Mount Washington Observers
an environment less ordinary
Four Days, 10 Minutes of Sunshine
Saturday, Feb 14, 2004 (03:17
PM)
The current summit crew has now been stationed at the observatory for four days. Since the beginning of the shift there has been only 10 minutes of sunshine recorded. Morale and motivation are starting to run low. It appears now that is it becoming a futile endeavor to hope for the fog to retreat and to have the sun to shine down upon the summit. Instead we sit and gaze out the windows on a bleak and gray world, a world which appears alien as the visibility as at best 200 feet due to the copious amounts of blowing snow and rime coupled with the thick fog. Stepping outside into the nothingness you begin to think that this place is so amazingly isolated from the rest of the civilized world, even though the summit is only a mere 4000 feet above the valleys below. Indeed, it is amazing the raw power the weather has upon the different parts of the earth, especially when those different parts are in such proximity to one another.
Lucky for us we do have the ability to stay in touch with the outside world, as we have been visited by an Edu-trip a couple of days ago and now we are greeted with the presence of a hiking trip. The interaction between ourselves and our guests is a great way to keep our spirits up and for us to forget about the forbidding weather just on the outside of our humble observatory walls.
Included is a picture of the previous visiting Edu-trip guests. Also in the picture are the observatory's very own Bryan Yeaton, Ann Posegate, and Wayne Peterson. Bryan and Ann lead this Edu-trip and taught our guests all about the power of weather and it effects on Mount Washington. Wayne is our fearless snow tractor operator, and is the one who makes sure that the all of the crew and guests are transported up and down the mountain safely. Thanks to all that help to keep this observatory operational!
Tim Markle - Meteorologist
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THE MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVERS
