Historical Posts Archives - Page 13 of 378 - Mount Washington Observatory

February 2020

Our Shift Is Whole Again!

2020-02-29 19:04:06.000 – Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

It has been another week of crazy winter weather here on the summit! High winds, lots of snow, low visibility; the typical Mount Washington Winter Experience. But outside the weather, it has been a very pleasant and exciting week as well! For the first time since the beginning of January, we have a full crew!

I’ll let him speak for himself when he posts later this week, but it has been such a pleasure meeting and working with David! He came in to the Obs from Antarctica, and has been taking to the work up here like a fish to water. He’s been training with us this week to get an idea what the day shift is like, and learning many of the tasks we are responsible for each day during the shift. Next week and going forward, he’ll be training with Jay to learn all of the night responsibilities, to inevitably take over as our Night Observer in a couple of months! It’s very exciting, and I am super glad he has joined our crew.

Just like with Caleb, he’s had some pretty exciting weather to deal with! We had a maximum 132 mph gust on Thursday, over a foot of snow accumulation so far, and more frigid temperatures below 0. It’s safe to say that things are much different than they were last year! We’ve even had some firsts for me as well! Friday morning, when we went to retrieve the precipitation can for the synoptic, we were greeted at the door by a chin-high snow drift! Check out this monster:

Snow drift just to the left outside the door. Yellow post is about 2 feet tall.

Patrick and Caleb next to the drift for scale ;)

David and I shoveled out a small path to climb over just so we could get the can for the Ob. But Patrick from State Park came over later in the day, and myself, David and Caleb went with him to check out the dig-out progress he had made. The pictures ensued, and it was just impressive how compact the drift was! Both David and I could stand on top without sinking in, and it was almost as if Patrick was tunneling us out of the Sherman Adams Building. If the drifts are this high over here, I can only image what they are like over at Yankee Building…

The rest of the week looks interesting for us. On the social side, we do have 1 Day Trip coming on Monday. And while they should be able to visit without issue, Monday night we have another big low pressure coming in. It looks like an occluding Hudson Bay Low at the time of this writing, which will bring a few more inches of snow and some more hurricane force winds for sure. We’re also watching another low pressure headed our way for shift change day. Moderate precip and high winds never make things easy. So for certain we’ll keep our eyes on the skies, and we’ll see what the rest of this shift has in store for us!

Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

It’s Cold!

2020-02-14 14:53:31.000 – Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

We experienced a small snow event Wednesday night into Thursday this week where we saw only 2 to 3 inches on the summit. Some models were predicting a much heavier event but with a strong upper-level jet streak hanging out over New England, the system passed through very quickly. By mid-morning Thursday, the low pressure system had already moved Northeast over Nova Scotia. Lingering up-slope snow showers continued on the backside of the storm throughout the day with the heaviest portion of the storm being short-lived. I am still waiting for that major Nor’easter snow event to occur during my shift!

I am also quickly beginning to realize that predicting snow accumulation on a summit with some of the highest winds on earth is quite a challenge. The models will often predict totals higher than what actually occurs because the snow is blown right off the summit before it can even stick! I often like to be cautious with my predictions as I have seen storms scour more snow they actually accumulate on the summit. I hope to improve my snowfall forecasts with my new project measuring snow pack. This way, I can compare the projected additional snowfall with the actual snowfall after a storm. Bring on the snow!

An Arctic cold front followed by strong Northwest winds on Friday morning.

Some undercast from this morning at sunrise.

While this Friday into the weekend will be quiet in terms of clouds and precipitation, it is looking to be possibly the coldest conditions since I have been up here. Wind chills today have hovered around 50 degrees below with temperatures in the mid-teens below! A strong high pressure moving east is drawing arctic air down from Canada causing temperatures to plummet today. Radiational cooling for everyone in the valley tonight could cause temperatures to drop to as low as 20 degrees below! Luckily, the rest of your weekend outlook is looking very mild in comparison to today into tonight.

Day Trip visitor fighting powerful winds with wind chills at 50 degrees below zero.

This weekend we expect two Day Trips along with an overnight EduTrip. Today’s Day Trip successfully took on 60 mph winds with some gusts over hurricane force and wind chills at 50 below! I snapped one photo from my phone on the parapet of one of our visitors fighting the winds and my exposed hand was numb after 30 seconds. We should continue to see plenty of clear skies for some great views along with some strong winds providing the ideal experience for visitors this weekend. Check out our trip availability to get an opportunity for the full summit and observatory experience!

Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

Comparing Winter 2019 and 2020 to Date on Mt Washington

2020-02-06 13:30:40.000 – Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

With half of our 2019-2020 winter season now behind us I thought I’d take a look at how Mount Washington’s data compares to our climate normals and put this season so far into a historical perspective. The winter across much of New Hampshire has felt like a pretty mild one, especially with last year’s impressive snow season fresh in our memories. There’s several ways to look at what constitutes a “successful”, or snowy winter season; with snowfall, snow depth, and temperature being the variables I’ve chosen to focus on.

2019 (top) vs. 2020 (bottom) snow depth across the continental U.S in early February showing significantly more snow in place across portions of the central and eastern U.S last year.

Surprisingly, for the snow season to date this winter Mount Washington is actually a little bit above average in terms of total snowfall. The summit has recorded 164” of snow, or 16” above normal to date since our new snow season started July 1^st. Mount Washington uses a July-June year for our snowfall records so that each winter season is centered. Last year had still seen substantially more snow by this same point in the season, with 202” total, or 4.5 feet above normal.

From the perspective of temperature, the summit has also been more mild this winter than the previous. The winter of 2018-2019 was overall slightly colder than our 30-year climate average, while this fall-winter season has been overall warmer. January 2020 was an especially mild month for the middle of winter, with an average temperature nearly 8 degrees above average and also the 8^th warmest January on the summit since 1932. In conjunction with this, the summit had a huge melt out with record warmth, putting a damper on what had already been a below average snowpack.

The view out of our office windows during a large melt out and rain event on January 12th, 2020.

Looking at the entire winter season snow depth there’s a really stark contrast between the past two years. The winter of 2018-2019 started off with a bang and rarely let up in terms of having deep snow on the ground, with one huge melt out in late December but otherwise the season had consistently almost double the amount of snow on the ground. This winter our snow has had a much harder time lingering on the ground; due to a combination of more mild temperatures along with an increase in mixed precipitation and even rain events at 6,000 ft. The wind is also a near constant detriment to keeping snow on the summit, and it’s the main reason why Mount Washington averages 300 inches of snow a year but rarely sees more than two feet of snow on the ground.

There’s still a whole second half of the season to go as illustrated by the remainder of the graph from the winter of 2018-2019, and the summit could certainly turn things around to have a much more wintry late winter and spring. As of this writing in fact we’re seeing snow flying on the mountain with roughly a foot of new snow expected. Having spent 7 winters on the mountain, it’s impressive how different each season can be from year to year.

Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

A Quiet and Beautiful Week Two

2020-02-05 08:00:31.000 – Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

My second week is finishing up and it was a much different (but still awesome) experience from my first week! In my first week, I was thrown into the lion’s den experiencing winds nearly at 120 mph on my third day here! This week, however, conditions were extremely “calm” by Mount Washington’s standards. We barely saw any gusts over any gusts over 50 mph all week until Monday afternoon! We had a weak high pressure ridge hanging out over New England for the first half of the shift keeping winds very mild. That is very uncommon during the winter months considering we average gusts over 100 mph once every four days this time of year on the summit. I was reminded of the power of this mountain very quickly that afternoon as I was struggling to hold my position while de-icing the instrument ring on the tower. Winds were sustained around 85 mph with a few gusts breaking the century mark Monday night!

The “Home of the Worst Weather on Earth” sure was not living up to its reputation for a good portion of this shift. Even so, that was no problem because the calm and clear conditions allowed me to enjoy the other spectacular aspect of the mountain; the geography! Thursday afternoon, I was able to explore some of the mountain for the first time with winds below 15 mph and sunny skies that afternoon. I hiked down to Lake of the Clouds and was mesmerized by the views along the way. I really felt like I was able to start getting a feel for where landmarks were located which gave me a much better understanding of the mountain! It is very easy to get caught up with only focusing on happenings at the summit so this short hike was very beneficial for the new guy here. Being from one of the flattest states in Delaware, I have had very little hiking experience in the mountains. That walk back up to the summit was a very humbling experience to say the least. I think my legs are still feeling it! I am looking forward to the next hike.

