Rapid changes in the weather

2006-11-11 08:01:50.000 – Jim Salge,  Observer

Waves off Lafayette

Changes in the weather occurred rapidly overnight, seemingly mirroring the indecisive nature of the weather for this shift thus far. When I went turned in last night, temperatures were in the mid 20s, but I found myself far over bundled this morning for my first ob, when temperatures had risen to nearly 40 degrees in just a few hours under cover of darkness. All while the valleys are now in the 20s.

Skies were also clear for my first observation right at sunrise, however in this ever changing pattern, lenticular clouds quickly capped the peak, leading to the scene at right. Unfortunately the window to view this skyscape was just as short lived as we have now gone back into a layer of clouds. And I think we’ll stay there for the rest of the shift. Goodbye view!

Thus far this year, the autumn weather has given me a pretty bad case of deja vu, as it has followed a similar path to last year. A warm early October was followed by heavy October snows, which infact moved into second place for snowiest Octobers. Unfortunately both of the last two years have featured November thaws that have stripped the peak of all but the largest snowfields. For an investigation of the past two years of Mount Washington Observatory weather, feel free to check out our station data here!

My only hope is that these two years begin to look dissimilar soon!

Jim Salge,  Observer