Higher Summits Forecasts on Amazon Echo 2018-01-24 20:59:54.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   Mount Washington Observatory IT Director, Keith Garrett has come to an agreement with Alexa, Amazon, and essentially the entire world. His latest accomplishment sends the Mount Washington Observatory Higher Summits Forecasts directly into your living room, dining room, bedroom, attic, or wherever it is the dog carried your Amazon device. In a recent interview with Keith he stated, “Caleb, sometimes the world needs to hear your voice, and now they can, simply by yelling at Alexa for a flash briefing”. This is one small

My First Ride Up in the MWO Snow Cat 2018-01-19 06:09:41.000 - Jillian Reynolds, Summit Intern   Although I have traveled up to the summit many times, Wednesday was my first time taking a ride up in the Snowcat. The Snowcat is primarily used in the winter time as it is equipped with a plow and tracks that allow it to go through the snow more easily. The enclosed cab in the back can fit up to 12 people. When you and the other travelers are wearing winter weather gear, the inside of the cab can be a tight fit.

I Melt With You 2018-01-16 16:37:26.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Last weekend we posted an image (posted below) to our social media about our recent melt-out and since then it has been making the rounds on various media pages and online groups. Skimming the comments and replying to various emails, messages, comments, I have come across three things that I feel need a bit more emphasis.   Snow melt between Jan 10 and Jan 13, 2018   Issue 1: People blaming one cause for the melt-out like the warm temperatures or rainfall   Unfortunately it isn’t so

2017: A Year in Review 2018-01-15 11:13:40.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist     Now that we’re a few weeks into 2018 I had some time to take a look back at the year that was. 2017 had several memorable moments, including 138 mph winds during an intense Nor’easter in March, along with several direct lightning strikes from summer thunderstorms. This past winter was an especially snowy one, and at one point in early February we were even on pace with the record-breaking winter of 1968-1968, which saw 566” of snow accumulate. We still ended the snow season 100”

From the Mountains to the Oceans, in Search of Fog 2018-01-12 15:12:16.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   Up on the summit, weather observers are no strangers to fog. In fact, we see the stuff every two out of three days on average, limiting our otherwise remarkable 130 mile visibility to sometimes a matter of feet. But did you know there isn’t just one type of fog? In fact, there are five common types of fog: radiation, rain-induced, advection, upslope, and steam fog. Last week, while the summit (and all of New England) was a veritable icebox, I happened to

A Shift Full of Escalating Weather 2018-01-09 22:10:53.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   Well that escalated quickly! The weather, the tied record low temperature, the misinterpretations, and… Well, the weather!     First off, -38°F was our lowest recorded air temperature January 6th which tied a daily record low of -38°F set back in 1959. Our peak wind gust that morning was 113 mph but that occurred before the coldest of the air arrived. When the -97°F wind chill occurred, our temperature was at -37.6°F and the wind speed was at 106 mph. It certainly did not feel tropical…

What is up with our Mesonets 2018-01-05 14:25:35.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   If you have looked at our Current Summit Conditions page, our Mesonet page, or the Webcams you may have noticed that there is missing information or no current image on our cameras. The reason is many of our sites are very low on power or completely out of power. Almost all of our mesonets are remote and run off of solar panels that charge batteries so that the sites can operate 24/7. At this time of year, we run into a lot of power issues

Winter Precipitation 2018-01-02 15:55:01.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   With the recent Christmas storm fresh on many minds, and with more winter weather on the way, I wanted to take a look at some of the differences in precipitation type that can occur when the mercury drops to or even below freezing. The differences between rain and snow are fairly well known, but what about sleet or freezing rain? Knowing which type of precipitation is falling can clue you in on the overall state of the atmosphere around you, which is pretty neat!   In this blog post, I’ll

So Cold, Even the Rime was Shivering 2017-12-29 20:33:13.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   If you have not heard, the past few days have not been warm here atop the Rockpile. In fact, it has been quite cold. How cold? Record-breaking cold. What record? We broke the daily record low on December 28th which was -31°F by an impressive 3°F as the temperature dropped to -34°F. I was awake through the night as the mercury plunged into the 30s below much like a rock plunges through water (It happened fast). Let me tell you how it feels

Become a Part of Our Story! 2017-12-27 07:25:40.000 - Eric P. Kelsey, Ph.D., Director of Research   Back in 1926, Dartmouth College sophomore (and future Observer) Bob Monahan convinced a French professor, a Geology assistant, and a classmate to spend several days at the summit of Mount Washington during Christmas break. They stopped at the AMC Pinkham Notch lodge and invited Joe Dodge to join them later at the top if he could. The group of three hoisted a heavy anemometer up the mountain and settled at Camden Cottage. Joe met them at the summit two days later and was