“Lake of the Clouds”

We had two hiking trips that climbed the summit on Friday and Saturday in beautiful weather. We met some awesome people from the Eastern Mountain Sports and Synnott Mountain Guides groups. Both groups were fortunate to climb in unseasonably calm conditions making both trips a huge success! My favorite part of the week came on Sunday morning when the Synnott group was set to leave and we had a beautiful undercast. An undercast is when the peak is in the clear while clouds blanket the sky below. I had only ever seen an undercast from aircraft, so getting to see the clouds sitting below while standing on a mountain was a first for me. It was fascinating to watch the clouds interact with the mountains around us from above and study how they moved around or over them. It gave me a literal new perspective on cloud formation and movement! In my second week, I was able to see another one of the amazing phenomena that this mountain has to offer. Check the Facebook to see a time-lapse of it taken by observer Ian Bailey!

“Undercast rolling into the Great Gulf and over The Crag”

The next thing I am waiting on is for my shift to experience a major snow event while on the mountain. After a quiet January for major snow makers, I am keeping fingers crossed for February to change that. It looks like this low pressure coming Thursday after shift change might do the trick so keep an eye on our forecasts! This brings me to my research project that will involve taking snow depth measurements on the summit. We have found that trying to determine snow depth on the summit is very difficult especially from the high winds constantly blow snow off or into drifts. I will be collecting data daily at specific points on the summit for the next few shifts. The goal is to determine where is the best location to measure depth so that we can give the most accurate information to the public and NWS. After analyzing the data, we can look into other research relating to the snow depth on the summit.

I would also like to give a shout out to our volunteers, Pat and Steve, for making my second week awesome once again! Pat is always good for a midday visit to the Weather Room where he will have us laughing the whole time. Steve is making the best desserts which I am finding very hard to refrain from eating every time I pass through the Observer Lounge. They have been doing this together for years and I have even learned little things about the observatory from them! They are quite the duo and I highly recommend booking a trip the first week of February during their shift next year.

I also forgot to give a shout out on here to the volunteers of my first shift; Bruce and Andrea, for making my first week run so smoothly. Thank you for making this feel like home, Bruce and Andrea!

The second week, while different in terms of weather, was another success for me. I was able to explore the mountain, witness a spectacular undercast, and am getting more confident taking on the challenge of forecasting for the mountain. I am also excited to get my research project underway my next shift!

Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

From Crazy to Calm!

2020-02-03 14:34:14.000 – Ian Bailey, Meteorologist/Education Specialist

We’re coming up on the end of another shift here on the summit of Mount Washington. And I’ve got to say, this shift has been VASTLY different compared to our last one. Last shift was crazy! We had 100+ mph winds for nearly 3 days, temperatures well below 0 (and wind chills even further down than that), and lots of awesome groups coming up for trips all weekend. It was certainly and whirlwind, pun intended. But this shift has been much more mellow! Just what we needed after a strenuous few weeks!

For our first 3 days up here, we were sitting under a massive region of high pressure! Clear blue skies, “moderate” temperatures and “low” wind speeds were the name of the game as we sat underneath the center of the high. It was great to be able to walk around the deck for an observation, being able to see so far away from the top, without getting battered around by crazy winds or flying ice chunks. Our crew definitely took in as much sunshine as we could before the weekend, giving us plenty of energy for the trips coming up to visit.

We had 2 climbing trips this past weekend, both full of wonderful folks to meet. The Friday trip came up with EMS, hiking up during the beginning of Ice Fest that was happening all weekend long. They were coming up in the tail end of the high pressure, so they had great views despite the building cloud cover in the afternoon. They were all so engaged and ready to learn, despite the long climb and some very tired legs. But as we tell each group, while we are super glad to share our information with everyone and give tours of the Observatory, it’s also super nice for us to have some new faces to talk to and meet after a few days into the shift. They hiked out the next morning, down in some foggy conditions initially, and made room for the second hiking trip coming up from Synnott Mountain Guides. Another great group of hikers, and even a previous Edutrip member, led by Jim Gagne on their foggy ascent to the summit. With slightly harsher conditions, this group was bit more exhausted after arriving on top. But they enjoyed the tour and the climb to the top of the tower, and the whole group, hikers and Observers, listened to Jim tell stories of his Everest adventures from years past. It was a great weekend for trips overall, again full of lots of wonderful people to meet! We hope they all enjoyed their stay!

