Historical Posts Archives - Page 28 of 378 - Mount Washington Observatory

November 2018

A Unique Instrument for a Unique Place!

2018-11-03 14:17:33.000 – Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern

In anticipation of high winds tonight on the summit, it seemed appropriate to discuss how the observatory measures wind speeds in such an extreme environment. Since Mt. Washington experiences wind speeds that exceed 100 mph every three days in the winter as well as rime ice accretion up to 9 inches per hour, the observatory is forced to use an unusual instrument to measure winds. Typical anemometers such as a three-cup anemometer or a vane anemometer would not be able withstand such extreme conditions. With an average wind speed of 35 mph, such instruments would wear out very quickly from spinning so fast. Additionally, with the large accumulations of rime ice, the propellers or cups would get clogged very quickly and either break or not work properly. So instead we use a pitot tube.

The pitot tube was initially invented by French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 18^th century but it was later modified to its modern form in the mid-19^th century by French scientist Henry Darcy. It is used to measure fluid flow velocity, most commonly used to determine the airspeed of aircrafts. The basic pitot tube consists of a metal tube pointing directly into the fluid flow. We use a pitot-static tube which is just a pitot tube with two ports, pitot and static ports. The pitot port measures the pressure of the air ramming into the tube known as the total pressure. The static port measures the static pressure of the air sliding along the tube using small holes along the side of the tube. The diagram below shows the placement of both ports.

The pitot tube is able to output air velocity using a fundamental principal called Bernoulli’s principle. Bernoulli’s equation states that the Total Pressure = Static pressure + Dynamic Pressure. Using the measured static and total pressure, one can thus calculate the dynamic pressure. Bernoulli’s principle also states that the dynamic pressure can be related to the velocity of the fluid. So calculating the pressure differential between the static and total pressure will give you the velocity of the airflow! Connecting a tail to the end of the tube makes sure that the tube always points into the direction of the wind meaning it can always accurately measure the wind speed regardless of direction.

This special anemometer has several perks. First, this instrument does not have any moving parts like a propeller. This means that it will not be jammed with ice as temperatures dip below freezing nor will it wear out from high wind speeds. It also has the huge advantage of being able to be heated which helps to combat the large quantities of rime ice that collect on every surface.

With such unique conditions present at Mt. Washington, we use a pretty unique instrument. Hopefully you learned a little something about it from this blog post and hopefully we see this instrument recording some pretty high winds tonight!

Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern

Highest Wind of the Season

2018-10-30 08:34:13.000 – Zach Butler, Summit Intern

Finally, I have seen, observed, and felt a 100 mph wind! Thus far in my internship since late May, I have only experienced a top wind speed of 84 mph. Coming into this storm, our crew had high hopes to have sustained winds of 100 mph and gusts well over. Our forecasts and hopes came true last night with a peak wind gust of 119 mph at 2:23 AM on October 16^th. This was the highest wind the summit has observed this Summer and Fall season. I’ll take you through the play by play of the events leading up to the storm, the storm itself, and our crews experience in it.

A strengthening low-pressure system was moving to the east off of the northern Great Lakes. The summit saw above freezing temperatures prior to the high winds as we were in the warm sector of the low-pressure as observed below, at 4 PM. A very strong cold front (the border of the red and blue dotted lines) would soon move through New England, plummeting temperatures and ramping up the winds.

Our shift new this storm had a high potential to give us winds well over 100 mph. The only dilemma was the peak winds would be in the middle of the night. Would we stay up? Well of course we would as the crazy and weather enthused meteorologists that we are up here. Adam, Ian, and I instructed out night observer Chris to wake us up around 2 or 3 AM, when the winds were forecasted to be the strongest. “Knock knock”, on my door at 230 AM. “We just had a 119 mph wind gust!” I jumped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. Ran up to our weather room to see the Hay’s Chart jumping around and the wind gust of 119 mph (pictured below).

