Subzero Summit Science 2018-11-27 17:39:18.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   It has been an incredibly interesting shift week. We had a great Thanksgiving here on the summit, and Adam and I even got to spend it with Taylor from the other shift! While cooking a hearty meal and spending the evening sharing stories around the dinner table was great, it was Thanksgiving morning that I had the most fun with! Thanksgiving and the day before, we smashed several low temperature records! On the 21rst we dropped to -20° F, breaking the previous record of -17°F set in 1987.

Halos Around the Sun 2018-11-19 13:20:35.000 - Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern   Yesterday afternoon, we were treated to a unique sight up here on the summit, the sun with a halo around it! Looking at the sun (not directly of course) you could see a large ring of light that went entirely around the sun. This phenomenon is called a 22-degree halo. It is called a 22-degree halo because it has a radius of about 22-degrees around the sun. These halos can also occur around the moon and actually can help predict when storms are going to occur. There is

What A Start to Winter! 2018-11-16 09:18:25.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Although it may not technically be meteorological winter just yet, which starts in December, we are already off to a great start to our snow season here on the summit of Mount Washington. Our snow season runs from July 1st through the following year to June 30th, with each winter centered across the snow season. This is a much more accurate way of looking at a yearly depiction of snowfall and the variations from one winter to another, especially for locations that see snowfall over many

"What do you guys do on your off weeks?" 2018-11-14 05:16:30.000 - Christopher Hohman, Night Observer   A question we’ve gotten from a couple Facebook lives this week was, “So what do you guys do on your off weeks?” I love this question because most of the time we are asked about operational questions. And don’t get me wrong, we love answering those. However, we’re also human beings, and we all do a bunch of unique things in our off weeks. Sure the mountain is immaculate, but we’ve been up here since last Tuesday (With a chance of us having

A Windy Start to Winter 2018-11-11 13:48:59.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   This year it seems like we have seen a greater frequency of strong storms that produced 100+ mph gusts up here on the summit. Taking a look at this year, as of today November 11th, we are sitting at 8 days since July 1st where we have hit 100 mph. This does not sound like much but usually our frequent high winds don’t start coming until December, then we see it much more regularly. Last year was also fairly windy but there was 7 days that

A Unique Instrument for a Unique Place! 2018-11-03 14:17:33.000 - Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern   In anticipation of high winds tonight on the summit, it seemed appropriate to discuss how the observatory measures wind speeds in such an extreme environment. Since Mt. Washington experiences wind speeds that exceed 100 mph every three days in the winter as well as rime ice accretion up to 9 inches per hour, the observatory is forced to use an unusual instrument to measure winds. Typical anemometers such as a three-cup anemometer or a vane anemometer would not be able withstand such extreme conditions. With

Highest Wind of the Season 2018-10-30 08:34:13.000 - Zach Butler, Summit Intern   Finally, I have seen, observed, and felt a 100 mph wind! Thus far in my internship since late May, I have only experienced a top wind speed of 84 mph. Coming into this storm, our crew had high hopes to have sustained winds of 100 mph and gusts well over. Our forecasts and hopes came true last night with a peak wind gust of 119 mph at 2:23 AM on October 16th. This was the highest wind the summit has observed this Summer and Fall season. I’ll

Cloudrise instead of Sunrise 2018-10-28 20:03:43.000 - Bill Ofsiany, Summit Volunteer   The summit was above valley clouds this morning, but clouds were above the summit, too. There was a narrow band of clear sky on the horizon that promised at least a glimpse of the sunrise. Visibility between the two cloud layers was about eighty miles. In the valleys around the summit, the low-level puffy clouds were moving East to fill in between the peaks of the Southern Presidentials. At first, there were more mountains and valleys, but soon the undercast won out. All these clouds were the advance

The Tower on the Hill 2018-10-24 12:32:16.000 - Sarah Schulte, Museum Attendant   It’s very fitting that, as I’m writing this, our trip down the mountain isn’t a guarantee. For all I know, this might not be my last day on Mount Washington for a while, and after a winter and summer up here, I know better than to say anything for sure. If you’ve ever wondered why the biggest storms seem to hit on Wednesdays, this is why!   This is my second ‘goodbye’. This time, the next opportunity won’t be extending my time on Mount Washington, but will

Why Do Certain Leaves Change Color? 2018-10-22 11:54:57.000 - Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern   After spectacular fall foliage for the last few weeks, winter weather has started to descend upon the mountain and with that comes the end of the beautiful colors on the trees. Reflecting back on the past few weeks, the summit has a perfect vantage point on clear days to view how the colors change based on elevation. The difference between the valleys and as you look up the ravines is very well defined. Once you reach up to 4000-5000 feet, the trees tend to stay green