Mount Washington Records Coldest Wind Chill Ever
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
Venturing outside onto the mountain to track the system Friday, Francis Tarasiewicz, a staff meteorologist at the Mount Washington Observatory, encountered wind that sounded like a roaring freight train. “There were pieces of ice flying around, lots of ducking and dodging,” he said. “I had a tiny, millimeter-wide area of skin exposure, and it felt like a bee sting.”
His Twitter is fairly entertaining too with some videos of the onsite meteorologists playing around in the wind on a different day.
The first regular meteorological observations on Mount Washington were conducted by the U.S. Signal Service, a precursor of the National Weather Service, from 1870 to 1892. The Mount Washington station was the first of its kind in the world, setting an example followed in many other countries. For many years, the record low temperature was thought to be −47 °F (−43.9 °C) occurring on January 29, 1934, but upon the first in-depth examination of the data from the 19th century at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, a new record low was discovered. Mount Washington's official record low of −50 °F (−45.6 °C) was recorded on January 22, 1885. The official record low daily maximum is −28 °F (−33.3 °C) on February 6, 1995.[18] Highs of 0 °F (−18 °C) or below occur on 13 days annually, while lows at or below 0 °F can be expected from November 17 through April 1; from December to March, temperatures rise above freezing on only 15 days.
“Not Without Peril” makes for some harrowing reading. https://amcstore.outdoors.org/products/not-without-peril-ten...
“From the days when gentlefolk ascended in hoop skirts and wool suits to today's high-tech assaults on wintry summits, this book offers extensive and intimate profiles of people who found trouble on New Hampshire's Presidential Range, from the nineteenth century through the present day.“
Amanoosuc ravine on the other side of My Washington is another place you face avalanches. An experienced Backcountry skier died there a few years ago after being buried under 13 feet of snow during an avalanche.
Kings ravine on Adams and a few other places in the White Mountains are also known for high risk avalanches.
That, combined with the orographic lift as the air flows over the mountain, leads to unusually strong winds.
That's Mount Mitchell--6684 ft versus Washington's 6288 ft. Washington is slightly more prominent than Mitchell (6148 versus 6089).
I had one overnight trip on a sub range where I was trying to cross an exposed ridge that has a 600 foot drop on one side. The wind was so strong that I couldn't move forward without going an equal distance sideways. This was on a balmy 70 degree day in the Summer.
Love that my little local tiny range still has the "worst weather on earth"
The actual temperature was -46°F, basically meaning that an exposed object will chill to -46°F as fast as if the outdoor temperature was -108°F in still air.
But nothing ever reaches far below the -46°F actually.
It just gets there real quick because the wind removes so much heat so much faster.
Edit: Thanks everyone, I've come to assume Alaskan and Canadian winters are extreme. It appears to be slightly less so than I realized.
This story is a little weird bc the coldest temp ever recorded is -128.6 on the Vostok ice sheet in Antarctic which is well below the wind chill.
I also remember reading the book minus 148 about the first winter ascent of Denali in Alaska. The book is named after the coldest temp on the wind chill chart bc those guys survived in conditions that were literally off the chart. If I recall it was -50 to -60 and blowing 100 mph.
Seems like some slightly sensational writing by NYT. I’d maybe accept it if they said lowest wind chill in lower 48
Check the data at [0] 04-Feb-2023 03:49h. Temperature is -47°F and wind is 89mph sustained, wind chill is -108°F. Gusts earlier and later were well over 100mph.
The tropopause actually dipped down below the summit, so these were actual stratospheric conditions.
Sure, there's wind, and there's cold, but not usually in these combinations. Fun times (if you've got the shelter and gear).
When not on mountain tops, weather below -30 (c or f) generally results in calmer winds. Below -40 most weather stops. So epic windchill is actually rather rare. (It hits -40c regularly where i am, with occasional trips towards -50.)
I worked there in the 90s and experienced extreme cold (-53C), but not the wind chill. Astounding bit of trivia: I forgot to plug in my truck and it started. Also, if you've never driven in those conditions, your tires freeze with a flat side and it takes a while to work the bump out of them.
https://news.yahoo.com/threat-50-wind-chills-across-13304775...
Fun fact: the Antarctican interior sometimes gets cold enough to freeze CO2 (if the CO2 were at 1 atmosphere of partial pressure, which it isn't in air.)
In a pair of loafers (my hiking boots were full of mud).
I still have the scar on my ankle.
The weather at the top was ... invigorating ...
I remember the horizontal rain, with my right side, bone dry, and my left side, drenched.
> Mount Washington set a record for coldest wind chill ever recorded at minus 108 degrees.
> The air temperatures at the region’s highest peak went as low as minus 47 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.