EMS Climbing Trip getting ready to depart the summit in the fog!

Particularly nice for the Synnott group, they had an excellent sunrise Sunday morning to hike down in. Admittedly, we weren’t 100% sure if we’d get a sunrise in the first place. But not only did we get one, we got one that was full of fascinating weather phenomena to witness! Check out a few of the pictures I captured after I finished the morning synoptic!

As you can see, we had incredible Undercast lit up by the sun. We had rolling clouds down from the Northern Presidentials and up over the Crags. We had brocken spectre, sun pillars, lenticulars, oh my! It was incredible to witness, and I found myself barely able to keep up taking pictures and time-lapses of everything that was occurring (something that hasn’t happened to me up here in a while!)

So what an incredible moment and such a lovely wrap-up to the weekend. It’s been another week of hard, fulfilling work. And since we’re back into our typical winter conditions as of the time of this writing, our crew is looking forward to the down week ahead. But after such a wonderful weekend on the summit, we once again find ourselves having a deep appreciation of the mountain, the work that we do, the people we meet, and the incredible sights we get to see. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience here at the home of the world’s worst weather. And we are glad to be a part of it!

Ian Bailey, Meteorologist/Education Specialist

Volunteer Trip #6 – 2020

2020-01-31 13:41:38.000 – Jeffrey Swanson, Summit Volunteer

As my 2020 volunteer trip to the Mount Washington Observatory comes to an end, I am again thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the operations of this organization.

We started our week with a pair of teachers involved with the Artic Wednesday programs. They worked with the observer team on a live presentation to their respective classes. Next, an overnight Edutrip that included a combination of lectures, And finally , we concluded our week with an overnight hiking group. Ira Seskin and I have the task to create complete meals for each of these groups from our .pantry and freezers. Adaptation is key, and we were successful with our creations. In addition, Ira brought along a selection of fish, meats, and vegetables to create an Asian themed banquet to celebrate the Chinese New Year. IT WAS AWESOME!

The week on the summit is also a great opportunity to meet people from around the country, and listen the tales of their excursions to the summit. This year the weather was on the mild side in comparison to my previous trips. In the past,I have experienced 127 mph wind, -17F temps, and observed significant amounts snowfall/ice accumulate, and disappear in a matter of hours on the summit. Combined with the hundreds of photographs that include sunrises, sunsets, undercast clouds, and rime ice formations, there are a vast number of natural events to experience, learn about, and to photograph here on the summit.

Thanks again to Sharon Schilling, Brian Fitzgerald, Will Broussard, Mary Anne Sledzinski, Tom Padham, Ryan Knapp, AJ Grimes, Eve Cinquino, and summit cat Marty for this opportunity.

Jeffrey Swanson, Summit Volunteer

A Week of Winds and Welcomes!

2020-01-21 12:33:23.000 – Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Oh boy. What a wild week it has been. Being down an Observer always puts quite a large amount of strain on a shift, with the 2 observers working nearly double their work load. So we certainly do miss Adam. But of course, we hope everything is going well in his new position.

Centennial Birthday Board from AMS this year!

Jay and I came back on shift on the heels of the Centennial AMS conference in Boston. It was a wonderful experience overall! We met many young, aspiring Meteorologists who hopefully will look into our internship positions! And we made many great connections with loads of other professionals in the discipline, while showcasing the best of what the Observatory is/does and what makes this crazy mountain so wonderful! I hope the rest of my coworkers had as great of a time as I did. But wow, without having a full off week to rest and recover before coming back up…

Phew. Jay and I are pretty exhausted.

No time to rest though! Trip Season is finally in full swing, with the weather finally allowing groups to come up to the summit. And we had 3 full trips coming up this week, each of which were full of amazing individuals and lots of crazy, fun experiences to be had! Appropriately enough, the first group to join us on the summit were several individuals working for various branches of NOAA and the NWS!

We had spoken to several of these folks before during AMS, talking up how crazy this mountain’s weather can be. So of course, their interests were peaked with most of them never having made it to the summit before, let alone in Winter. The problem was, the weather was looking INTENSE. We had a low pressure system move through during the day on Thursday, dumping a few inches of snow and increasing our wind speeds to hurricane force! However, things intensified when the low began to move off to the Northeast (to inevitably dump an incredible amount of snow on Newfoundland) and a powerful high pressure system began to advance from the Great Lakes region. With a truly impressive pressure gradient building overhead, our wind speeds were topping out near 120 mph! And with high pressure moving in, it was windy, clear and cooooooooooold (wind chills between 50 to 60 degrees below)!

Nonetheless, we called on one of our trusty Snowcat drivers, Jon Powers, to drive the Cat and try to get the group to the top safely. No problem (relatively) for Jon, and before we knew it this group of very excited meteorologists were safely in the rotunda, ready for a tour! However, I’m not sure any of us were truly ready for the experience about to be had.

We took them up on to the Observation Deck first, to get an idea of not only where we go to take hourly observations, but also get their feet wet in the hurricane force wind speeds. With Northerly winds crashing down upon the deck in front of us, a powerful wind tunnel had established starting in the last 1/3 of the A-frame, across the front of the Cosmo Shack to finally spill out across the Obs deck proper. So you could barely exit the safety of the A-frame before you were getting crushed by the powerful waves of wind. It was difficult to fit everyone safely outside to get the experience, so I positioned myself partway down the wooden beam that runs across the front of the Cosmo Shack and invited people to come sit with me face first into 120 mph winds. It was incredible (and incredibly cold)! As we held on as tight as we could, we watched ice chunks fly past and smash to bits on the deck. It was so exciting, and a bit unnerving for sure. But we were able to get everyone back in safely (minus Keith’s glove) for the next part of the tour.

Me standing face first into 120 mph winds on top of the tower!

The tower. How could we not go up in the tower in these crazy winds (safely of course)? We carefully navigated the group up all the ladders and out on to the parapet, mere feet away from being fully exposed to the frenzied winds coming up. We showed them how to climb up and down the instrument ring properly, and showed them how to properly hang on in these ferocious speeds. My current wind speed record on the tower is 131 mph, so we weren’t quite there. But that doesn’t mean it was any less of a rush standing there, looking Mother Nature in the eye and withstanding her fury face first. And fortunately, everyone was able to get up there and do the same safely! Once everyone had their turn, we descended the tower and showed the group the rest of the Weather Station. I think they were all very excited and pleased to be able to experience such a crazy place! And we are so happy that they could come up and visit!

And of course, this is Caleb’s first week! Hopefully you all enjoyed his blog and got to know a little bit about him. He’s an incredibly fast learner and has met each challenge head on, ready to go! Imagine coming into a new work environment, and suddenly you find yourself working in 100+ mph winds, huge snow drifts, all while meeting a ton of new people! He certainly has taken it in stride, and is a welcome addition to our crew. Jay and I are very much looking forward to working with him through this harsh winter season.

Then we had our first Edutrip of the season on Saturday. Fortunately conditions calmed down enough for the group to get here safely. But not long after the Snowcat left, snow started once again and wind speeds ramped back up to the 80 mph range! It was quite appropriate, as the topic for the trip was Severe Winter Storms lead by yours truly, talking about Blizzard conditions, Nor’easters and Ice Storms. As always, you can see true learning happening when you talk about something in the conference room, then go outside and experience first-hand! People take what you taught them and can actually apply it! It’s one of my favorite parts about running Edutrips; that and meeting fascinating people from all walks of life and all different kinds of experiences. We spoke with Ex-Fire Marshalls, Doctors and Veterinarians, Financial Assistants, Marketing Managers and Media folks, and even a Military Veteran who has had some of the most incredible weather and war-time related experiences I’ve ever heard of. They were all wonderful people, and it was a pleasure to share a bit of science with them while taking them on the deck and into the tower to experience the power and frigidness of our weather up here.

And of course, a huge thank you to my crew (Jay, Caleb, Carrie, Bruce and Andrea) for helping make this a great trip! Carrie was a fantastic trip leader and super helpful in keeping the group organized from start to finish. Caleb was incredibly attentive and helpful as well, working with me to keep everyone busy and having fun, while simultaneously learning the ropes for himself. Bruce and Andrea, veteran volunteers each in their own right, worked so hard, non-stop all week, to provide delicious meals and keep the place clean and tidy! Jay even woke up early to help things run smoothly, and ended the night by giving a talk about Nor’easters, the focus of his Master’s thesis, which was so informative and helpful! If any of you guys are reading this, really, thank you for helping things go so well this weekend!