After seeing this, we of course got on our gear to go outside. The winds at 3 AM were sustained around 100 mph but gusting to 110 mph. With the high winds came the cold temperatures. Going to bed at 11 PM, the temperature was 36 degrees. Now at 3 AM, the temperature was 20 degrees with a wind chill at -10! Rime ice began to form heavily on the summit as well during this time period. Adam, Ian, and I got our gear on and were ready to walk on the deck. Wow!! What a wind and how insane it was to experience it in the complete dark. It really is hard to describe experiencing 100 mph winds, especially at night. Surprising I could stand, but barely and was definitely being pushed around. A crouched position was necessary as well as a low crouch. This was one of the greatest and most intense experiences I have ever had. Our Observer Ian even tried to join the century club. He walked around the deck without any support, just a tight crouch and low position. He managed to completely walk around the deck at 3 AM without falling! We came back inside to confirm the winds. Sadly the winds during that time were sustained at 98 mph. Just 2 mph shy of Ian reaching the century club. We rejoiced with Chris inside about the gnarly conditions and how awesome it really was. We instructed him if the winds get higher to wake us up again but unfortunately, that did not happen.

Waking up at 6 AM to start our shift, we came upstairs to see this very impressive Hay’s Chart as seen above. Winds gusting over 100 mph throughout the night but sustained in the 90s, just as we forecasted. The storm was not over though and the tasks of the workday begun. Knocking rime ice off of the tower! Despite most people thinking I am crazy, I love this job. Knocking ice off our tower in sustained 90 mph winds with 100 mph gusts is truly a crazy and amazing experience. Here is a picture our observer Ian took of me knocking the ice off. I’ll leave you with this picture as the storm passed and winds weakened to the high 60s during the day with a temperature of 20 degrees.

Zach Butler, Summit Intern

Cloudrise instead of Sunrise

2018-10-28 20:03:43.000 – Bill Ofsiany, Summit Volunteer

The summit was above valley clouds this morning, but clouds were above the summit, too. There was a narrow band of clear sky on the horizon that promised at least a glimpse of the sunrise. Visibility between the two cloud layers was about eighty miles. In the valleys around the summit, the low-level puffy clouds were moving East to fill in between the peaks of the Southern Presidentials. At first, there were more mountains and valleys, but soon the undercast won out. All these clouds were the advance elements of warmer, moister air coming in from the Southwest. As I waited for that peek of sunlight to come over the horizon, the clouds below formed into a moving wave that flowed over Chandler Ridge, behind Ball Crag and poured into the Great Gulf, to disappear into the slightly drier air. About this time, clouds formed in place over the summits of Madison and Adams. The wave cloud, moving at the speed of a car, quickly moved up to the observation deck, first blowing over the summit as a wisp, then reducing visibility to zero. It took a minute or two longer for the wave to reach the headwall of the Great Gulf and Mt. Jefferson, but that too vanished into the cloud. That peek of sunlight, never happened.

The sunrise before the storm moved in, winds peaked at 102 mph

Bill Ofsiany, Summit Volunteer

The Tower on the Hill

2018-10-24 12:32:16.000 – Sarah Schulte, Museum Attendant

It’s very fitting that, as I’m writing this, our trip down the mountain isn’t a guarantee. For all I know, this might not be my last day on Mount Washington for a while, and after a winter and summer up here, I know better than to say anything for sure. If you’ve ever wondered why the biggest storms seem to hit on Wednesdays, this is why!

This is my second ‘goodbye’. This time, the next opportunity won’t be extending my time on Mount Washington, but will be sending me out to Oklahoma, a climate quite different from the others I’ve experienced. Of course, that’s what I said about coming here, so I’m optimistic that Oklahoma will have its own charm and interesting weather. I don’t think I could have anticipated just how much I would have enjoyed such an extreme, unfamiliar environment as Mount Washington. I’m jumping for joy that I’ve gotten a parting taste of winter before leaving. I even got a last chance to de-ice!

Although the summers on Mount Washington don’t match up to the extremity of its winters, there was still so much to see, such as a fantastic rainbow of intense color and a band of thunderstorms with bursts of white and purple lightning. The summer sunsets were some of the best I’ve seen (when they could be seen!). This was also my first New England autumn, and I, like any other newcomer, was blown away by the ripples of gold, red and orange spreading across the mountains.

Working as a museum attendant was a new experience, and my first dip into retail. It’s always helpful to stand in the shoes of a different perspective, and this position didn’t disappoint! The sheer number of people visiting the summit this summer was staggering, and I got so excited whenever I could share my interests in the Observatory and the summit’s weather with curious visitors. Thank you to all the kind people who came to visit us, and thank you to the Observatory for allowing me to stay on and help!

