Summit Yoga 2016-06-02 15:01:45.000 - Emily Schuitema, Summit Intern   On my first morning back on the summit for the week, Ruth, one of our volunteers for the week, came upstairs and invited us to join her outside for some early morning yoga. I’m usually not a huge fan of yoga – I have a really hard time making my mind slow down and relax, and I seem to fall over a lot whenever I try any pose that requires balancing. However, the idea of standing on top of an empty, peaceful mountain in the early morning hours and just

A Lifetime Opportunity Atop the Rockpile 2016-06-01 07:40:15.000 - Maston Gray, Summit Volunteer   As a first time MWOBS Volunteer, I was impressed by the dedicated staff and interns on the shift, always willing to help a volunteer and a wealth of knowledge about all things weather, especially the arctic island of Mt Washington that rises in a local temperate weather zone. The entire team loves nature and weather phenomena, and can converse on any aspect. The interns are impressive also for their meteorological background and expertise. What I learned from volunteering is the Team's passion for weather, causes and

Volunteering on the Summit 2016-05-31 16:57:10.000 - Jill Reynolds, Summit Volunteer   Hello! My name is Jill Reynolds and I am here to tell you about my time volunteering on the summit of Mt. Washington for a week.   I am from a small town called East Aurora, which is located a little south of Buffalo, NY. My family and I have visited the summit every summer since I was little. Our visits would only last between two and three hours, so it was different than actually sleeping over. Saying I was nervous to spend the night here would be

Acclimating 2016-05-30 18:25:24.000 - Meredith Campbell, Summit Intern   My house in southern New Hampshire is 312’ above sea level. At 6,288’ the peak of Mount Washington is 5,976’ above my house. That kind of altitude change definitely takes some getting used to. Acclimating is the act of adapting to a new climate, place, or situation, and being an intern at the MWO has definitely required some acclimating. There is roughly 20% less Oxygen at this altitude, and while illnesses such as acute mountain sickness typically don’t occur below 8,000’, you can still feel the physical effects of the elevation.

Never Out of the Woods 2016-05-29 16:37:45.000 - Tim Greene, Summit Intern               Despite Tropical Storm Bonnie being the hot-button topic of most New England meteorologists' concern this weekend, it can be said with fairly high confidence that the brunt of the storm will pass well south of us here in the White Mountains.  Even the northernmost tracks forecast by the EPS and GEFS (ensemble models that run dozens of slight perturbations on the one initialized model, creating a series of outputs covering the whole spectrum of what could happen) keep the system roughly 100 miles offshore.  In fact,

A Great Start to the Summer 2016-05-28 17:21:07.000 - Chris Hohman, Summit Intern   Hello everyone, my name is Christopher Hohman and this has been my first week on top of the windy summit. I’m going into my sophomore year at Plymouth State University and, I am currently working on my B.S. in Atmospheric Science. I heard about the Mt Washington internship through my professor Dr. Eric Kelsey and immediately applied. As a kid I’ve always been fascinated by not only the effects mountains have on weather, but specifically Mt Washington's. I toured the facility with my Boy Scout troop

Summer Skies 2016-05-27 17:11:17.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Over the past few days we’ve seen a much more summer like pattern across New England, with warm and muggy conditions. This has unfortunately led to poor visibility and air quality across the White Mountains. Today this was especially the case, where visibility hovered between 20 and 30 miles for much of the day on the summit, and ozone levels rose to unhealthy levels for sensitive groups. So what’s causing the hazy and smoggy conditions? The weather is certainly playing a part, with high pressure off the Southeast coast pulling

My First Week on the Summit 2016-05-25 09:32:31.000 - Emily Schuitema, Summit Intern   Hi, everyone! My name is Emily, and this was my first week working as an intern at Mount Washington Observatory. I left West Michigan over a week ago and drove to New Hampshire to start my internship. It was my first time in New Hampshire, and consequently my first time seeing Mount Washington. As I drove into the White Mountain National Forest and caught my first view of the snowy and intimidating mountain looming up in front of me, my palms got very sweaty and I

A Familiar Place, A New Home 2016-05-24 12:31:23.000 - Andrea LaRocca, Summit Intern   As I look out the window, it appears I’m not in Florida anymore. The thrill of living on top of a mountain has always been something I’ve dreamed of. Since I last stepped foot on Mount Washington, two years ago as a summit volunteer, I knew that I needed to come back. This time however, I’m fortunate enough to be in the thick of it, as a summit intern, learning the ins and outs of this spectacular place.   It has been 7 long, but short

Our Turn at High Winds 2016-05-22 15:33:38.000 - Mike Carmon, Weather Observer & Education Specialist   With the immense popularity of last week’s video of summit observers enduring high winds on the observation deck, our shift (who was off at the time) got a little jealous of all the fun they had. We had to wait a little while for the right weather conditions. But sure enough, our patience was rewarded. Once that happened, we set out to make our own video of extreme conditions during our shift week. Check out the video on our facebook page here. Don’t worry