Lenticular cluds forming just NE of the summit during the Day Trip!

To round out the week of winds and welcomes, we had our first Day Trip of the season on Monday! A group of very polite and intrigued individuals rode to the summit to experience the weather and get a tour. Now, mind you, the wind had been blowing out of its mind since Thursday morning. And while it had lost a lot momentum by this point in the week, we were still seeing winds in the 60-70 mph range for this group. It was so awesome to see how interested and fascinated with everything up here they were. From the top of the tower down to the bunk rooms, these guys were like sponges taking in a ton of information as fast as I could give it to them. They too got their taste of high winds, asked tons of great questions about our work, and enjoyed a hot and tasty lunch before heading back down for the day. As I listened to them rant and rave about the experience, even as they were only just leaving the rotunda, I knew that we had really showed them how incredible and wonderful a place the Obs can be.

So! As you might imagine, we are all quite a bit tired coming up to shift change tomorrow. But despite the exhaustion, we often keep finding ourselves talking about each of the trips, the folks we met, and the crazy weather we were fortunate enough to experience. It was a hard, but enjoyable shift to say the least. And while I am looking forward to 6 days of resting ahead, I’ll be taking all of these good times this week and using them to keep my head up and keep us going strong through the rest of Trip Season! And of course, if you are interested in joining us for one of these awesome trips, check out https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/summit-adventures/

Hopefully, we’ll see you up here soon!

Ian Bailey, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

My First Shift on the Summit

2020-01-19 10:10:36.000 – Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

Hey! My name is Caleb Buchler and I am the other winter intern at the Summit. I graduated with my second bachelor’s this past spring from Salisbury University with a degree in Geography/Atmospheric Science. I grew up on the east coast my whole life in Fenwick Island, Delaware and, as an avid surfer, always had a fascination with winter Nor’easters. Nothing gets me more excited than strong coastal low bringing snow and swell. It has been a goal of mine to spend a winter (and hopefully many more) in the Northeast and experience these winter storms more frequently. I went a step further and landed myself an internship at “The Home of the World’s Worst Weather”.

I started on the 15^th of this month. After last week’s record high temperatures, we were able to drive up in a van to Winter Cutoff before I got my first ever Snowcat ride. I met the other week’s crew after arriving and we had a short observer meeting on what to expect for the next week’s weather before they headed back down to normal life.

Soon after the meeting, Ian was taking me up to the parapet to do my first de-icing as we were in a wet fog at the summit. At temperatures well below freezing, this meant super cooled water droplets froze instantly on contact with any surface. I had never seen rime ice in my life and every weather instrument was covered in it. We used a crow bar to smack any rime ice off. It was “easy” until I was asked to get on the fully exposed instrument ring to clear ice off the pitot and wind vane instruments. It felt as if I might fly out of the ring while de-icing. When I came back in, I learned that the winds were a “mild” 50 mph. Little did I know I was going to experience winds over twice as strong at about 110 mph the following night while shadowing an observation with Ian on the observation deck. That time it felt like I might not make it back to the tower door as each step was a major obstacle. In just four days, I have become very comfortable in 70 – 90 mph winds and experienced winds over the century mark several times. I even got to be in my first post on the MWO Facebook/Instagram page standing next to a 4 foot snowdrift at the door.

On, Friday we had a visit from members of the National Weather Service (NWS). Having the opportunity to meet so many individuals with successful careers in the field of meteorology and different backgrounds in education was very exciting. We also got to see our highest winds of our shift during their short visit!

Last night I had the opportunity to put my forecasting skills to the test as Ian allowed me to post and record the Summit and Valley 48 hour forecasts for the first time. I was elated when saw I got the winds right for last night’s forecast as the low passed through. Two days before that I was struggling to even put together an organized forecast before report time. Taking from the experience/knowledge from Ian and Jay, it was amazing to see how quickly I was able to improve. Having their help really gave me the confidence to trust in my summit forecast which was no easy task growing up in one of the flattest states of Delaware. I look forward to creating many more forecasts and improving my forecasting skills as my goal is to one day find a career in forecasting weather.

My next step is to improve my on camera presence during the Facebook live streams and looking into a research project for the next five months here. I look forward to the tackling the challenges ahead.