I don’t know what I can say about the crew and staff of the Observatory that I haven’t already. I worked with four interns this summer and fall (Simon, Sarah, Griffin and Chloe), all of whom were fantastic people to begin with and a great help in the museum. I wish them all well and hope they’re enjoying their pursuits. The crew has taken me on my first mountain hikes, including the Seek the Peak hike, and continued to teach me more about weather, even though I was no longer in an intern capacity. They’ve introduced me to new music, games and TV shows, too. It’s been a blast just hanging out in the evenings. I’ve also had more opportunities to cuddle with Marty; always a good thing!

I’m trying my best to keep this post from becoming sappier than the New England maple syrup industry, but it’s hard! You spend almost a year with people who share your interests and happen to be just awesome human beings in general, and it’s difficult to say goodbye. It’s good to have hard goodbyes, though: it proves that the people and place you’re leaving meant something important. I hope to stay in touch, and to come back and visit. Until next time!

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

-Winnie the Pooh

Sarah Schulte, Museum Attendant

Why Do Certain Leaves Change Color?

2018-10-22 11:54:57.000 – Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern

After spectacular fall foliage for the last few weeks, winter weather has started to descend upon the mountain and with that comes the end of the beautiful colors on the trees. Reflecting back on the past few weeks, the summit has a perfect vantage point on clear days to view how the colors change based on elevation. The difference between the valleys and as you look up the ravines is very well defined. Once you reach up to 4000-5000 feet, the trees tend to stay green all the way through the winter. This raises the question of why. The simple answer is that the types of trees differ at higher elevations than in the valleys but I was interested in discovering what about those higher elevation trees causes them to not change colors.

First in an attempt to answer this question, it is important to discuss why some trees lose their leaves during the winter. New England winters can be very harsh and many trees need to prepare for them so they can survive until spring. This involves trees reducing themselves only to the essential and toughest parts. The fluid that flows through the leaves is very thin and thus very susceptible to freezing. It would take a lot of energy for the tree to prevent that from happening so instead of expending large amounts of energy to keep their leaves healthy, trees will drop their leaves and seal the spots on the branches where they had been attached.

Some trees, such as evergreens do not need to do this. Their needles are coated with a wax that helps protect against the cold as well as anti-freeze chemicals in their cells that keep fluid from freezing. Thus evergreens can hold on to their needles even as temperatures dip below freezing.

But how is this related to colorful leaves? Plants and trees are colored green by a pigment called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important for plants to be able to make food using sunlight. During the spring and summer, there is lots of sunlight so plants and trees make lots of chlorophyll which turns them green. However, chlorophyll is costly to make. In an effort to conserve energy before heading into the winter, trees stop making chlorophyll in the fall. As the concentration of the chlorophyll pigment starts to wane, other pigments take over, carotenoids and anthocyanins. Carotenoids create yellow, orange, and brown colors. They produce these colors in flowers, the roots of carrots, and even the rinds/peels of pumpkins and bananas. Anthocyanins on the other hand create red, pink, and purple colors. Both are always present in trees, they are just usually masked by the presence of chlorophyll. Once the concentration of chlorophyll wanes, carotenoids or anthocyanins take over, giving the leaves a vibrant change in color. Certain trees have differing concentrations of these pigments, thus giving the fall foliage a huge variety of colors.

So since coniferous trees don’t need to drop their needles before winter, the chlorophyll content stays high. This also allows them to continue to make small amounts of energy through photosynthesis during the winter which helps keep them alive. This keeps coniferous trees green during the fall and winter as deciduous trees turn myriad different colors. Since higher elevations are dominated by coniferous trees, partially due to their ability to stay alive during very harsh conditions, as you look up the Great Gulf, Tuckermans, or any other mountain side, you see a distinct change in the colors from the valley floor.

Chloe Boehm, Summit Intern

A Look at Halloweens Past on Mount Washington

2018-10-21 09:07:32.000 – Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Halloween on the summit of Mount Washington is one of my favorite times of the year. After a busy summer season with many visitors, the staff gets a short while to take a breather before things get more hectic from Mother Nature and all the challenges that come with winter.

I’ve now worked four Halloweens on the summit, with almost identical weather every year: snow showers, fog, and temperatures in the lower 20s. Taking a look at the longer range models this year could be different, but there’s still plenty of time for things to change and there’s chances for snow within a few days of the 31^st.

Two constants through each Halloween has been pumpkin carving and Marty the cat! It’s always a fun pastime to carve pumpkins with my shift up here, and Marty often helps to cheer us on (or just see what the heck we’re doing!).

