Historical Posts Archives - Page 39 of 378 - Mount Washington Observatory

January 2018

My First Ride Up in the MWO Snow Cat

2018-01-19 06:09:41.000 – Jillian Reynolds, Summit Intern

Although I have traveled up to the summit many times, Wednesday was my first time taking a ride up in the Snowcat.

The Snowcat is primarily used in the winter time as it is equipped with a plow and tracks that allow it to go through the snow more easily. The enclosed cab in the back can fit up to 12 people. When you and the other travelers are wearing winter weather gear, the inside of the cab can be a tight fit. The driver will ask if anyone would like to stop at various turnouts so everyone can go outside, grab some fresh air, and take in the views. Depending on the weather and how many stops they take, the trip up to the summit in the Snowcat can take anywhere from one to six hours. The trip up Wednesday took us around two hours. The road conditions were not too bad, but we had to make one stop in order to de-ice one of our wind instruments.

Caption: The MWO Snow Cat.

The Snowcat also has several windows that you could look out of as you continue up the mountain. The vans that you would take during the warmer months have windows as well, but I had a different feeling inside when I looked out the Snowcat window. The views are pretty nice when you can see various locations covered in snow.

Caption: View from the Snow Cat drive on Wednesday. Check out that snow!

If you ever have the chance to take the Snowcat up Mount Washington, take it! It will be an exciting experience!

Jillian Reynolds, Summit Intern

I Melt With You

2018-01-16 16:37:26.000 – Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

Last weekend we posted an image (posted below) to our social media about our recent melt-out and since then it has been making the rounds on various media pages and online groups. Skimming the comments and replying to various emails, messages, comments, I have come across three things that I feel need a bit more emphasis.

Snow melt between Jan 10 and Jan 13, 2018

Issue 1: People blaming one cause for the melt-out like the warm temperatures or rainfall

Unfortunately it isn’t so clean cut as blaming a single factor for the meltout. When it comes to melting, those in the field of hydrology look at several factors including, but not limited to, solar radiation, albedo of the snow, sun angle, dirt present on/around the snowpack, age of the snow, air temperature, humidity of the air, condensation/evaporation/sublimation rates, water vapor present, water vapor pressure, the temperature of the snow, sensible and latent heat transfers, sensible and latent heat transfers under windy conditions, conduction of heat with the underlying surface, and density of the snowpack. All of these factors can then be plugged into long equations or models that can be used to examine rate of melting and its impacts on runoff, neighboring waterways, groundwater supplies, or loss to the atmosphere. So a lot of things factor into it, to say the least.

When looking at our melt-out in particular, something one might overlook is fog (we were in the fog through most of the melting cycle). As my coworker touched upon in an earlier blog post, as water vapor condenses and becomes a liquid, energy is released in the form of latent heat of condensation. The latent heat then results in the snowpack either melting or evaporating. If it evaporates, it feeds back into the moisture present in the fog to later condense and repeat. Add in the winds and a fresh supply of moist air continuously condensing over the snow and it winds up becoming a repetitive cycle. And then you have the warm rain falling on the snow adding even more energy and moisture content to the equation. And all this time you have all these various phase changes occuring and feeding off each other and eating away the snow. And this feeds into some of the other factors I mentioned previously like the temperature of the snow, the density of the pack over time, and how it might be affecting surfaces below the snow.

And that is another factor overlooked – what was happening below the snow packs? As you may have seen in person or in pictures, the summit and surrounding peaks have a lot of rocks. These rocks are very large and piled several deep on top of each other (hence our nickname of “The Rockpile”). During the winter, snow early in the season works down into this porous surface filling the gaps until things level and then the snow piles on top. As snow melts, it starts to work down into the gaps of the rocks eventually leading to flowing water below the snow surface. As gaps open up, this then allows wind and fog to start penetrating beneath the snowpack in the porous network of the rocks. This causes various phase changes below the snowpack resulting in the snow to be undermined. Eventually this then leads to the snowpack being eaten away not only from above but from below speeding up the melt out even further.

