Mount Washington weather (NH)

http://www.mountwashington.org/

Current conditions at the summit of Mt. Washington, NH

An August winter storm with hurricane force winds takes its toll on unsuspecting hikers.

Mt. Washington has some brutal weather up top. As of 7:25pm EST, Jan. 23, 2011, weather conditions were Fog / Windy; Wind from WNW at 63mph gusting to 75mph, -29°F, Feels Like: -74°

1. Does Mount Washington really have the world's worst weather?

It is the combination of extreme cold, wet, high winds, icing conditions and low visibility consistently found atop Mount Washington which earn it the title "Home of the World's Worst Weather". As William L. Putnam states in The Worst Weather on Earth, "There may be worse weather, from time to time, at some forbidding place on Planet Earth, but it has yet to be reliably recorded." Despite its relatively low elevation (6,288') Mount Washington is located at the confluence of three major storm tracks, and being the highest point in New England, it generally takes the brunt of passing storms. The steepness of the slopes, combined with the north/south orientation of the range, cause the winds to accelerate dramatically as they rise up from the valleys. http://www.mountwashington.org/about/faq.php

Yup, doin' what it does best.

Oh, look, a bird is flying.

Once I climbed mount washington barefoot.

On a beautiful summer day with no wind.

My God it is cold out there.




Yeeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh

I've never climbed it. I sort of want to this winter. My friend says he did it with his high school, so I guess it is possible for amateurs to do it.

The most common way to ascend it is from Pinkham Notch by the Tuckerman's Ravine trail [rt: 8.4 miles, 4,300 feet, 6:20]. The first 2.4 miles, to the Hermit Lake shelters, is wide and relatively smooth going. But do not be fooled, you are going up, climbing about 1,800 feet in these 2.4 miles. The White Mountain Guide describes this section well, noting " ... its moderate but relentless climb ...". Soon the trail attacks the ravine headwall, here it becomes really steep! The last section, up the summit cone of Mt. Washington, is another steep ascent over large rocks, more "rock-hopping" than trail walking.

Less crowded routes are available from Pinkham. The Lion's Head trail is about the same length as the Tuckerman's Ravine trail, it is steeper and rougher. In exchange you get better views and less crowds (Until you reach the summit of Mt. Washington, which is always crowded). You may wish to avoid the steep rocks on the way down by returning via Tuckerman's Ravine. http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/washington.html#Tucks

Sounds like a blast in the winter, just need a space helmet to prevent frostbite.

Shaikoten said:

Once I climbed mount washington barefoot.

On a beautiful summer day with no wind.

You're lucky you didn't encounter any inclement weather! These folks weren't so fortunate. They got caught by an unexpectedly cruel winter storm above the treeline... in August.

March has seen repeated days of 100+mph sustained winds. I find it very odd that you go up a few thousand feet and there is a perpetual raging hurricane on top of the mountain.

The passing low will also be boosting winds this morning with sustained winds of around 100 mph expected for the better part of the day.

It's 62 degrees here in Amherst (100 or so miles southwest of Mt. Washington) and 29 degrees at the summit of Mt. Wash with 100+ wind right now.

Temp...................Wind...........Gust............W. Chill
29.5°F 257° (W),.. 101.4 mph,.. 107.0 mph,.. 5.6°F

Yeah, I was up there when I was a kid.
No crazy weather besides being windy as fuck.

On March 11, 2011 Mount Washington Observatory's Cara Rudio said:

Thus far, March has been a brute, delivering winds at or above hurricane force almost every single day, with winds above 100mph four days already this month. Last Thursday the mercury hit negative 23--a whopping 20 degrees below average--and extensive icing knocked out our internet and webcams for the better part of the day today.

I've never been up it. I have to plan a trip sometime.

EDIT 03-18-11 19:21: Wow, right now only 3mph breeze right! But it's still cold at 8.8 degrees F. http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/

EDIT 04-05-11 21:08: 91mph wind howling right now. :D

What do you think the most snow Mt. Washington has gotten for the entire month of May?

a. 3.2 inches
b. 11.6 inches
c. 37.9 inches
d. 95.8 inches

e. all of the above

f. none of the above

g. neither e nor f.

<a href="http://classic.wunderground.com/global/stations/89606.html?bannertypeclick=big2"><img src="http://weathersticker.wunderground.com/weathersticker/big2_both_cond/language/classic/global/stations/89606.gif" alt="Click for Vostok, Antarctica Forecast" border="0" height="60" width="468" /></a>

pwnt

lol.

8 feet of snow in May is a helluva lot more interesting than rain and drizzle in Yorkshire you tit-nosed bint.

Excerpt from an August winter storm that I posted awhile ago:

Click The Fury of Mount Washington for the entire account.

Tavis was very stiff, he was not helping much at
all at that point, kind of a dead weight or even worse than
that, he was a sort of resisting weight.” Lars wasn’t sure of
Tavis’ mental state, “His speech was slurred and I guess he
recognized that I came back down alone and he asked ‘How’s
my dad?’ and I said we’re going to go back up and get him.”

Lars got back to the hut at 7:40. He went in through the
kitchen door and found Emily and said, “We’ve got to talk —
there’s something serious going on out there.” The kitchen
and the dining room and the crew room were all crowded
with people and Emily didn’t want everyone in the hut
overhearing what Lars had to say, so she hustled him and
Alexei down the aisle between the dining room tables and out
the dining room door and into the dingle that serves as a wind
break, a dank shelter with the space of two telephone booths.
Lars said, “There’s a guy dying up there.” He used a strong
intensifier and this all happened so fast that Emily hadn’t
pulled the door shut behind them. She shot him a warning
glance as she latched the dining room door and at the same
time she said to herself, “Oh my god — we’ve got a major
thing going on here.”

The dingle didn’t provide much shelter, so Emily had a
hurried conference out there. Alexei was hopeful; he hadn’t
been out in the storm and he didn’t quite believe it could be
that bad. The crew had been out in some pretty bad weather
that summer and his feeling was, “Come on, are you sure we
can’t go out there?” Lars was pessimistic about Don Barr’s
chances and he hadn’t been able to move Tavis along either,
but the boy was much nearer the hut and in better condition,
so that was the priority.

-----------------

Alexei was new to this. “It’s August and I didn’t maybe think it was a life or death thing, you have this concept that it’s summer and he’s pretty close to the hut, it’s no big deal, but you have this winter storm...”

My car climbed Mt. Washington.

HumanBones said:

My car climbed Mt. Washington.

pic of bumpersticker or it didn't happen.