Caleb Buchler, Summit Intern

A Turn for the Snowy In Our Future?

2020-01-13 09:12:47.000 – Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Brief clearing following the storm on January 12th revealed what was left of our snow.

After seeing record-breaking warmth on the summit over the past weekend and a huge reduction in our snowpack, it looks as though the longer-term models are showing a turn for the snowy. We certainly could use the snow, with only 3” of mostly solid ice as an average for our current snow depth. This snow cover is deeper in more sheltered areas and in between the rocks, but in many other open areas we mostly have bare ground.

A pretty large pattern change is already underway in the upper levels, which will result in a return to at least near-normal temperatures while also seeing frequent storm tracks. This is preferable for the summit to see an expedient replenishment to our snow, as very cold arctic air would likely mean we are under the influence of strong high pressure and not seeing frequent precipitation.

GFS 250 mb winds on Wednesday showing zonal flow across most of the country, and a split flow on the west coast with the polar jet to the north and subtropical jet across Baja California.

“Zonal flow” is the term meteorologists often use with this upper level, or jet stream pattern where the jet stream is mostly oriented due west-east with little in the way of dips. With this pattern for us in New England we’re often directly under the jet stream, with weak, but quick moving and frequent storm systems. We’ll see two weak clipper-like systems centered around Tuesday night and again Thursday with this pattern, resulting in around 3-6” or 4-8” of snow total for the summit.

GFS model showing a significant storm with heavy snowfall for NH and the White Mountains Saturday night.

After this there has consistently been a large storm system affecting the Northeast during the Saturday-Sunday timeframe. This storm is able to take advantage of the jet stream digging, or dipping much further south while also strengthening, resulting in more moisture and energy for the storm. For us here on the summit and also the northern half of New England temperatures should remain cold enough for all snow, and much of the area may potentially see a solid 6-12” of snow from this storm. This storm also looks to be a pretty significant wind event for the summit, possibly reaching our highest readings so far in 2020, surpassing the 119 mph gust we observed Saturday the 11^th. After surviving the dreaded “January thaw” that is fairly common this time of year it’s a relief to see plenty of snow in our future!

Total snowfall from 1/13 to next Wednesday, Jan 22nd showing the potential for more than a foot of snow across most of New Hampshire. Weather model images courtesy of Tropical Tidbits.

Thomas Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Hello from the Summit of Mount Washington!

2020-01-10 13:35:22.000 – Eve Cinquino, Summit Intern

Hello from the summit of Mount Washington!

My name is Eve Cinquino, and I am one of the winter interns here at the Observatory. I’m originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and I’m so happy to be joining the team this winter and sharing my experiences with all of you!

On January 8^th, I took my first Snow Cat trip up to the summit. We all piled in to the Observatory’s Snow Cat and enjoyed a relatively uneventful (although bumpy) ride up to the summit. We stopped part way up to get out and check out the views, although visibility was quickly dropping. There was a storm blowing in and once we were above treeline the visibility was only about 1/8 mile.

When we arrived at the summit, we unloaded gear and had a very brief shift change meeting before the opposing shift headed down mountain in order to make it down before the winds got any stronger. My first afternoon was spent learning the ropes—I got to hammer rime ice off the weather instruments, learned how to record the evening radio show, explored the Sherman Adams building, and met Marty, the observatory cat.

The next morning, cloud cover lifted and I got my first view from the summit! While we still couldn’t see down into the valley, the views were absolutely stunning—it feels like we’re on an island in a sea of clouds.

On Thursday morning we recorded gusts up to 114mph—definitely the most extreme wind that I’ve ever witnessed. The observers tell me that wind around 70mph can be “fun wind” up here—you can go outside and get blown around, but once it gets much faster than that it’s “scary wind”—it’ll knock you down and blow you to the other side of the deck, where it takes all your energy to get back to the building entrance. By afternoon it had settled down enough for me to go outside and check out my new surroundings in some “mild” 50 mph winds!

I’ll be interning though the end of May, so you’ll be hearing a lot more from me as I adjust to life at the summit and begin work on my research project. A big shout-out to our volunteers this week, Kelly and Patty, for going above and beyond for our dinners (fresh bread!) and being great company!

Eve Cinquino, Summit Intern

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