Out of curiosity I thought I’d take a look through the historical notes for Halloween during the early years of the observatory and see if I could find anything interesting. October 31^st, 1941 didn’t disappoint!

“Spectacular Aurora about 830 PM – Writhing streamers passing zenith to 45 degrees down in to W & SW colored in form of a question mark for benefit of superstitions populance. Road still passable – wonderful day”

A great day indeed! Out of further curiosity I thought I’d see how the following day fared:

“Glaze and hard rime – rain freezing on gauges – miserable weather – road still passable but worse for football games downstate”

Whether it’s wild weather or football in the fall somethings never change; even on Mount Washington!

Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Say It Ain’t Snow

2018-10-20 14:44:17.000 – Taylor Regan, Weather Observer and Research Specialist

Well, it’s official, the summit has seen snow. And not just a trace either! Our snowfall for the month of October has now topped ten inches (10.4” to be exact) with more on the way. It’s a pretty exciting thing for observers on the summit, the first measureable snow of the season. And while Mount Washington has seen more than an inch of snow in every month of the year, we typically hit that mark in late September. So how has this season measured up? Let’s take a look!

Figure 1. A Snowy Start to the Shift.

Since we typically start our substantial “snow-season” in September, let’s start there. On average, the summit reports 2.2 inches of snowfall during the month of September. This year, we recorded a whopping trace. Things didn’t get much better as we moved into October, with temperatures hovering 15-20 degrees above average. Snow, as it would have it, proved elusive.

Figure 2. A Snowy Vista.

A major shift in pattern however saw a remarkable about-face as we entered the second half of the month, with temperatures swinging to 10-15 degrees below average, and winter seemingly appearing overnight. We’re still a bit below average; our 10.4 previously accumulated inches only accounts for a little more than half of our average October snowfall (17.6 inches), however, with snow showers likely through the weekend, we stand a good chance at ending the month around average for snowfall. It’ll be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out!

Taylor Regan, Weather Observer and Research Specialist

The First Snow, And How It Happened

2018-10-15 06:04:08.000 – Christopher Hohman, Observer/Staff Meteorologist

Hello there everyone, we’ve had quite the week up here on the summit of Mount Washington. We are more than happy to let the whole world know that we recorded our first snowfall of the season this year!

Now it wasn’t exactly a “blockbuster” storm by any means. We picked up a simple 1.1’’ of snow for the day. Of course, we all wish it could have been a lot more, but at this point, we’ll take what we can get! This year has been one of the latest first snows on record. We barely missed our record of October 17^th (Shout out to our Intern Zach for digging that statistic out for us).

The actual set up of the storm was rather interesting. We actually had high pressure building into the region during the snow showers. Now to the layman meteorologist one may think, “Well hold on Chris, if you have high pressure moving in, doesn’t that mean you should have nice and sunny weather?” And you’re not entirely off to think like that. On average, high pressure systems bring fair weather to whatever region they move to. However, the atmosphere is much more complex then just thinking “If A then B” will happen. A professor once told me, “It’s not just one thing that causes the weather. It’s multiple processes happening at once. Some processes might be stronger than others one time, then completely non-existent the next.” This is actually the core reason as to why it’s really hard to forecast and make models of the atmosphere, but alas, I digress.

What happened for this snowstorm were really two main factors. I’ll talk about both briefly. What I was trying to get out in the last paragraph was yes, there was high pressure moving in, but something happening in the upper atmosphere was causing the scattered rain showers on the surface. To the maps!

I know this looks big and scary, but I’ll put it in really simple terms. Essentially, what you’re looking at here is a map of the upper atmosphere. The red circle is highlighting what meteorologists refer to as a “Short Wave Trough” or sometimes the National Weather Service calls it “A Disturbance”. I will not go into deep details (Take Dynamics/Synoptic Meteorology 1&2 at your local college for more info!), but essentially these troughs create rising motion in the atmosphere. That’s the single most important factor needed to create precipitation. The picture above was in the morning of the 13th at 8 A.M. (We started recording snow at around 6:30 A.M.). Below is the same trough moving to the east, and over the region:

The second piece to this storm was what we refer to as “Upsloping.” Winds hit the mountains, and are subsequently forced upward. This is another form of that rising motion I talked about earlier, which again causes precipitation! So, it was really these two factors acting together that caused the beautiful snow we saw a few days ago. I’m sure that might all seem a little confusing, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about it!