Hydrology is not my major so I am painting a picture with broad strokes, but hopefully you get the picture that when it comes to the “why” behind our recent melt, it is not a simple x = y type situation; there’s a whole lot going on and it might not be as simple as the snow melting in your backyard.

Issue 2: People stating along the lines of, “Oh look, there’s no more snow. Guess I don’t need traction”

FALSE! You absolutely should pack traction of some sort – Microspikes, Yaktrax, Crampons, etc. While you might not need them from start to finish on the various trails of the White Mountains, they should still be packed as there are plenty of areas that still require them. While the summit cone of Mt Washington is melted out, looking down and around on the various peaks and trails we can see – both with the naked eye and with a telephoto lens, I can firmly say there is plenty of snow and ice around. In fact, there is more snow/ice below and around us then here at the station. And what melted off from up here is now refrozen below us either in the form of ice or once waterlogged snow that froze as temperatures plunged. The snow/ice conditions at lower elevations is also backed by reviewing the various trail conditions, trail reports (here and here), online forums, and Facebook Groups as well as talking with various hikers. They all state or conclude that you should have added traction with you. So don’t leave them at home, throw them in your bag as you will be glad you did.

Issue 3: People commenting along the lines of, “Guess the (ski, sledding, ice climbing, etc) season’s over”

FALSE! As I previously stated, below and around us have more snow/ice than we do – so our little snowless peak doesn’t equate to the entirety of the state. This is confirmed not only visually but through checking with surrounding weather spotters and consulting the various snowfall maps available. Checking SkiNH’s conditions page, resorts are still operating with plenty of lifts/runs available. I went out Monday afternoon to photograph a few of the ski resorts that were visible in the gaps of undercast to show what we can see – all of them look perfectly skiable from up here (see images below). Looking at snowmobiling conditions page, conditions vary across the state but still plenty of trails and terrain to play on. And various hiking trail conditions (linked previously) show that there is still plenty of snow to hike on.

Keep in mind that astronomical winter isn’t even halfway over yet (that falls on February 2nd). So there is still plenty of winter left. Was this a setback? You betcha! But I wouldn’t call winter over quite yet and I am being optimistic that it will turn around as I have seen it do here and elsewhere before. Winter 2014/2015 for Boston comes to mind. There was a point in January of that season where parts of Texas (like Amarillo) had received more seasonal snowfall than the Boston had over the same period. But then the snow-flood gates opened at the end of January and it dumped and dumped and dumped. I am not saying that will happen here, but it does show how things can still turn around in the second half of winter. Or if weather isn’t your thing, it would be the equivalent of walking away before the conclusion of the second quarter of Super Bowl LI and saying, “Well, Falcons won this one.” So, let’s let winter play out a bit more before we throw in the towel and draw conclusions.

Bretton Woods from Mt Washington summit 15 Jan 2018

Bretton Woods on 15 Jan 2018

Wildcat on 15 Jan 2018

Cranmore on 15 Jan 2018

Attitash on 15 Jan 2018

Loon Mountain on 15 Jan 2018

Ryan Knapp, Weather Observer/Staff Meteorologist

2017: A Year in Review

2018-01-15 11:13:40.000 – Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Now that we’re a few weeks into 2018 I had some time to take a look back at the year that was. 2017 had several memorable moments, including 138 mph winds during an intense Nor’easter in March, along with several direct lightning strikes from summer thunderstorms. This past winter was an especially snowy one, and at one point in early February we were even on pace with the record-breaking winter of 1968-1968, which saw 566” of snow accumulate. We still ended the snow season 100” above average, with 32 feet of snow for the year!

Most memorable to me was an epic May snowstorm. Snow started on the 13^th and fell heavily all day for Mother’s Day, May 14^th. 22.8” fell in just 24 hours, with a 33.3″ storm-total breaking the all-time May snowstorm record over our 85-year history. The snow also fell with relatively light winds, making for huge drifts on the summit and lots of fun outside!

2017 goes down as our 8^th warmest (tied with 1999 and 2005) year in our 85 year history. Our climate graph is now updated on our website:

Other stats from 2017:

Average yearly temperature: 29.0°F

Departure from 30-year mean: +1.3°F

Lowest temperature: -35°F on March 11^th

Highest temperature: 67°F on Sept 26th

Highest wind: E 138 mph on March 14^th

Days with hurricane force (74+ mph) winds: 167 days (46% of the year!)

Days with 100+ mph winds: 43 days

Total Precipitation: 91.12”

Departure from mean: -5.75”

Total Snowfall: 388”

Departure from mean: +107”

Tom Padham, Weather Observer/Education Specialist

From the Mountains to the Oceans, in Search of Fog

2018-01-12 15:12:16.000 – Taylor Regan, Weather Observer

Up on the summit, weather observers are no strangers to fog. In fact, we see the stuff every two out of three days on average, limiting our otherwise remarkable 130 mile visibility to sometimes a matter of feet. But did you know there isn’t just one type of fog? In fact, there are five common types of fog: radiation, rain-induced, advection, upslope, and steam fog.

Last week, while the summit (and all of New England) was a veritable icebox, I happened to be offshift, and took the opportunity to explore a bit, searching the seacoast for a phenomenon known as sea smoke, something more commonly found in the Arctic.

Sea smoke is a term used to describe a variant of steam or evaporation fog. Opposed to advection fog, which I’ll describe later, evaporation fog occurs when water vapor molecules are added to the air directly overhead to the point where the air cannot hold any more water. Added water is forced to condense and become fog. This type of fog is common after a rainstorm on a hot day or over lakes or large bodies of water when the water is much warmer than the air temperature. For sea smoke to occur, the air temperature needs to be much colder than the water, and with ocean temperatures currently in the upper 30s, that meant that the subzero temperatures recently seen across the Northeast were the perfect conditions to catch a glimpse of some sea smoke.

Figure 1. Sea Smoke looking over the Atlantic Ocean

Ironically, back on the summit, temperatures climbed over 40 degrees, surpassing the daily highs during my off-week, spent over 100 miles south! And, in true Mount Washington fashion, we are currently solidly socked in the clouds, making for a soupy fog that seemingly eats the snow, demolishing our pristine snowpack in epic fashion.

Advection fog is generated when warm, moist air is transported over a colder surface (through a process called advection). The warmer air contains more moisture than cooler air, so, as it passes over the cold surface and cools, some of the water vapor is able to condense into water droplets (causing fog). Advection fog is also sometimes called “snow-eating” fog, because it can cause a robust snowpack to diminish almost in front of your eyes. The heat released when the water vapor condenses into liquid water droplets (fog) moving over the cold surface is enough to melt seven times as much snow!

Below is a comparison of our snowpack on January 3^rd, with nearly two feet of snow and rime, to a photo taken today, the 12^th of January. It looks like spring! From record low temps to record high temps, the mountain always has a surprise in store!

Figure 2. Looking east on the morning of January 3

Figure 3. Nelson Crag sign melted out looking east on January 12, 2018

Taylor Regan, Weather Observer

A Shift Full of Escalating Weather

2018-01-09 22:10:53.000 – Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist

Well that escalated quickly! The weather, the tied record low temperature, the misinterpretations, and… Well, the weather!

First off, -38°F was our lowest recorded air temperature January 6^th which tied a daily record low of -38°F set back in 1959. Our peak wind gust that morning was 113 mph but that occurred before the coldest of the air arrived. When the -97°F wind chill occurred, our temperature was at -37.6°F and the wind speed was at 106 mph. It certainly did not feel tropical… The weather this week has been exceptionally intense up here and quite memorable for me. Since this shift began, nights have been hectic and they have REALLY kept me on my toes.

First, there was the Nor’easter that strengthened faster than Barry Bonds when he went to the Giants. 59mb in 24 hours! The last time a storm strengthened this rapidly, winds atop the Rockpile soared to 150 mph! Impressively, the center of that storm (also) January 4^th, 1989 was 600 miles away and still caused the winds to gust that high. The center of this recent storm was expected to pass much closer to the White Mountains. Therefore, as you can imagine for this storm we were anticipating similar results. Unfortunately, we did not quite get up to 150 mph, but our peak gust of 122 mph was still impressive!

