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2006-03-06 09:59:25.000 – Neil Lareau,  Observer

Clouds have mostly dropped to a few hundred feet below the summit exposing a tidy undercast across two thirds of the horizon. Downwind of the mountains (South to Southeast) the cascading flow of air warms slightly as it adiabatically compresses evaporating the cloud mass that is dammed to our north. Overhead there are two layers of high lenticulars.

Yesterday was a good lesson in localized weather. Twin Mountain and a few other locations to the north picked up about a foot of snow. Areas in Crawford notch reported 18-22 inches in the past 24 hrs! In north Conway it was sunny all day with not so much as a flake. Even Pinkham notch received no snow. The summit picked up three inches.

Today will bring a return to ‘normalcy’ for the summit crew after a solid week in which there were no fewer than 16 individuals living on the summit. The group of students and researchers from the University of Bochum departed yesterday afternoon after completing a series of experiments into a wide array of topics including studies of temperature changes within the snow pack and the formation of rice ice. Shortly after their departure a cheerful group from the EMS climbing school arrived amidst full winter conditions. Many thank go to all of the week’s guests but most importantly to Steve Hill and Stan Giles for their respective work in keeping the hoards well fed. No small feat!

Neil Lareau,  Observer