It’s safe to say all the observers up here love all types of weather, but wintry conditions hold a special place in our hearts. Something about a mega-nor’easter slamming New England is just pure joy to all of us. Thank you for coming back winter, please don’t ever leave!

Thank you for reading this blog post. Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Hope you learned something, and make sure to check back soon for another blog post!

Christopher Hohman, Observer/Staff Meteorologist

Fall Season Information

2018-10-07 11:05:57.000 – Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

October has arrived, the month when the summit typically sees warm and muggy summer-like weather giving way to cold and snowy winter-like weather. During my years working here, some Octobers seeing us jumping off the deepen straight into winter while other years see a more gradual progression.So far 2018 is shaping up to be a more gradual progression.However, looking at long-term models this morning, snow isn’t that far off possibly coming by the mid-month time frame.This far out though, a lot can change, so we will see. While I look forward to a return of more winter-like weather up here, I am also just as happy to enjoy the colors of fall foliage that our lining our neighboring mountainsides and valley floors.While October brings changes to the weather and scenery on and around the summits, it also brings other changes. Some changes are already in effect and others will be coming in the following weeks.

One of those changes is the operating hours of our Weather Discovery Center (WDC) in North Conway. On October 1st, the WDC has returned to our “winter” hours and will be open daily from 10 am to 3 pm. While the WDC will be closing earlier, everything else remains the same – two daily live connections with the summit (at 11am and 2pm), plenty of hands on exhibits, and our gift shop (a great place to pick up some weather related items for the upcoming holiday season).

As touched upon earlier, another change is the weather October typically experiences. October temperatures will continue to be in flux as we continue to transition from Summer to Fall (meaning some days will be mild and others frigid). Statistically speaking, average daily temperatures on the summit go from just above freezing at the start of the month to mid-20s by the end of the month. Snow typically starts to accumulate during the month and the 30-year average for snowfall for October is 17.6 inches. Hurricane force gusts (>73 mph) statistically become more common in October occurring 1/3 to 1/2 of the available days. So, while some days might be gorgeous, others can be pretty brutal.

A common tale we hear every year – people started out on trails where conditions were clear, calm, and mild and they continued up and wound up caught off guard in fog, snow, and temperatures below freezing. In this day and age there is no reason to be caught off guard and find yourself unprepared, as there are plenty of resources you can check to know what to expect before stepping foot on the trails on any given day. For one, you can check our 48 Hour Higher Summits Forecast which is updated twice a day by 5 am and 5 pm. Another option can be found on the NWS recreational forecast page HERE.

While automated smartphone apps are rarely if ever correct for the summit, using these will at least provide some weather information; after all, some weather knowledge is better than no weather knowledge. And if you need help on how to pack and prepare, the Hike Safe web page is a great place to start. And if looking for more information on hiking Mt Washington, the AMC page dedicated to hiking the summit is another great resource. And if all else fails, ask someone (online or in person) before you go; there is no shame in seeking the advice of others.

If heading above treeline, note the operating schedules of AMC huts and shelters. Our closest neighboring hut, Lakes of the Clouds Hut, is closed for the season. Our neighbor to the north,Madison Spring HutMadison Spring Hut, is also closed for the season. And later this month, additional AMC huts will be closing for the season or going to self-service for the winter season. So, if you are thinking about staying at a high elevation hut or using one for water/shelter/etc, please check for their availability prior to venturing out. For a full rundown of AMC hut closures and availability, head HERE. Or if an RMC hut or shelter is in your plans, their operations are available HERE.

If heading to the summit of Mt Washington, it is important to check the operating schedules of the Mt. Washington Auto Road and The Cog. The operating hours of the Mt Washington Auto Road can be found HERE. The Cog’s operating schedule can be found HERE. Note that weather can affect the operations of both the Mt Washington Auto Road and The Cog. And both forms of transportation are independent from us; so please contact them directly or check their webpages/social media pages for the most current information and any changes that might occur to their operating schedules and expected closing dates.

Trails to the summit can be used day or night. However the New Hampshire State Park (NHSP) Sherman Adams Building (ie, the building with bathrooms, water, food, shelter, etc) is day use only. Their operating hours can be found HERE. And similar to the transportation methods, some of their operations are weather dependent. NHSP operates independently from us so please contact them directly or check their webpage for any changes to their operating schedules and for their expected closing date.

