Slinging Science! 2018-03-09 13:39:51.000 - Sarah Schulte, Summit Intern   Every hour for the past 85 years, one of Mount Washington’s weather observers has stepped out onto the Observatory’s deck to take a manual weather observation. In addition to noting visibility and cloud formations, they also use an instrument called a sling psychrometer to take wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperature measurements, which are important for calculating relative humidity (the amount of water vapor present in the air). On a day when the summit is shrouded in fog, the air is completely saturated and has a relative humidity of 100%. On any

Looking in the Rear View Mirror – A Summary of February, 2018 2018-03-06 21:44:41.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   February was warm, but not the warmest! While scrolling through our records, it appears that three previous Februaries had higher average temperatures than 2018. That puts February, 2018 at the fourth warmest since our records began with an average temperature of 12.9°F. With that being said, this past month sure packed a punch at times as we set the monthly record high temperature on the 21st at 48°F. The previous record was set the day before at 45°F

Upcoming Storm 2018-03-04 17:33:34.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   With this last Nor’easter back on the 2nd of March still fresh on the minds of people, another Nor’easter is taking aim at New England. This time around, the storm is looking like it will be weaker than the last storm but it will be colder, so more areas will see accumulating snow fall. The March 2nd storm impacted Southern New England much more then it affected our region. The maximum winds we saw only topped out at 98 mph for the storm. The center of the low was

Summit Museum Attendant Perks 2018-03-01 12:52:13.000 - Jillian Reynolds, Summit Intern   Hey everyone! Since the Mount Washington Observatory is still accepting applicants for our Summit Museum Attendant position this upcoming summer through fall, I thought I would explain some of the perks of working in a museum up here on the tallest mountain peak in the northeastern United States. “Extreme Mount Washington” is the name of our summit museum   I am a part-time museum attendant for the Mount Washington Observatory’s Weather Discovery Center down in North Conway Village. I also helped the summit’s museum attendant during this past

Raffle - Last Call! 2018-02-27 15:24:22.000 - Mount Washington Observatory, Staff   As some of you know, Mount Washington Observatory is a private, nonprofit, member-supported institution with a mission to advance understanding of the natural systems that create Earth’s weather and climate. This means we are not funded by the federal or state government and operate independently from all the various other entities that share the summit. Our funding comes from individuals like YOU whether it is through donations, membership, Seek The Peak, or our various fundraisers we put together during the year. One such fundraiser we have going on

Happy Anniversary Marty! 2018-02-26 17:29:16.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   At dinner the other night, someone asked how old Marty was and in explaining his history, I realized that we missed a milestone for him back in January - his 10 year anniversary living with us.   When I first started working here back in December 2005, the resident cat at the time was Nin. He was a white cat with a few black spots. He loved laps and snuggling with people. He would follow us around the building and summit. He knew this was his place and

Glaze vs. Rime ... What's the Difference? 2018-02-25 10:24:50.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   Up on the summit, we are no strangers to icing conditions. In fact, with an annual average temperature below freezing, and 2/3 of our days spent in the fog, it is arguably the most common weather phenomenon observed up here. And while the icing that we see generally takes on a spectrum of characteristics, governed by things like droplet size, temperature, wind speed, and any ongoing precipitation, it typically falls into one of two main categories: glaze vs. rime. Let’s have a look at what

Days of Our Lives (On the Rockpile) 2018-02-24 10:26:33.000 - Sarah Schulte, Summit Intern   I think the Mount Washington Observatory would make a decent setting for a soap opera. It has the potential for drama: a small group of people living in an icy tower teetering atop the rugged Rockpile, their passion for science raging like the hurricane-force winds around them… Eh, I’ve never really been into soap operas. Luckily for me, the crew I work with at the summit happens to be a reasonable, interesting and friendly group of people, and even Marty has deigned to offer me

In Search of Snow! 2018-02-23 16:19:03.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   With current snow depth reported at zero as of this writing, pretty much all of the summit staff (maybe not Marty) are wishing for some snow! Taking a very extended look out at the beginning of March it does look like there’s some hope ahead for snow lovers, at least up here on the summit of Mount Washington.   Sunrise on Thursday morning, with only patches of snow currently on the summit  In the near term, tonight snow and light mixed precipitation will fall across the higher

Another One For the Record Books 2018-02-21 21:37:11.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Well the summit won't be receiving a gold medal for this record, but we are happy to announce that we have officially set a new daily record high, set a new monthly record high for February, and have tied the meteorological winter record high! We would like to thank our friends, families, thermometers and members who have encouraged us on our journey to 48°F in February. Can you tell that I have been stuck at home and watching a lot of Olympics this past week?