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

Those Evasive Northern Lights 2017-04-24 23:15:02.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   The first five days of this shift were spent in the clouds before clearing finally occurred yesterday morning, April 23rd just before sunrise. Beautiful weather continued through the day and night with mostly clear skies overhead that made me rather hopeful of seeing a display of the Northern Lights Sunday night. Seeing the Northern Lights from here atop the Rockpile is not a common occurrence, although occasionally during a Solar Storm it becomes possible. Since I began work as a Nighttime Weather Observer one year ago, there

It's Earth Day!! 2017-04-22 15:23:08.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Earth Day is a day to recognize the environment and raise awareness about pollution. The first Earth Day was in 1970 and was created after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin was the first to propose a national teach-in on the environment because of all the disregard for the environment. Originally, the earth day protest were geared towards college students so April 22nd was between spring break and final exams. This protest actually brought many different types of people

Distance Learning: Connecting with Classrooms from Mount Washington 2017-04-20 13:30:11.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   I often joke with friends and colleagues about the amount of job titles I retain that are thrown around quite frequently. One such title that gives me the greatest fulfillment in my work life has to be my role of Education Specialist. Among other education-related tasks, the ability to connect with classrooms around the world via Distance Learning programs is one of the most unique aspects of my job, and by far one of the most rewarding! Through our Distance

Pack It In, Pack It Out 2017-04-18 06:12:05.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   There are a lot of things to like about spring hiking. Warmer temperatures means less layers, shorts, t-shirts, etc making for more comfortable hiking and slightly less items weighing down my bag. Footwear goes from crampons to MicroSpikes to eventually summer boots. Birds are singing their spring chorus in the woods adding a natural tune to the air. Everything smells great, especially as plants start budding. A palette of color starts to return to the scenery. And days get longer allowing for even more time

What Winter Has Left Behind 2017-04-17 12:44:47.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   It was quite a mild Easter weekend for the entire Northeast. Temperatures soared well into the 80s up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Boston’s high temperature Sunday climbed all the way to 86 degrees, one shy of the daily record, and five degrees warmer than Sunday’s highs in both Miami and New Orleans. Here on Mount Washington, we reached 49 Sunday. Not a record by any means, but enough to set off spring fever. The long snow covered landscape of the summit transitioned to one of mainly

High Winds on the Horizon 2017-04-15 13:38:08.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   High winds will be once again returning to the summit beginning tonight and lasting all the way through Monday morning. As we head further into spring these high wind events become less frequent, with April seeing a monthly average wind speed of 35 mph and average winds decreasing in May to just 29 mph.  Former Observer Michael Dorfman leans into hurricane force winds in 2016 The culprit for our high winds is actually two areas of low pressure tracking through southern Canada in tandem. A warm

Life Cycle of a Cumulus Cloud/Thunderstorm 2017-04-15 08:36:18.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   With the recent spell of warm weather (the summit made it to 50 degrees Fahrenheit this past week); I have been reminded that we are well on our way out of the winter months, and moving full speed ahead towards spring and summer. While winter on the Rockpile brings its challenges: transportation, higher winds (on average), epic snow and riming events; the spring and summer months bring their own unique challenges to collecting weather data up here on the summit. One challenge in particular is a

"Will They Believe It?": The Story of Big Wind Day 2017-04-12 09:30:46.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   "Will they believe it?" – Weather Observer Sal Pagliuca Winds are at a meager 20-35 mph on Mount Washington's summit today, with gusts to perhaps 60 mph expected later this afternoon. However, 83 years ago, atop this very mountain, a storm for the ages was taking shape. An intense area of low pressure was traveling up the coast of New England, while a formidable high pressure center was building in from Canada. This is an all-too common list