Sunset Soiree!

2009-09-12 14:26:03.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

Morning breaks in the fog, providing hope

This evening is going to be a busy one for the summit crew, and even more so for some of our valley staff as we host a special fall event, the Sunset Soriee. The part of this event that we will be involved in comes early this evening when the 150 guests come to the summit to partake in some dessert and a champagne toast at sunset. Of course, the best case scenario involves a sunset that our guests will actually be able to see. Keep in mind that the summit spends roughly 60% of the year in the fog, which means more often than not, the sunset (or sunrise for that matter) is not visible.

Hopes were high several days ago as forecasting models indicated that the dry and fog free trend of the past week or so would continue today. However, as is sometimes the case, the models changed their mind. What is left of a strong unnamed coastal storm that battered the Mid-Atlantic over the last couple days made it’s way further north and closer to the mountain than was anticipated. This has caused plenty of moisture to be fed into the region in the low levels, translating to periods of fog and a couple rain showers today.

Despite this, there is hope for a visible sunset this evening. All morning we would see breaks in the fog (see the picture attached to this comment) that revealed some rather striking cloud features around and below the summit. All we can do at this point is keep a positive outlook and hope that the mountain provides our guests with a break in the clouds in a timely manner. Regardless, I have no doubt that this evening’s sold out Sunset Soiree is going to be a wonderful event!

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist