So. Much. Weather.
2017-04-10 07:25:35.000 – Caleb Meute, Weather Observer & Meteorologist
Well this has sure been a spring-like week here on the Rockpile with plenty of different conditions featured. On our trip up last Wednesday, the Snowcat encountered some massive snowdrifts which resulted from nearly a foot of snow that fell on Tuesday. As the day progressed on Wednesday, temperatures climbed above freezing, reaching a high of 36 degrees Fahrenheit. These above-seasonable temperatures remained intact through Wednesday night prior to dropping just below the freezing mark on Thursday.
If you remember my comment from the last shift, I talked about glaze ice and how Adam and Mike had to deal with significant glaze ice accrual during the day which I luckily missed out on. I then mentioned that I hoped to not jinx myself into having to deal with much glaze this week. Turns out, I in fact did jinx things. On Thursday night, Mother Nature comically threw a whole lot of glaze my way. Freezing rain combined with freezing fog and thick glaze coated the summit, several inches thick. Typically, during the transitional months, storms progressing through New England will lead to a mixture of precipitation with freezing rain and glaze ice a common occurrence.
Sun poking through the clouds and thick glaze and rime ice encasing the A-Frame.
Now conditions atop the Rockpile are looking to make another significant turn with a major warm-up expected today and tomorrow. High temperatures will soar through the 40s, possibly reaching 50 degrees. The record high temperature for April 10th is 52°F which was set in 1945 and the record high for April 11th is 54° which was also set in 1945. As I am looking at the daily record highs for April, it looks like in 1945 there were 5 days straight (9th – 13th) with daily record highs set! I wonder what the snowpack was like on the summit April 14th, 1945…
This week has sure been interesting! We have had beautiful sunrises and sunsets, prolonged periods of freezing rain, rain and 30 consecutive hours of upslope snow showers while winds gusted over 100 mph. Now to conclude our shift, we are anticipating this major warmup with rain showers and the possibility of thunderstorms. Spring truly ushers in a very wide range of weather conditions here atop the Rockpile!
Caleb Meute, Weather Observer & Meteorologist
Adjusting to Life on the Summit
Adjusting to Life on the Summit By Charlie Peachey Working on the summit of Mount Washington is not your average job. There aren't too many other places where the employees work and live together for
A Surprise Aurora
A Surprise Aurora By Francis Tarasiewicz After 17 months of working at New England’s highest peak, it finally happened. On the night of November 12th, 2023, I was lucky enough to view the famous and
A Glimpse at METAR Reports
A Glimpse at METAR Reports By Alexis George, Weather Observer & Meteorologist METAR observations are submitted every hour of every day at Mount Washington Observatory. METAR is a format for reporting weather information that gets