I’m Back and Turning Nocturnal 2016-04-21 20:23:08.000 - Caleb Meute, Staff Meteorologist   It was a down going shift change a little over a year ago when I was loading a box of anemometers onto our snowcat and I felt my ACL pop in my right knee. I wish I had a cooler story as to how it happened like, we were experiencing 200 mph sustained winds and I was outside deicing when a 254 mph gust hit just my right knee and snapped my ACL, but unfortunately that’s not a reality. That day, I somberly went down to the

Soaking in the Sun 2016-04-17 17:43:40.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   The last few days have been wonderful! An Omega Blocking Pattern has set up for the last few days, giving us ample sunshine and not-so-frigid temperatures. It’s incredible how a 20 degree, sunny day in mid-April feels so much warmer than a 20 degree, sunny day in mid-January. Even though the temperatures are identical, the sun is at a much higher angle in the sky. This allows us to see much more solar gain from the sun this time of the year, and that can make the sun

Experiencing High Winds 2016-04-12 21:09:48.000 - Adam Gill, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   Being outside during high wind events is definitely a surreal experience. I started working here at the Mount Washington Observatory back in August of last year as an intern. During the summer and early fall, the winds up here are relatively weak compared to what we experience in the winter: 50 mph winds on a summer day is windy while in the winter, that is just a breeze. With that said, the first time I was able to experience a hurricane force wind was not until late September. Standing

The Art of the Game 2016-04-09 11:26:55.000 - Michael Wessler, Summit Intern   While this post is in no means an exhaustive expose on weather forecasting, I hope it will provide some insight into where your forecasts are coming from, and provoke some thought as to where you get your weather. With the advance of technology, and most notably the prominence of the smartphone and an endless library of weather apps, how we get our weather has changed drastically. No longer do we find ourselves huddled around the radio waiting for our region's forecast to cycle through on the weather

The Devil's in the Details 2016-04-07 09:28:46.000 - Mike Carmon, Weather Observer/Education Specialist   One of the tasks that weather observers must tackle on a daily basis is checking of the various forms that we utilize to perform and submit hourly weather observations, as well as collect continuous daily weather data. The first step of this process is to check each individual form on its own; we must ensure that all values observed on each of these individual forms are accurate and deemed reasonable by trained weather observers. Errors will inevitably be made, and the objective of daily check is

Another Wonderful Week On The Summit! 2016-04-05 21:42:38.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   It’s been another exciting week on the Rockpile! Upon arrival last Wednesday, the entire crew was waiting in anticipation for what looked to be very impressive wind speeds over the weekend. If the Model Output Statistics (MOS) numbers had held true, we could have seen gusts well over 100, possibly even rivaling the 133 mph gust the opposite shift saw the week prior! As is often the case we were “disappointed” as the models showed the pressure gradient slackening as the weekend got closer and

Wishcasting 2016-04-02 17:36:18.000 - Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Meteorologist   As a scientist and overall weather enthusiast, I often find that I have conflicting interests when it comes to forecasting. The scientist in me says that given a set of weather parameters, a logical and rational solution arises for what the weather will do in a given time frame. Take our Model Output Statistics (MOS) for the summit station for example. Given the incoming starting (or initialization data) to the weather model (GFS in this example) and the numerous weather equations built into the model it's able to provide concrete numbers

Cricket Thermometers 2016-04-01 17:36:09.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Last year, the AFC decided that starting 1 April 2016, the official temperature on the summit of Mount Washington would be done with Dolbear's Law. At first this new procedure sounded absurd and we very skeptical. However, after reading Amos Dolbear's 1897 article in "The American Naturalist" and reviewing the new procedure over the past few months, we are confident in the results and are implementing the new procedure starting today.   Once an hour, two field crickets will accompany the weather Observer outside. One cricket will remain dry

All the Ingredients to a Great Week! 2016-03-31 09:24:49.000 - Bill Ofsiany, Summit Volunteer       It takes a lot of ingredients to make a quality mountain experience.  Take three, 130 mile visibility sunrises.  Make two of them with undercast, drowning out the lowlands. Throw in two spectacular sunsets that had the sun sinking behind Mt. Mansfield.  Include a hike over to Mt. Clay with the headwall of the Great Gulf stark against a clear blue sky.   Include a day with temperatures above freezing and the wind zero to two and gusting.  Add a good amount of freezing rain, then

A Dream Fulfilled 2016-03-24 17:41:00.000 - Andrew Henry, Summit Intern   My passion for weather, particularly winter weather, was sparked at age ten by a powerful Nor’easter that dumped close to two feet of snow and sleet in the Philadelphia area on President’s Day weekend 2003. From that day forward I knew that I wanted to be a meteorologist when I grew up. As a child and even through my high school years whenever there was a chance of interesting weather, whether it snow, thunderstorms or hurricanes I would be glued to the television waiting for the weather report to