After this storm, the Arctic gates opened and frigid air poured into the northeastern United States. We felt it up here as temperatures plummeted through the 30s below zero. Every single observation that night required me to spend several minutes preparing myself before going outside. Plenty of misconceptions arose from this cold weather outbreak and I want to highlight some information regarding wind chill. One misconception is that we broke a temperature record. It was spread around the media realm that we got down to -109°F. The coldest air temperature ever recorded on the summit of Mount Washington is -47°F. We did NOT break this record by 69°F… The lowest wind chill that was even calculated at any point was -97°F. Wind chills do not account for temperature records by any stretch of the imagination. I touched on wind chills in my last blog but I want to attempt to clear this up again.

What is wind chill?

The quick answer is that wind chill reflects the rate at which heat is lost from your body. Imagine all around your skin is a thin layer of warm air. When the wind blows past your skin, it transfers this layer of warmer air away from your skin. The stronger the wind, the more heat will be lost from your body, and the colder this will feel to your exposed skin. By covering up all of your skin, you are trapping the heat, and keeping it protected from the wind trying to transport it away from your body. Without taking the right precautions when dealing with wind chills falling well below zero, you are increasing your chances at hypothermia and frostbite. Whenever you hear that there is a Wind Chill Advisory or even a Wind Chill Warning, be sure to bundle up, and cover up ALL of your skin!

I think the most important thing to realize and understand from this particular event and the dangerously low wind chills is that we minimized wind chill from the equation by covering up all of our skin. With wind chills plummeting this far through below zero numbers, you better believe that none of us observers went outside with any skin exposed. In fact, we typically analyze one another before going outside into these conditions to ensure there is not a sliver of skin exposed. With no skin exposed, the risk associated with wind chill is greatly minimized and “wind chill” essentially becomes a glorified number. With wind chills falling this low, exposed skin would begin to experience the effects of frostbite in seconds and then permanent damage could result within as little as 1-2 minutes. This also makes it important to not be outside for too long. Another way to minimize the risks associated with wind chill is to simply avoid a lengthy exposure to the elements. We have the luxury of going outside and coming into the heated building immediately after! The longer you are outside, the cold winds have a better shot of navigating around your gear and prodding through a weakness. Because of this, we were EXTREMELY diligent throughout this Arctic outbreak to minimize our exposure, bundle up and cover up fully for each one of our hourly weather observations that involved being outside for an extended period. We were able to negate the effects of wind chill, BUT this was still the coldest air that I (personally) have ever experienced.

After the cold, it got so gusty… I mean, it got REALLY gusty. The winds fluctuated rapidly… I messaged Ryan Knapp, my counterpart night observer, Sunday morning saying it was the most intense night I had experienced up top since I started working for the Observatory. This was no exaggeration! Generally speaking, when we have crazy weather happening up here, the summit is in the clouds and our observations are a bit easier. Granted, we still have to deice the tower, and venture to the precipitation can frequently. The difference Sunday morning was that we were in the clear and I had to walk around the perimeter of the deck each hour while using the sling psychrometer and attempting to find cloud layers and determine horizontal visibility, all while being battered by winds going from 40 mph to 113 mph. It was incredible! At times, I could stand completely upright and walk around with ease while the noise from the wind dropped off entirely. Then all of the sudden, a tremendous noise grew from the corner of the deck and it seemed as though Troy Polamalu was repeatedly attacking me and pushing me down (his hair would have been all over the deck). At times, I literally just sat on the deck for a minute waiting for the wind to subside, and then I got back up and continued walking around. That was the most exhausting night that I have had up here by a longshot.

After an exhilarating and exhausting week, conditions have finally calmed down and we are heading into what looks to be a beautiful day tomorrow for shift change. The mercury is above zero degrees, winds will finally drop off tonight and the snow will taper for a pleasant end to a WILD week spent on the summit of Mount Washington.

Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist

What is up with our Mesonets

2018-01-05 14:25:35.000 – Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist

If you have looked at our Current Summit Conditions page, our Mesonet page, or the Webcams you may have noticed that there is missing information or no current image on our cameras. The reason is many of our sites are very low on power or completely out of power. Almost all of our mesonets are remote and run off of solar panels that charge batteries so that the sites can operate 24/7. At this time of year, we run into a lot of power issues normally due to the shorter days, low sun angle, and frequent cloudy days, and snow or rime that accumulates on the panels. We have been trying to keep up with clearing snow off of the panels when sunny days are expected but we can only get to ones that are easily accessible. As the daylight increases and the sun angle gets higher, the snow will slide or melt off the solar panels on sunny days so keeping the mesonets powered will get easier each passing day.

A couple of days ago,after struggling with power issues for over a month, our mesonet on top of Wildcat finally lost all of its power. Pete, who is in charge of the mesonet, is headed out to Wildcat in the next week to be able to look at it. It didn’t charge at all during the few days of sun we had earlier this week so it may be a faulty charge controller or the Solar panel has become disconnected somehow and we will not know for sure until we can get up and inspect it. This is an important mesonet for us because it has one of our more popular webcams and it is a transfer station for most of our vertical temperature profile. We will have many missing data points on our current summit conditions page until we can get that mesonet back online.

With other mesonets, we have lowered the amount of times data is collected so that we are not running the transmitter as often to save on power until the days get longer. We are in the process of upgrading the batteries to be able to store more power with a big upgrade coming to Wildcat. Larger solar panels may also need to be installed at several sites in lower elevations where mountain shadows or trees block the sun for part of the day preventing more charge time.

Below are some images of working on the mesonets during the winter months

Observer Ryan Knapp getting to the 3300′ mesonet site (far left) last February to clear the snow from bottom Solar Panel

Observers and Pete Gagne working on the 4300′ mesonet on Wednesday January 3rd

Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist

Winter Precipitation

2018-01-02 15:55:01.000 – Taylor Regan, Weather Observer

With the recent Christmas storm fresh on many minds, and with more winter weather on the way, I wanted to take a look at some of the differences in precipitation type that can occur when the mercury drops to or even below freezing. The differences between rain and snow are fairly well known, but what about sleet or freezing rain? Knowing which type of precipitation is falling can clue you in on the overall state of the atmosphere around you, which is pretty neat!

In this blog post, I’ll cover four types of precipitation common in winter-season storms, especially in New England: rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. If you’re wondering, yes, there is a reason I listed them in that order, and it has to do with the quantity of freezing air in place overhead.

Figure 1. Diagram depicting precipitation type in varying air temperatures. (Image from www.weather.gov/rnk/measure_icing)Caption text

Rain occurs when there is a large volume of above-freezing air overhead (the air is warmer than 32 degrees). Precipitation may start off as snow, but it melts as it falls through a warm layer, which extends all the way to the ground.

Freezing rain occurs when precipitation, which may start as snow, passes through a warm (above freezing) layer, and melts, turning to rain. At the surface, however, is a shallow pool of below-freezing air that, while not enough to cause the raindrops to refreeze prior to reaching the ground, means that they freeze instantly upon contact with anything that is at or colder than 32 degrees. This can cause significant ice accumulations on everything from power lines to trees to vehicles.

Sleet occurs when precipitation, falling as snow, passes through a shallow warm (above 32 degrees) layer, causing the snowflakes to partially melt. The partially melted snowflakes then pass through a deep cold layer, causing them to refreeze, but lacking their initial definition and form as snowflakes.

When the temperature is below freezing all the way from the cloud to the ground, it snows! Snowflakes can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and no two are the same! Stellar Dendrites are the most recognizable snow crystals, but you can see in the image below some of the other types of snowflakes that can occur.

Figure 2. Various types of snowflakes seen on the summit.

