Comet 46P/Wirtanen (aka the “Christmas Comet”) 2018-12-17 04:44:14.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Working the night shift over the past 13 years, I am always in awe of the night sky. While my background is in meteorology (the study of weather) and the Observatory is purely a weather-based observatory, it is difficult to step out on a nightly basis and when we are clear, not have at least an inkling to know what I'm looking at beyond the lowest layer of earth's atmosphere. There are the obvious constants (moon, stars, constellations, etc) but I am always on the

In Search of Extreme Weather 2018-12-14 09:51:31.000 - Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   After a very active (by which I mean snowy and windy) October and November, things have quieted down significantly to start the first half of December here on the summit of Mount Washington. It has been plenty cold enough for snow, with our average temperature so far over the past 13 days of the month at only 8°F, about 3 degrees below average. Upper level high pressure across the Northeast is to blame, keeping cold, but dry air masses in place and the jet stream further

Final Thoughts on my Internship 2018-12-12 07:45:28.000 - Zach Butler, Summit Intern   What an experience this half year had been! I cannot believe I’ve been an intern up here since late May, time truly flew by. Time to recap on some of the notable experiences I had this summer and fall. I’ve wanted to work on Mount Washington since I can remember. My grandfather told me a story of him and friends getting stuck in a Memorial Day blizzard to me at a very young age. Hearing this and my already obsession with weather at a very young age,

How Do Lenticular Clouds Form? 2018-12-11 04:34:52.000 - Christopher Hohman, Observer/Staff Meteorologist   We had some of my favorite clouds form over the summit a few days back. They are the infamous “Lenticular Clouds.” These beautiful clouds are very unique to mountainous regions, and do not form over areas that cannot obstruct wind flow. While they are always a treat to observer, I thought I’d spend this blog talking a little bit about how they form.     So, the graph above here has some fancy terms, but I’ll break it down for you to understand. Imagine for a moment

Keeping in Shape while Working on the Summit 2018-12-07 15:55:25.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Working up here on the summit can lead to a sedentary lifestyle easily if you let it, especially in the winter time. In the summer months, it is easier to stay in shape with long daylight hours and more tranquil weather. Winter has challenges that are very physical so sometimes you can be forced into getting in shape just by having to be up here. Through the years that I have been here, I have struggled to try and set up a consistent

Dear Santa... 2018-12-04 05:09:24.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Dear Santa-   Another year has flown by here on the summit of Mt Washington. I hope all is going well with you, the missus, and all your helpers up at the North Pole. I know that this time of year is quite hectic for y’all but I hope that it is going smoothly as you get everything ready for those on your “Nice List.” Speaking of that “Nice” list, I am hoping we grace its pages once again this year… I like to think that we acted kindly

Why is Every Snowflake Unique? 2018-12-01 10:17:17.000 - Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern   Since the summit has seen 110” of snow since the start of the snow season (July 1st) and 58” during the month of November alone, I decided to take this opportunity to look all this snow in a little bit more detail. Most of us have probably heard the expression “unique as a snowflake” derived from the fact that each snowflake is, in fact, unique. The size, structure and overall physical appearance of each snowflake differs. But why? To answer this question, we have to go back

A November to Remembrrr! 2018-11-29 11:17:17.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   With the month of November coming to a close, I thought I’d take a look back at how this month compares to our averages and our extremes. For our current observers it has been the coldest and snowiest “fall” season in memory, and taking a look at records this backs that up. 58” of snow has fallen as of this writing, with very little, if any additional snow expected over the next day before the month ends. This total ends up being the 8th snowiest November on

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