View Full Version : Its one cold day on the Rock Pile!
The Mount Washington Observatory website indicates windchill warnings for the summit of Mt Washington today.
http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/summit_forecast.php
Windchills of 70 to 80 below zero and winds of around 100 mph. Things should settle a bit tonight with windchills only around 40- 50 below.
Man.. is there anyone out there anywhere that would actually be crazy enough to venture out and hike up there in such conditions? As I see it, hiking in such conditions can't be fun!
I wonder if any whiteblaze member has ever been out in 100 mph winds, never mind the windchills!
David
Blissful
12-08-2008, 14:57
Someone last year I thought did the Huntington Ravine trail in winter and had awesome photos of his adventure.
The Solemates
12-08-2008, 15:26
We had sustained winds over 70mph and wind gusts over 100mph when we went NOBO thru there in late May 2004. One gust was 126 mph. The Rangers closed all parts of the mountain for foot or automobile traffic. When we arrived at the Observatory, we arrived to find it slam packed full of people waiting out the storm.
Slo-go'en
12-08-2008, 17:15
Typical day on the rock pile. Its a little warmer down here in the valley, about 10 degrees :-) I climbed Mt Washington once in Febuary. Not a cloud in the sky. About minus 20 with wind gusts which would drop me to my knees near the summit. I didn't linger to enjoy the view. Can't have any exposed skin under those conditions and a really good wind shell on.
I wonder if any whiteblaze member has ever been out in 100 mph winds, never mind the windchills!
David
I think TOF has done the patio walk.
taildragger
12-08-2008, 18:06
I wonder if any whiteblaze member has ever been out in 100 mph winds, never mind the windchills!
David
Do hurricanes and tornadoes count? :sun
berninbush
12-08-2008, 18:22
Do hurricanes and tornadoes count? :sun
I was gonna say... I did walk out into Ike! Not quite 100 mph here but some pretty stiff wind.
I can't even fathom that kind of cold, though. The coldest I've ever experienced is a few degrees below zero F.
taildragger
12-08-2008, 18:55
I was gonna say... I did walk out into Ike! Not quite 100 mph here but some pretty stiff wind.
I can't even fathom that kind of cold, though. The coldest I've ever experienced is a few degrees below zero F.
I've been below zero a few times snowboarding, but never hiking.
The coldest I've ever been was when I went duck hunting on a lake with 40mph north wind gusts, right off the lake. The high for the morning was 8*F, the dog froze to my leg at one point. I never wanna be that cold and wet again.
neighbor dave
12-08-2008, 19:28
:-? it was 1.6 degrees at work today with a windchill of -15.
it warmed up to 9 degrees with a windchill around -5 :-?
The Old Fhart
12-08-2008, 19:38
DavidNH-"I wonder if any whiteblaze member has ever been out in 100 mph winds, never mind the windchills!"Many times. The highest winds I saw up there were 146MPH. The coldest temps were only -34°F. ;)
Once three of us had to go to the very top of the tower in 120MPH winds at -25°F to remove some rime ice that was plugging up the pitot tube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot-static_system) that senses the wind speed. that wasn't a lot of fun.
mudhead-"I think TOF has done the patio walk."I've been out on the observation deck in winds in excess of 100MPH but I've never got into the 'century club'. To do that you have to walk counter-clockwise around the entire observation deck in sustained winds in excess of 100MPH without touching the deck or the railing. It isn't as easy as you might think. I watched Charlie Lopresti (currently of WGME TV, Maine) try and it took over 20 minutes. Unfortunately the wind dipped to about 95 for a few seconds so it didn't count.:(