Mount Washington Observatory Observer Blog
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part 3: More Work!
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part 3: More Work! 2017-10-23 08:06:45.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist The Observatory has for a long time been something I was fascinated with. The first time I learned about Mt. Washington was while watching this old TV show called the Voyage of the Mimi. There was a short clip that was done on the summit and I thought it was the coolest job ever. Ever since then, being a big fan of the weather channel growing up, I would see clips of the storms up here and decided that I would need to at
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part 2: Cherish Every Moment, Everywhere and be Persistent
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part 2: Cherish Every Moment, Everywhere and be Persistent 2017-10-21 17:09:11.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist For me, Mount Washington was the place I could go where extreme weather would never miss me. Growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania, I was cursed by the “Weather Man” curse. All too frequently, storms would be heading for my town and a last second shift in the track would leave me wearing sunglasses and a frown. Then college happened and there were too many aspiring meteorologists in a small area, and the trend continued. I was the typical
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part I: Suburban to Sub-Alpine
Obs Life Off-Summit, Part I: Suburban to Sub-Alpine 2017-10-18 17:20:46.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Meteorologist & Education Specialist Time passes in a whole different manner up here at 6,288 feet. Perhaps it's the 20% less oxygen, although that might mean residents of Denver, Colorado would be empathizing more often. On the contrary, the week on/week off routine gives the word schedule a new meaning, although any summit staffer would refer to it as more of a lifestyle than a schedule. The fog-ridden world of an observer gives ample opportunity for regular periods of introspective inner-dialogue, particularly when the hustle-and-bustle
The North Atlantic Oscillation
The North Atlantic Oscillation 2017-10-16 17:43:15.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer Last night, during our live forecast discussion on Facebook, we were asked a question about the North Atlantic Oscillation, or NAO. So, what is the NAO, and why is relevant to our weather discussion? To understand the NAO we need to first take a look at the atmosphere, particularly over the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, an area of permanent low pressure sits over Iceland (known as the Icelandic Low or Subpolar Low), and an area of high pressure sits over the Azores (known as the Azores High or
Founding Day
Founding Day 2017-10-15 16:12:32.000 - Mount Washington Observatory Staff, Weather Observer It’s founding day! What does that mean? Well, it is the day that we at the Mount Washington Observatory celebrate the beginning (founding) of our organization. And this year, it’s a big one! Today we celebrate 85 years up on the summit! While scientists embarked for a summit expedition in the 1870s, and the Signal Corps maintained a presence on the summit through 1892, it wasn’t until 1932 that Bob Monahan, Sal Pagliuca, Alex MacKenzie, and Joe Dodge set up a permanent presence on the summit. Using funds
The Story of the Seasons
The Story of the Seasons 2017-10-14 11:59:36.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer It’s been a fall-like summer and a summer-like fall this year, with the trees all out of sorts and calendars themselves questioning what month it really is. But how did the seasons become as delineated at they are? In Greek Mythology, the story of the seasons originates with Demeter, the Greek goddess of harvest. According to the myth, Demeter, the goddess responsible for ensuring the harvest, had a young and joyful daughter named Persephone. Unfortunately, Persephone drew the attention of Hades, ruler of the underworld. Zeus granted
Misery Hill: A Look Back at the Saturday Evening Post March 14th, 1942
Misery Hill: A Look Back at the Saturday Evening Post March 14th, 1942 2017-10-12 06:43:50.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer Up on the summit, we have the tremendous fortune of a well-preserved archive of not only our hourly weather observations but also various journals and missives from those observers and visitors who have spent time up here all throughout the Observatory’s 85 year history. It makes the frequent foggy evenings the perfect time to turn through the pages of history and read about what life was like in the years previous up on the summit! In the early years
Hot in Here
Hot in Here 2017-10-10 21:03:09.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist Thanks to a strong and stubborn upper level ridge that anchored itself over the northeastern United States this shift, well above seasonable air has continued to stream into the White Mountains Region. Generally, at this time of the year my winter gear comes up to the summit with me as we begin to battle the snow and ice but so far that has not been the case. At the beginning of our last shift, I wrote a blog discussing the anticipated heat wave which would likely break
We are Live!
We are Live! 2017-10-07 17:22:12.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist Over the past year or so, we have been periodically doing facebook lives to test it out and see how feasible it would be to do. Originally we were just able to do the facebook live broadcast from the weather room because that was the only place we had Wi-Fi. We then were able to use a spare router and put it up in our tower so that the deck could get coverage. We did a few Q and A’s from the deck on nice weather days. The
And So the Fun Began
And So the Fun Began 2017-10-05 19:34:06.000 - Nicole Tallman, Summit Intern Have you ever wondered what it is like to be on top of Mount Washington in high winds? It feels like a strong man pushing against you and fighting your ability to walk forward. And just as you think you've gotten enough strength to push through it, the winds drop and you fly forward. Seconds later they pick back up and send your momentum backward. You catch your balance and continue to read into where you think the winds will blow you next, swaying in their force
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