afternoon burst that caused severe whiteout conditions. But, with nothing to bond too, the snow did not last on the summit long, and the inevitable journey to Tucks will likely cause avalanche concerns today. Today, the focus is on a clipper system that will cause textbook clipper weather on the summit. And exactly does that mean??? Clippers are small, compact storms that originate in the lee of the Canadian Rockies and travel across the northern

NULL 2006-02-24 04:08:00.000 - Jim Salge,  Observer THE CURE... Around 5:30 last evening I had suddenly came to the realization that it was still very light out. This simple observation only confirmed a feeling that Ive been trying VERY hard to suppress during the past few warm, snowless weeks in the valley. Spring is comingand the extra two hours of daylight that weve gained since late December are just another sign. Considering the weak winter that weve had so far, Im not surprised that I have caught a VERY premature case of spring fever, the kind that usually waits until