Why is Sunrise So Colorful? 2017-03-05 15:00:29.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   Have you ever wondered why we see such color in the sky at sunrise or sunset? Or perhaps why we perceive the sky as blue through the majority of the day? The answers to these questions have to do with how visible light reacts in and with our atmosphere.   First, let’s take a look at visible light. What is it made of? And why is it white? Visible light, just like radio waves or microwaves, is a form of electromagnetic radiation, and electromagnetic radiation is a

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes 2017-03-01 22:01:12.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   There are several reasons I enjoy working here - the weather (obviously), the people, the views (when we have them), Marty Kitty, and so on and so forth. But what I really enjoy is seeing everything around me evolve over time. For some things, the change is quick - vistas coming and going in between passing clouds, deep piles of snow one minute being scoured off the next, or rain at the start of a shift then snow ending it a few hours later. For other things, the change takes

Snow Loss and Flooding in our Tower 2017-02-26 15:28:38.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Over the last 4 days we have seen temperatures above freezing with only a handful of hours below freezing. This has unfortunately lead to tons of snow melt up here. Much of the snow pack that we had around the summit is now gone! As someone who really likes the snow, it was terrible to see all the snow melt so quickly. One thing that always surprises me up here is how fast the snow will melt when we have one of these thaws.

Today, It Was Warm 2017-02-24 18:34:14.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   Temperatures over the last few days have been exceedingly mild for late February on Mount Washington. Although we haven't broken any daily record highs, we came within 1 degree of our record high on Wednesday (2/22), we tied our daily record high yesterday (2/23), and as I write this evening, we’re closing in on our record high for the day of 42°F (the current temperature stands at 41°F). Our solid snowpack of nearly 30 inches has dwindled to less than 15, and the well-packed

Snow, Wind, & Ice: 9 Days on the Summit of Mount Washington 2017-02-22 06:17:50.000 - Ruth Innes and Andy Keegan, Summit Volunteers   The call came on Monday, February 13th. The shift change would occur on Tuesday, February 14th due to anticipated severe weather on Wednesday. For Ruth – not too difficult (lives in Littleton, NH). For Andrew – well it is a long way from Westchester County, NY to the Auto Road in NH! We both scurried around in our respective homes and arrived for a long, adventurous ride in the Snowcat. Wind and snow prevailed on 4.5 hour

Downsloping Winds 2017-02-21 15:02:34.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   Although it is no surprise that Mount Washington routinely sees its fair share of wild weather, sometimes its prominence can translate to bizarre weather in the surrounding region too. One such event took place this past weekend, and if you were on the eastern side of the Whites Saturday evening, you may have noticed a strange, and otherwise unexplained spike in your backyard thermometer. One such official reporting station that captured this was the Eastern Slopes Regional Airport in Fryeburg, Maine. Notice the observation taken on the 18th just prior

Open House 2017-02-20 22:29:42.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist     We will be offering a FREE, family-friendly Open House at our Weather Discovery Center (WDC) this coming Thursday, February 23 from 5-7pm EST.   Guests are invited to explore the WDC exhibits, museum store, and enjoy light refreshments while having the opportunity to meet Observatory President Sharon Schilling and other Observatory staff. Guests will have the opportunity to learn more information about other upcoming Observatory events, educational outreach, research, membership, and ways to become more involved with our organization.   At 6:00pm there will be a live video

A Winter to Remember: Comparing this Season to the Winter of '68-'69 2017-02-19 13:44:21.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   This winter has certainly seen its share of snow, that’s for sure. As of this writing, the summit has seen 253.4 inches of snowfall from June 2016 to present. Our annual average (annual looking at a snow year from July to June) is 281.2 inches, meaning that we have about 30 inches of snow left in our “snowfall budget” before the winter becomes above average. Given that in March alone, our average snowfall is 45.1 inches, we will almost certainly

Summer Internships 2017-02-18 12:26:12.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Although the calendar reads February and we’ve just picked up nearly 6 feet of snow this month alone, it’s still not too early to start thinking about the summer season. I personally started here at the Observatory as a summer intern, and it was a decision that helped shape my career today. We are accepting applications through March 5th, so there’s only a few more weeks to go. The summer internship is a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the field of meteorology. Being able to not only study

Just Keep Shoveling 2017-02-16 05:19:27.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   As I walked outside my home in Berlin (NH) Monday to start digging out from the storm earlier this week, I was confronted with 20 inches of new snow. This new snowfall was on top of everything else that had fallen this season. It was a bit overwhelming at first but with any task, I kept thinking, the only way I am going to get through this is by just diving into it. So I started scooping it up one shovel amount at a time. When the snow