My summer at 800 mb 2018-08-16 09:33:01.000 - Simon Wachholz, Summit Intern   In a typical year I would be excited for the end of summer. The cooler temperatures of fall and the first snowflakes of winter are something I look forward to every year. Unfortunately, the end of this summer indicates the end of my time at Mount Washington as a summer intern. Since today is my last day at the summit, I thought I’d write a quick wrap up of all the exciting events I had the opportunity to experience here. Every week seemed to bring a new

Road-Trippin' Through the Seasons 2018-08-15 06:55:18.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer and Research Specialist   Over the river and through the woods, to my summit house I go! It’s the melody that hangs in the ether each week as the upgoing shift amasses at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road, preparing for their ascent to the place where they simultaneously work and live. It’s quite a sight, if I’m honest, to happen upon a shift change. One by one summit staff navigate through the parking lot in the near pre-dawn hours of morning, small pieces of gravel (and

Don't Make Me Leave! 2018-08-13 15:00:17.000 - Sarah Thunberg, Summit Intern   I’ve dreamed of working up here on Mount Washington my whole life. Now that I’ve been able to live up here, I don’t want to leave! Please don’t make me go! One of my first days on the summit was beautiful and clear, the building wasn’t open to the public yet so it was nice and quiet. I started off my internship taking the classic picture at the summit sign. My first morning on the summit   Not soon after I started on the mountain, I got my

Looking Ahead to Fall 2018-08-12 15:23:23.000 - Griffin Mooers, Summit Intern   As summit observer Adam Gill has previously discussed, summer has been uncharacteristically hot for the summit of Mount Washington, with this past July ranking as the second warmest of all time, with an average temperature a toasty 53.1 degrees Fahrenheit.   Source: http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu   The summer also started out unusually dry. However, frequent showers in the last couple of weeks in favorable peaks helped the White Mountains catch up to an above normal total precipitation for July. But the Northeast as a whole has been unusually dry. Much

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