Hectic Week on the Summit! 2016-12-20 13:20:15.000 - Ben Brownell, Summit Intern     Ben Brownell, Summit Intern

Astronomical Winter vs Meteorological Winter 2016-12-17 15:56:13.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   Meteorological winter begins on December 1st while the astronomical winter does not begin until the 21st. There are a few reasons as to why meteorologist uses different dates for the beginning and ending of seasons as compared to the calendar. The main reason we have seasons start almost a month before astronomical seasons is because of temperature. Average temperatures are colder in December, January, and February rather than January, February, and March. Up on the summit, the average temperature in December is 10.1°F where in March

It's Cold, and That's All We're Talking About! 2016-12-15 13:20:54.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   The coldest air mass of the young (meteorological) winter season is currently pouring into New England, and will continue to do so today through tonight. We're expecting temperatures bottoming out around 30-35 below zero F during the wee hours of Friday morning. We're not strangers to these sorts of bitter temperatures on Mount Washington's summit. However, over the last few winters, it's generally late January or February before we experience this sort of polar air outbreak. In December of 1998,

Baby, It's (Going To Be) Cold Outside 2016-12-13 22:10:28.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   A broad upper level low centered near the Hudson Bay will slowly be creeping east over the coming days swinging a trough deep across the eastern half of the US. This will result in cold air from the arctic pouring down over the lower 48 plunging the mercury in the coming days.There are several other factors involved but this isn’t a forecast discussion and this comment is to address two questions - one we are already getting and one that is sure to come

Climate Comparisons 2016-12-11 10:29:54.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   While doing a bit of research for an upcoming education program I decided to do some comparisons with Mount Washington’s climate to our neighboring valleys. I wondered just how different our climate is from the surrounding terrain, and if I could find a populated area with a similar climate. After graphing the average annual temperature for Mount Washington compared to Berlin (roughly 15 miles to our north) and North Conway (15 miles south) it’s pretty noticeable that the summit runs about 15-20°F colder than both locations through the year. Since

TechWomen TechGirls Event 2016-12-09 16:59:42.000 - Taylor Regan, Observer   A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak at a TechWomen Ambassadors Week event held at the White Mountain Community College campus in Berlin, NH. The event, titled “STEMspiration – inspiring girls to explore STEM careers” targeted 9th grade girls in the region, and hosted a variety of speakers to share their career experiences and show a variety of possible paths available in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics based fields (STEM). This is the second year the Observatory was asked to present, and it was a great experience! After

An Exceptionally Snowy Start to December 2016-12-05 08:57:02.000 - Mike Carmon, Senior Weather Observer & Education Specialist   December 1st is the first official day of meteorological winter. Generally speaking, winter on Mount Washington is considered to begin much earlier than this—back in October. Although we had seen a few minor snow events throughout the months of October and November, a switch seems to have flipped once the calendar turned the page to the month of December 2016. Since Thursday, December 1st, we’ve received a total of 21.3" of snowfall…and counting, as another round of snowfall has just commenced as

Wrapping Up November 2016-12-03 14:14:02.000 - Caleb Meute, Weather Observer & Staff Meteorologist   So far, for the month of December, the summit of Mount Washington has not received a single ray of sunshine. While this is shocking considering we are already two full days into the month, the trend even continues back into November. November 30th saw a substantial 21 out of the possible 561 sunshine minutes, and another disappointing sunshine minute performance was experienced on the 29th with a goose egg of zero minutes observed. Yeah, understandably on the 28th, 88% of sunshine minutes were observed, but I

Dear Santa... 2016-12-01 07:22:04.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Dear Santa-   Another year already, where does the time go!? Hope all is well at the North Pole and the elves are putting the final touches on your “Nice List.” I hope we land on your “Nice” list once again this year…   I like to think that we acted kindly and respectfully to all our interns, guests, friends, families and pet (Marty Kitty). By the way, Marty sends his regards – he’s looking forward to the special treats, litter and food you traditionally bring him. We are

80 Years of Climatology at the Top of New England 2016-11-29 13:36:27.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   With over 80 years of history in weather observation at the summit, the Mount Washington Observatory has not only provided valuable real-time data for weather prediction and forecasting, but also provides an important record of the longer term climate of this very unique place. I’m happy to announce our 80 year annual temperature record, from 1935-2015, is now available for public view here on our website! Our main goals with making this information public is to hopefully get people more engaged with our