Volatile Weather Atop the Rockpile 2017-05-21 07:01:04.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   This past week has brought quite the myriad of different weather conditions atop the Rockpile. May 13th – May 15th: Coastal low pressure developed and moved into the Gulf of Maine staying nearly stationary while dropping a grand total of 33.3” of snow on the summit while falling continuously for 38 straight hours! As Tom stated in a previous blog post, this was the largest snowstorm ever recorded in our 85 years of data during the month of May. Simply because the storm felt like

A Farewell to the Summit 2017-05-16 12:39:58.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   It’s been a little over two years since I first stepped foot on Mount Washington for the first time. It was early April of 2015 that I arrived in New Hampshire for my interview for the internship program that following summer. A rather snowy late winter and early spring in New England had left the White Mountains and surrounding valleys in a blanket of snow. When I returned a month or so later, the warmer weather won out, and other than a few specks of snow above

April Showers Bring...Record Snowstorms!? 2017-05-15 17:41:41.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   May is generally a month when we start to think about the warmer days of summer and maybe even spending time at the beach, but on Mount Washington Mother Nature often has different things in mind. After an overall mild April with above average temperatures and our snow cover completely melting out, May threw us one heck of a curveball! Temperatures had been running 6°F below average for the first half of the month, with snow showers adding up to 8.9” through the 13th. May only averages

What is a Cutoff Low? 2017-05-11 14:32:00.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   It certainly has been a rather damp, dreary and cool start to the month of May over nearly the entire Northeast this year. The abundant rainfall has played a major role in helping the flowers bloom and the trees green up, and more than likely has resulted in the first grass cutting(s) of the warm season. But most people are growing tired of what seems to be an almost endless pattern of gray skies and cool temperatures. What’s been causing this long stretch of limited sunshine and

From One Extreme to Another 2017-05-08 23:24:15.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   Summertime preparations have begun here at the Observatory, as highlighted by Mike and Adam earlier this shift. We are preparing for the warmer months, but that certainly does not mean we are out of Winter’s icy grasp quite yet atop the Rockpile. Snow showers have fallen on and off since Sunday night which has led to just shy of 3 inches of accumulated snow. Sunday morning, there were only a few patches of snow remaining on the summit, but now there are just a few

Summer Time Approaches 2017-05-06 17:47:37.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   This week we are getting close to finishing much of our summer preparations. With the one day of nice weather that we had on Thursday, we were able to get the bulletproof windows out. It is always a sad time of year because the frequency of strong wind storms and big snowstorms has mostly passed, with more “quiet” weather for the next 4-5 months. Other things that have gone on was making sure the exhibits down in the museum are in working order, luckily most of them were,

Summertime Preparations 2017-05-04 17:14:24.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   Wintertime is finally winding down here at 6,288 feet, and the summer season is knocking at our door. Before long, cars will line the Mount Washington Auto Road, the Sherman Adams building will unlock its doors, and the mercury will break into the 60s F at the crux of New England. This winter was quite a harrowing one in many ways, so a lot of us are looking forward to the arrival of the more tame summertime weather conditions. The preparation for summer is more than

Severe Weather Awareness Week 2017-05-02 16:39:50.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   The week of May 1-5 has been declared Severe Weather Awareness Week in the state of New Hampshire by the National Weather Service. This is certainly an appropriate week to discuss this topic since severe weather has been making national news headlines with the rounds of heavy rain and tornadoes in the nation’s midsection. Luckily, events like these are extremely rare in New England, as most of the hazards facing New Hampshire have to do with snow and ice storms, along with spring flooding from a soaking rain

Making a Home in the Alpine Zone 2017-05-01 13:11:08.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   If you’ve done any hiking in the Northern Presidentials, or visited Mt. Washington by train or car and explored the summit a bit, chances are you’ve seen signs warning you to prepare for the harsh weather, as well as to respect the fragile alpine zone. The signs invite you to “enjoy the fragile beauty” of the Alpine Zone while simultaneously admonishing you that “the area ahead has the worst weather in America; many have died there from exposure, even in summer.” The warnings are terse

Getting "Cirrus" About Seek the Peak! 2017-04-28 04:41:34.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   Seek the Peak 2017 is only a few short months away and our summit crew is gearing up for what should be a great event! Our summit shift of Taylor Regan, Tom Padham, and Ryan Knapp are raising money for the observatory through our annual hike-a-thon coming up in July. This will be year 3 of our “Cirrus Contenders” team, and all of us know firsthand how very special this place is. We have a very experienced team of observers on the summit, with Ryan