Taylor Regan, Weather Observer

So Cold, Even the Rime was Shivering

2017-12-29 20:33:13.000 – Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist

If you have not heard, the past few days have not been warm here atop the Rockpile. In fact, it has been quite cold. How cold? Record-breaking cold. What record? We broke the daily record low on December 28^th which was -31°F by an impressive 3°F as the temperature dropped to -34°F. I was awake through the night as the mercury plunged into the 30s below much like a rock plunges through water (It happened fast). Let me tell you how it feels when the temperatures fall into the 30s below and the winds ramp up to being sustained around 90 mph… Not great! With that being said, it was a pretty incredible experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life. We have been throwing around some impressive wind chill numbers with the lowest we found throughout the night at -89°F. Wind chill numbers pack a punch. They have flare. They get the people going! In reality, wind chill should not be a factor when it starts to drop this low because it is extremely dangerous. Wind chill is only a factor on exposed skin, and if you have skin exposed to a wind chill of -89°F you are going to get frostbite. In a matter of seconds, you would begin to feel the effects on your skin and then one to two minutes later, you would likely have permanent damage. Because of this, we do not mess around up here and we cover our skin. We are lucky enough to be sponsored by Eastern Mountain Sports, and they do a great job at providing us with everything that we need to bundle up and be unaffected by these dangerously low temperatures.

For this particular night, the main issue for me was the dryness of the air. I could not believe how dry it was when I went outside for an observation during the coldest part of the night. The second I got outside, I began to cough and struggle with each breath to inhale this moisture-deprived air. It was remarkable how much of a factor this played in being comfortable outside. My skin was covered and I was plenty bundled up to feel nice and warm, but it was impossible to be out there for too long due to the struggles brought on by the severely dry air. Conditions such as these that I experienced through the night really help me to appreciate how dangerous this mountain can be. For us, we have a sturdy shelter to hunker down in that allows us to safely go outside and experience these conditions in short bursts. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission conduct an average of 180 search and rescues per year for hikers in the Presidential Mountains. These are for a variety of different reasons, and many of them are not in the harshest of winter conditions. 157 people have died throughout this Mountain Range, and on nights such as these I truly understand how lethal this environment can be. During the wee hours of Thursday morning, the summit of Mount Washington was listed as being tied for the 9^th coldest place on the planet. That in itself is impressive but you had better believe that with winds gusting over 100 mph, thick fog and blowing snow, this climate was the most unforgiving.

It is crucial that you check our forecasts before venturing up this mountain. We live up here in this environment and study the climate diligently. Since our establishment in 1932, we have been taking weather observations, forecasting, researching and surviving (it is a bit easier now) in one of the most treacherous environments on the planet. We know what you can expect when attempting to summit Mount Washington. We offer a forecast throughout the White Mountains Region that is specific to the higher summits. We do this because we are passionate for this environment and we respect it and are always trying to learn as much as we can. Our goal is for everyone to safely enjoy hiking and skiing, driving up the auto road or taking the Cog up top, which is why our forecasts are free to everyone who visits our website. We are a non-profit organization relying greatly on our support from members and anyone that utilizes our data and our forecasts. To continue operating up here on the summit, producing daily forecasts and taking daily weather observations we need your support! We are coming to the end of our annual appeal (TWO DAYS LEFT), short of our goal and in need of additional support. Please donate to this amazing organization so that we can carry on the legacy of the Mount Washington Observatory. Also, so that we can pay rent and keep the heat on when the temperatures drop into the 30s below zero…

DO IT HERE: https://www.mountwashington.org/get-involved/support-the-obs/

Thank you!

Caleb Meute, Weather Observer / Meteorologist

Become a Part of Our Story!

2017-12-27 07:25:40.000 – Eric P. Kelsey, Ph.D., Director of Research

Back in 1926, Dartmouth College sophomore (and future Observer) Bob Monahan convinced a French professor, a Geology assistant, and a classmate to spend several days at the summit of Mount Washington during Christmas break. They stopped at the AMC Pinkham Notch lodge and invited Joe Dodge to join them later at the top if he could. The group of three hoisted a heavy anemometer up the mountain and settled at Camden Cottage. Joe met them at the summit two days later and was greatly inspired by their work to measure wind speed at the summit. Clearly, a flame was lit, and in 1932 Joe Dodge proclaimed the upcoming 1932-33 International Polar Year as the ultimate motivation to reestablish an observatory atop Mount Washington. In an interview on March 3, 1968, Joe recalled:

“Well, because of this announcement Monahan and I decided, well jingles, this is the real reason to establish an observatory on Mount Washington.”

