Ravens: Playful Tricksters of the Sky 2017-02-06 13:34:26.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   Few creatures make their permanent home upon the summit of Mount Washington. Even we observers only pull (roughly) one week stints up here, before heading down the rambling mountain road to our “week off” homes. We often say that Marty the cat rules the summit, being the only full-time resident of the Observatory, but in reality, had he no warm shelter, brimming with treats and near-continual head scratches, Marty would not reside up here either. The summit is remote and mysterious, shrouded by clouds nearly 70%

Mother Nature Rules the Rockpile 2017-02-05 11:35:26.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   Wednesday morning my shift met at the base of the Auto Road just like any other typical shift change morning. A weak system was departing New Hampshire at the time and had left a few inches of additional snow in the valleys and notches surrounding the summit. With the potential of some upslope snow showers continuing through the day in the Whites, it was pretty clear that the snowcat trip would be a slow and cautious climb. We ended up making pretty good time to near treeline

A Volunteer Week 2017-02-01 06:23:56.000 - Jeff Swanson, Summit Volunteer   I have returned to the summit for my fourth trip as a volunteer with the Mount Washington Observatory. As usual, this place is never twice the same when drawing comparisons between each of my trips. I have experienced the month of July with sunny days, and opportunities to see many travelers on the summit and the Observatory. January (3 times) with its snow, ice formations, cold temperatures, and of course the extreme winds, which is my favorite season. This's week started with a Snowcat ride Wednesday that was fortunate

Something is up With the Number 127… 2017-01-30 06:01:15.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   Prior to the past few days, the peak wind gust I experienced atop the Rockpile was 120 mph. Two nights ago in the hours leading up to midnight, the winds were strong, but they really failed to compare to the previous night when we hit 127 mph. Several guests and volunteers were sitting around the weather room well into the night waiting to see how high the winds would get, although we were not anticipating anything in comparison to the 127 mph gust

My First Few Days 2017-01-27 11:10:51.000 - Aryeh Cooperman, Summit Intern   I began my journey to Mount Washington Observatory on Wednesday morning. I had no idea the type of conditions I would experience at the summit. I arrived at the base where I was introduced to members of the summit team, as well as the transportation team. The snow cat ride took just under 4 hours to make it to the summit. The ride was fairly enjoyable with fun conversation and frequent stops to enjoy the scenery. When we arrived at the summit, I was in shock as to

My Week Among the Clouds 2017-01-25 10:24:39.000 - Evelyn Compton Padham, Summit Volunteer   I began my Mt Washington summit adventure last Tuesday before dawn in northwest NJ.   Traveling with my winter gear, my staple of fresh herbs for cooking and a few of my favorite comfort food recipes; I pondered what lay ahead during my 6.5 hour drive.   I imagined it would be a combination of an educational trip and an episode of Food Networks’ “Chopped”.   “Feed 17 for dinner with 1 freezer item, and 3 items from the pantry, you have 60 minutes and you

January Thaw: Statistical Event or Folklore? 2017-01-23 16:13:25.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   A few short days ago, the summit of Mount Washington popped above the freezing mark for two straight days. January 20th, the first of these two, was a day in which sunshine soaked the Presidential Range and the highest wind gust for the day reached an extremely modest 37 mph. The observers compared it to a typical mid-May afternoon. While I was outside in the mild conditions, I couldn’t help but think about the so-called “January thaw,” a heavily used term to describe a brief period

January: A Month of Extremes 2017-01-21 09:58:31.000 - Taylor Regan, Weather Observer   Yesterday, the summit saw a high of 35 degrees. The sky above was bright blue and nearly cloudless, with a blanket of undercast surrounding the mountain in every direction, and only the tallest of surrounding peaks poking through. Winds were in the 10-25 mph range with a peak gust in the early morning of 37 mph. All in all it was a great day. Did we break any records? No, but it was definitely above average. What are some things that make January a unique month up

Thrilled to be Back! 2017-01-18 11:04:28.000 - Nathan Flinchbaugh, Summit Intern   Hello from Mount Washington! My name is Nathan Flinchbaugh, and I am thrilled to have the chance to experience winter on the Rockpile in the form of a summit intern. If my name for some reason sounds at all familiar, I was also here as an intern in the Summer 2015 season, making this my second stint with the Observatory. My interest in Mount Washington began towards the end of high school, when I was beginning to discover that Meteorology was what I wanted to study post-graduation. I’d

Trip Season! 2017-01-16 22:07:51.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist   Well it has been a while since I have been on shift during trip season and I can honestly say that I am pumped for it to have started back up! This past shift we had two climbing trips hike up to the summit and stay overnight with us. These trips are awesome for anyone interested in learning how to hike in these extreme conditions in a safe manner. I personally do not have experience with this type of winter hiking, so I think it is something that