The snowlight

2006-06-13 08:13:09.000 – Jim Salge,  Observer

Time to be replaced…

Work on top of Mount Washington of course continued through this miserable stretch of weather that we’ve been dealing with for the past month and a half, but some projects have been waiting for a nice day. And finally, yesterday, we got one. By mid morning, clouds had dropped below the summit, and the sun shone brightly above the undercast to the north.

The project of the day was to replace the ‘snow light’ which, though simple, is one of the most instrumental observation device that we have on the peak. Simply, it’s a light on a post a little bit away from the building that allows the night observer to observe fog, snow, and most importantly the difference between ‘blowing’ and ‘drifting’ snow. After years of exposure to the elements on Mount Washington, it had weathered and rotted, to the point that when Dan pushed on it to take it down yesterday, it cracked in half. I wonder how many more windstorms it would have taken.

Nothing comes easy up here though, and shortly after we started the fog rolled back in for the duration of the project, and not a minute longer. I was beginning to take this weather personally, but the clearing did allow a great sunset view. And we weren’t alone in enjoying it! For an explanation of that, see the photojournal.…

Jim Salge,  Observer