Quiet Hurricane Season on the Horizon? 2018-08-10 16:35:16.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   With the month of August underway we’re heading into the peak of hurricane season, but it’s looking more likely that this year will overall be a down year for tropical systems (not a bad thing necessarily!). So what’s the reasoning for this? NOAA recently updated their seasonal outlook for the tropics (article here) explaining some of their reasoning.    A few of the reasons include already being slightly below average for this point in the season, below average sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic,

The Science of Auroras 2018-08-08 06:18:51.000 - Christopher Hohman, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   One of my personal favorite weather phenomenon here on the summit of Mount Washington, is one I haven’t actually observed yet! For the past few years I have been incredibly interested with quantum mechanics (A very fancy term that pretty much means the physics of how very small objects, like atoms and their electrons, move and/or interact!) in the atmosphere. A very beautiful phenomenon occurs at the atomic level that really interests me is the Aurora Borealis! In this blog I wanted to give just a brief

July Climatology 2018-08-04 19:09:40.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   As many people here in New England know, July was a very warm month across the Northeastern US. Mount Washington was no exception, though many sought refuge from the oppressive heat and humidity in the valleys since we are usually 20-30 degrees colder. We started off the month with a significant heat wave, nearly breaking our all-time record high of 72°F. We set record highs on the 1st (68°F), 4th (70°F), and the 5th (71°F). The last time the summit had seen 70°F was in 2006 and then 71

A Hike to End All Hikes 2018-08-02 09:46:08.000 - Ben Seleb, Summit Intern   Despite living on the summit for most of the summer, my busy schedule has kept me from hiking Mount Washington from base to summit. With my internship at the Observatory coming to an end, and not having made the climb in its entirety, I made sure to find the time for it this previous weekend. Observer Adam Gill kindly joined me for the ceremonious occasion. Due to the threat of thunderstorms later in the afternoon, we decided on a shorter (but tough) loop up Ammonoosuc Ravine

The never-ending Cloud 2018-08-01 16:16:43.000 - Simon Wachholz, Summit Intern   The last observer comment discussed why Mount Washington has such strong winds. This post, on the other hand, will discuss why we’re so often in the clouds. I’m sure many of you who have visited the summit in the past have had similar experiences: you’re at the base of the mountain and it’s a beautiful, sunny day, but then you get up to the summit and suddenly its cloudy with a visibility of 50 feet. Oftentimes it seems like the summits are the only cloud in the Northeast, so

World’s Worst Weather, Why? 2018-07-28 16:18:03.000 - Sarah Thunberg, Summit Intern   Mount Washington holds the title of “Home of the world’s worst weather” and holds the record for highest wind speed observed by man. At 6,288 ft. high, Mount Washington is not the tallest mountain in the world, it doesn’t even compare to many of the Rockies. So why does it have the worst weather in the world? Worst is a subjective term, it could mean high winds, heavy rain, lightning, or flying chunks of ice and debris. With regards to winds, Mount Washington has a clear leg above

Shift-Change Surprise 2018-07-26 18:06:54.000 - Griffin Mooers, Summit Intern   On our drive up to begin the new week’s shift, we came across something unexpected part of the way up the Mount Washington Auto Road. Though the summit of Mount Washington was socked in the clouds, in the mountains just below there was a gorgeous rainbow that had just formed. It was by far the most well defined double rainbow I’ve ever seen in my life. Our timing could not have been more perfect, as the rainbow faded only a few minutes after we stopped to admire it.   Rainbow

Jasper, the Forgotten Cat 2018-07-23 15:31:32.000 - Emily Tunkel, Summer Intern   If you’re reading this blog post, you probably know about Mount Washington’s resident mascot, Marty the cat. Maybe if you really follow us closely (or you’re a little older), you know of Nin, a fat white cat who retired from MWO in 2008. And you’ve probably seen photos of Inga sitting outside in a storm, covered in rime ice. But what about Jasper? Recently, the other interns and I were tasked with combing through some of the old MWO news bulletins, all the way back to 1962. As

Seek the Peak 2018!! 2018-07-22 11:32:14.000 - Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist      Time for another blog post! Our Seek the Peak event was amazing! Over the last several years during the event, the weather has been, well, questionable. High winds, foggy views, and even precipitation played into what some have called a “more rough than anticipated” hiking experience. But not this year. Not at all. We had a very strong high pressure settled in over the region, with plenty of dry air and light winds to help set up a clear, blue, beautiful day for Seek the Peak.    We

One Cloud to Cover Them All 2018-07-17 07:11:23.000 - Sarah Thunberg, Summit Intern   Every meteorologist has a favorite cloud type, for most people this has something to do with severe weather. I get it, supercells are really cool and exciting and give conditions where you can see really unique clouds like pileus or mammatus. These clouds are too rare and energetic for me. Give me a nice stratus deck any day and I’ll be happy, better yet, layered decks. There’s just something so comforting and peaceful about a smooth ocean of white. A stratus day is a good day.