Summit News 2015-09-26 18:42:27.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Co-director of Summit Operations   There have been a lot of great happenings around here recently! Last night we held a special event in the Extreme Mount Washington Museum for our Science Society and President’s Club members. Director of Research Dr. Eric Kelsey and President Brian Fowler gave very informative presentations, focusing on past, present, and future research at the Observatory. We enjoyed a great evening mingling with our supporters. Thank you to all of our members! We truly couldn’t do it without you. Earlier this shift, Former Observer Bob Gerath paid us a visit. Bob worked

Winter is Coming 2015-09-24 17:12:10.000 - Michael Dorfman, Weather Observer/IT Specialist   It’s getting to that time of the year again! On the summit, it's time to start replacing the screen windows with an extra bulletproof storm window. Soon we’ll have our first glaze event, and not soon after we’ll have our first frozen precipitation! We’ve recorded snowfall every month of the year, with average of 2.2 inches of frozen precipitation recorded in September. I’m also very excited for the winds to start kicking up. Thanks to a looser temperature and pressure gradient in New England in the summertime, we

A Wonderful Volunteer Week 2015-09-16 06:20:55.000 - Laura Dorfman, Summit Volunteer   This has been an awesome week for me volunteering for the Mount Washington Observatory. This is the second time I have been up, and I still am amazed and honored to be a part of the crew. This week had quite the variety of weather. I had time to hike, which is particularly nice because I get to start from the top and loop back. I got to see an Aurora, which is something I was very excited to see, although I was warned to be underwhelmed. We

#MWOMetMonday Round Two 2015-09-14 18:24:15.000 - Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist   Welcome back to our weekly #MWOMetMonday. Our first question is a common one this time of year. We typically see several Facebook posts, Tweets, and emails asking the following: Over our 82+ year record, we have seen an at least one inch of snow for every month of the year. So, it is possible and not uncommon for the summit to see some amount of snow. That is one reason why it is important for hikers to check the forecast for snow and/or cold even during the summer

Above the Clouds 2015-09-13 15:55:14.000 - Andrew Henry, Summit Intern   While on the summits of taller mountains one can find themselves above the clouds. This was the case on Friday at Mount Washington Observatory.       When one finds themselves above the clouds, what they are seeing is referred to as undercast rather than overcast because the clouds are under or below them instead of over or above. It is possible to have both overcast and undercast conditions occurring simultaneously.      A lot of people have never seen undercast before and for good reason: there has to be

Change is in the Air 2015-09-11 17:38:44.000 - Kaitlyn O'Brien, Co-director of Summit Operations   After a busy Labor Day weekend on the summit, it’s become subtly clear that the busy summer season is slowly winding down. Soon, the leaves will start changing and the temperatures will begin to drop rapidly, reminding us that winter is around the corner. Over the next couple of shifts, we’ll start prepping and winterizing instrumentation, putting in the storm windows, breaking in our new Eastern Mountain Sports gear, and swapping out our summer boots for winter ones, thanks to Vasque.   It’s hard to

A Great Week on the Summit! 2015-09-09 17:39:44.000 - Adam Gill, Summit Intern   This week was a quiet week weather wise; we had a strong ridge of high pressure over New England that kept the temperatures well above average. Descending air underneath high pressure allowed for the summit to be out of the clouds for much of my time this shift. Thursday and Friday had less humidity so there was not too much haze on the horizon which allowed for great visibility. In fact, on Friday morning the Atlantic Ocean was visible for a short time in the morning

#MWOMetMonday 2015-09-07 15:03:31.000 - Mike Carmon, Co-Director of Summit Operations   Happy Labor Day to all!It's also our first weekly #MWOMetMonday! Here's our first question, courtesy of Jackie Keating, who posted the following on the Mount Washington Observatory's Facebook page:   Pictured here is an anvil-shaped top of a passing thunderstorm. It's clearly evident from this image that the location at which the picture was taken was not experiencing stormy conditions (like she mentions in the post, it's a "clear sunny day"). However, intense thunderstorms can grow very large in size and vertical height, allowing their tops to be seen

#MWOMetMonday 2015-09-05 15:24:02.000 - Mike Carmon, Co-Director of Summit Operations   Do you have a burning weather question you've always wanted answered?  Maybe you're on vacation and you witness an interesting weather phenomenon you can't quite explain?   Does that cloud look peculiar to you, and you want to know more about the atmospheric conditions that led to its formation?   Let the summit meteorologists at the Observatory help you out! Introducing: #MWOMetMonday If you find yourself in a situation similar to the ones above, and there's no meteorologists around, ask your meteorology-related question at any time throughout the week

Tata For Now! (TTFN) 2015-09-01 21:18:46.000 - Elena Weinberg, Summit Intern   Well, here we are at the end of another summer that went by way too quickly. As brief as it has ultimately felt, this summer has been one of incredible learning and growth for me. None of my comments this summer have talked very much about my journey as a person up here, so I would like to take my final blog to give you a larger window into my experience this summer. This comment is not my typical “picture book” post, but I have taken some amazing