Original 1932 Observers (L-R) Alex McKenzie, Bob Monahan, Joe Dodge and Sal Pagliuca

With a $400 start-up donation by the Academy of Sciences, the Mount Washington Observatory was established in October 1932. Since 1935, hourly observations of various meteorological variables have been taken continuously by our rugged Observers of various ages, expertise, and cultural backgrounds. Only for a portion of two days in 2003 when the TV-8 building caught fire and the Observers evacuated the summit has there been a break in the hourly observations. What’s more is that several variables, namely temperature and relative humidity, have been measured using the same type of instruments during this entire time. The trustworthy sling psychrometer, a dry and a wet bulb thermometer, is slung in the same manner every hour at the summit by an Observer. This consistency in measurement methods, which we say produces a “homogeneous” climate record, over such a long period of time makes the Mount Washington climate record one of the best in the world. Most other weather stations have many missing observations and/or have changed the type of instrumentation they use. In addition, the remote mountaintop location is distant from any significant land-use changes, industrial human activity, and vegetation changes that might impart a local change in temperature, humidity, wind and other variables. The elevated location, higher than any other point for over a thousand miles, provides a robust regional perspective on weather and climate of the lower troposphere.

Weather Observer Tom Padham conducts a distance learning program in 2017

Being able to work with this amazing climate record makes sustaining our work of research and education easier. We have utmost confidence in the summit warming trend we have calculated, as well as the seasonal trends in fog and humidity performed by Seidel et al. (2009). Our education staff and Observers bring our data and research results into K-12 classrooms and allow students to use it to understand weather and climate concepts from a truly amazing place. When we analyze our data, we can make robust, confident conclusions that help advance our knowledge of the weather and climate of the White Mountain region and of mountain meteorology more generally. We collaborate with numerous organizations, ranging from the Appalachian Mountain Club, to learn how climate change is influencing the fragile alpine ecosystem, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to understand the properties of droplets and ice crystals in clouds and how particles, on which cloud droplets form, grow in the atmosphere via chemical reactions.

Plymouth State University meteorology students conducting research on the planetary boundary layer with Dr. Eric Kelsey

As a meteorologist and climatologist interested in mountain meteorology and climate – and those awesome meteorological extremes – there is no other place I would rather work. The passion and dedication of all MWO staff and volunteers make this iconic organization fun, exciting, and highly relevant to the advancement of weather and climate science. There is no better place that is easily accessible that has the unique combination of history, beauty and extremes to inspire visitors of all ages from around the world. It is only through the amazing support of our members and donors that we can continue the grand legacy of scientific research and education that Joe Dodge and others inspired over 85 years ago. Be a part of this amazing story; please give to our annual appeal today.

Eric P. Kelsey, Ph.D., Director of Research

Christmas on the Summit

2017-12-26 22:21:05.000 – Adam Gill, Weather Observer/IT Specialist

Here at the Observatory, we operate 24/7 so some of us have to work for the holidays. This Christmas, it was Tom Padham, Caleb Meute, and I. Christmas on the summit is a quite few days with a little less work that all of us have to do. It is a nice break from normal summit life to be able to relax a bit and enjoy the weather. This year, we got plenty of snow on Christmas with 9 inches of snow falling! In the morning, the winds were very light and actually dropped to zero for a bit around 9am. Once the storm moved off into the Gulf of Maine, the winds picked up quickly getting to hurricane force by 2pm. The blowing snow was greatly reducing visibilities afternoon, to as little as 5 feet, as all the snow that had fallen in the light winds was suspended along with continued snowfall.

After 4pm, Tom got Christmas dinner started. I bought some steaks to bring up for everyone to have a good dinner and have something that we rarely have on the summit. We invited the State Park staff over as well since a few of them also stayed up on the summit for Christmas. The meal became more of a pot luck with State bringing over mashed potatoes, salad, and deviled eggs. We supplied the steaks and stuffing. I was going to make some vanilla ice cream for dessert but I forgot, though with how much we all ate, I don’t think anyone wanted any dessert! After dinner was finished, we watched some of the football games that were on and called family members to wish them a Merry Christmas!