The last note of change is daylight. This time of year, the summit receives less than twelve hours of daylight as the sun continues to rise later and the sets earlier. If hiking is your means of transportation, an earlier start than what you would do in June is strongly advised. And while you should always have a headlamp with you no matter the time of year, with shorter days, it becomes even more important to have one this time of year. And if you hike up, you are fully responsible to get yourself down. Transportation methods can/do sell out and/or cease operations due to weather; so hikers should always be prepared to not only hike up but hike down too. And camping is never allowed within the NHSP boundaries. (Additional back country rules and regulations for the White Mountains available HERE ) I hope this information helps in your planning and that you have a safe and enjoyable autumn ahead.

Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

What Time is It?

2018-10-05 12:27:54.000 – Taylor Regan, Weather Observer and Research Specialist

After doing some analysis of our historic records, I was pretty interested to find reference to something called “local mean time.” It was a term that didn’t quite line up with what the Observatory (and most folks) use to keep track of time, namely, Standard Time, Daylight Savings Time, and Universal Time (also referred to in some instances as zulu time). Intrigued, I decided to do a little digging, which led me to more questions, and eventually more answers, about why we a) have time zones b) why they exist as they do and c) when they were introduced as they are known now. It’s pretty interesting stuff!

So here’s the scoop: Back in the day, “time zones” were local to the town they referenced. This means, they were driven by the cycle of the sun… “high noon,” sunrise, and sunset often dictated the length of the day. Because of this, the “time of day” at a single moment was different for every location and depended on longitude. Now, for quite a long time, this worked perfectly, transportation was fairly limited and people often didn’t stray too far from their homes and farms. Enter however, the age of the train. It was revolutionary! People could travel long distances seemingly overnight, and it became much more accessible for individuals to begin to commute between towns and cities for work.

This however, created quite a few problems, and required stations to post many different versions of their schedules. Arrival and departure times had to be listed in all the “time zones” that were serviced along a particular route…which got to be quite cumbersome, especially as routes expanded and increased in frequency, and also because local solar time, as it was called, differed by about four minutes per degree of longitude.

On December 1, 1847, British railway companies decided they had had enough, and began using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). (As an aside, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was established in 1675 as a reference for mariners to assist in determining longitude at sea, so that regardless of starting town/location, all longitudinal positions could be determined with reference to one specific point.) This practice quickly took off, and became known as Railway Time. By 1855, 98% of Great Britain’s public clocks were using GMT, and by 1880, it became the official time of Great Britain.

In the United States, however, things were a bit slower to come about. During the mid-1800s, each railroad company used its own “standard time” which was often based on the time of the largest city that was serviced or the location of their headquarters. As such, it was highly unorganized and often difficult to easily get from one location to another, or predict what time you would arrive.

In 1870, Charles F. Dowd proposed four time zones spanning the United States that were eventually centered on the 75^th meridian west of Greenwich (in our archived weather records, often denoted 75^th meridian time). However, this system was never implemented by the railroads, and instead it was a version proposed by William F. Allen that was accepted and implemented on November 18, 1883, a date referred to as the “Day of Two Noons.” This system had zone borders typically drawn through railroad stations, often located in large cities.

Within a year, 85% of all cities in the U.S. with populations over 10,000 had adopted “standard time.” However, because it was not mandatory, many cities, most notably Detroit, did not adopt this method of timekeeping, and therefore, confusion persisted.

Finally, standardized time zones were officially adopted by the U.S. Congress in the Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918. This formalized the use of time zones as we know them today for the United States (Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones).

Figure 1. Time Zone Map 1913 (Image from wikipedia)

Even after the U.S. and several other countries adopted “standardized” time zones, it wasn’t until 1956 that Nepal became the last country to adopt a standard offset at UTC +5:45.

Figure 2. Current Time Zone Map (Image from wikipedia)

Of course, there is further intricacy and information out there regarding the fascinating world of time but I just thought I’d share a bit about what I discovered after coming across some interesting notation in our archives.

Bonus Question: Does anyone know why we call Universal Time – Zulu time? Universal Time, or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is based at 0° longitude. As such, time at 0° longitude is written with a Z after it, to indicate zero longitude. The phonetic alphabet code for the letter Z is zulu. Overtime, the reference zone came to be known as Zulu Time. (Though it is synonymous with UTC and Greenwhich Mean Time).