It's Raining Fish and Spiders (25 page)

A Trip to -70 Below!

Cold, that's what! One of the coolest places on Earth for weather is in New Hampshire, atop Mount Washington. Before the Europeans arrived, Native Americans called it
Agiocochook
, “Home of the Great Spirit.” During a wild storm in 1934, a gust of wind at 231 mph pushed across the summit. That wind speed still stands as the all-time surface-wind-speed record on Earth! Because of the mountain's unique location, with arctic air pouring in from Canada and its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the jet stream, it's a perfect spot for extreme weather.

Take for instance the recipe that created the record winds. A storm over the Great Lakes, a batch of energy off the coast of North Carolina, and a ridge of high pressure over Canada. It's a concoction that can only come together at this one place in the world. You have to take a trip there to the observatory. I did, and it turned into the story of a lifetime.

I took a producer and a cameraman to the observatory to do a feature story on the work the scientists do there. The first to climb Mount Washington was a guy named Darby Field back in 1642. In 1853—before the Civil War—Tip Top House was built and still stands today. Pretty good construction back then!

The observatory has been recording and disseminating weather information for more than one hundred years, since 1870. It also serves as a benchmark station, which means it's a climatic station with a long record of data obtained in a single location with no change in the environment of the station. It's a part of the Historical Climatic Network of the United States and is used for the measuring of cosmic ray activity in the upper atmosphere, developing robust instrumentation for severe weather environments, and conducting many types of severe weather research and testing. It is truly an interesting and provocative place.

On a summer day, if there's no traffic, you can drive to the top of Mount Washington in about five minutes. Everywhere in the Northeast you see vehicles with bumper stickers that say, “This vehicle climbed Mount Washington.” I used to think how cool that must have been. In the 1970s, road rallies were held where race cars drove to the top in close to a minute.

But in winter, it's totally impossible to drive to the mountain's top in a car, a truck, or even an SUV. You can only get there by snowcat. So now, when I see those bumper stickers, I know that they made the trip in the summertime, and I always say to myself, “Hey, why don't you try it in winter?” Mount Washington is one of the coolest places and most bizarre places I have ever visited.

On our trip to the summit and the observatory, there had been plenty of snow and plenty of cold. At the bottom of the mountain, the sun was out and the wind was calm. It was postcard beautiful. The snowcat driver, a guy who could easily have passed for a
Top Gun
fighter pilot, calmly said, “Put on all your gear because it's a bear at the top.” I thought to myself, “I lived through the Storm of the Century and the Blizzard of 1996; how much worse could it be?” We looked toward the top of the mountain but we could not see it because it was covered in clouds.

We took the snowcat to the top. The vehicle is heated, smooth-riding, and comfy. The ride lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. When we got to the top of the mountain and left the nice, toasty, comfy snowcat, it was as if we had been transported to the North Pole! The wind nearly knocked me to the ground. I grabbed the side of the snowcat and hung on. “Howling” does not even come close to describing the wind at that moment on Mount Washington. Words like “sledgehammer” come to mind. It's a very heavy, constant, lead-weight type of wind…except the lead was coming at us at 55 to 65 mph, and no human can stand upright in a wind of that speed.

The snowcat driver looked out his window at me and said, “That's nothing, weatherman; you are in for the experience of your life.” He was right.

When I looked out across the summit, I thought I was on the moon. It was a crusty landscape of snow and ice. The mountain's slopes have rocky holes and jagged craters that resemble the surface of the moon. Locals call autumn “ankle-breaking season,” because of the number of hikers injured by getting their ankles twisted in those jagged crevices.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce

We had dressed as though we were going to Antarctica. I had on two sets of thermal underwear, two pairs of thermal socks, insulated snow pants, a fleece top under a thermal jacket, and a heavy polar coat on top of that. I wore earmuffs, a thermal cap, and a knit cap over that. A face gaiter covered my entire face (it looked like a hockey mask), and ski goggles protected my eyes. I wore special insulated boots with crampons (ice spikes) attached. I also had a pair of ice climbers, very high-tech ice axes. I looked like a combination of the Michelin Man and Jason from
Friday the 13th
!

On our first day, the mountain scenery brought excitement, a bit of anxiousness, and a sizeable amount of fear. The wind had picked up to 55 to 60 mph; it would have been hard to stand up on dry ground, let alone on feet of ice. The crampons on our boots were the only thing that kept us from being blown away. Although we looked like Neil Armstrong bouncing around on the moon, we were able to work our way around the observatory and admire the beauty of the rime ice that had collected on everything. The temperature was near 0ºF (-17.8°C) and the windchill was -33ºF (-36.1°C). We could stay out only 15 to 20 minutes in that cold at the very most, even with all our gear on.

We had to make it one of the fastest shoots I've ever done. We couldn't shoot longer than 15 minutes because the camera's lens and internal parts would freeze! Our personal still cameras and cell phones would not work for more than just a few minutes in the cold either. Once we earned the world record for shooting a story, we returned to the warmth of the observatory, which is a half-circular concrete and steel bunker. The structure is plenty strong, though it does make some eerie, creaky noises when the wind really gets going.

Mount Washington, by global standards, is a small peak; regardless, its weather can rival that of some of the most extreme and rugged places on earth. There are colder places, like Antarctica, and snowier places, like Alaska or the Cascade Range, but on this mountain, there are days each winter when the combination of life-threatening weather factors is similar to the extreme weather that has been recorded in the polar regions and on peaks four times Mount Washington's height. We found this out firsthand.

After we awoke the next morning in the observatory, and as we packed our bags to head back down the mountain in the snowcat, the observatory staff gave us an update on the weather that was quite shocking. One of the biggest storms of the season was blowing in fast from Canada. The storm was forecast to be so cold and windy, we would not be able to get down from the mountain that day. The oil inside the snowcat would freeze in the extreme cold that was on the way! So we were stranded on top of Mount Washington for who knew how long.

The monster storm was due to arrive that evening after dark. We could tell that the wind was beginning to pick up by the sounds the observatory structure was making—moaning, creaking, and groaning—as the blasts of wind struck it. I wanted to feel the full force of this storm at its height.

The phones began ringing in the observatory. It was the staff back at the television station, wanting to know if we were okay. Radio stations and newspapers were also calling, to get interviews and updates on the storm, plus to find out how a meteorologist could get stuck in a snowstorm! We called our families to let them know that the mountain did not want us to leave.

As night came to Mount Washington, so did the abominable wind monster. I suited up with the crew to head outside to the observation platform, which was in the direct path of the wind. It was dark, but the lights of the observatory helped us to see the snow being blasted toward us. As I opened the door, the wind snapped my head back, causing the back of my head to hit the iron door. Ouch! Blurry-eyed, I crawled up the ladder with the wind and snow smashing me against the observatory. Had the structure not been behind me, I would have been blown away. You can only hold on to the railing for so long before exhaustion sets in. I crouched down on the top of the platform, clinging to the rails for dear life. The noise was unbelievable. The wind
hurt
. Under all that protection, even my hair hurt!

I was terrified. I thought about what it must have been like for the people who have tried to brave this type of weather to climb this mountain. There have been 135 fatalities on Mount Washington since 1849, many of them involving ill-prepared hikers, skiers, and climbers. Many of them had no idea what they were facing. Many expected conditions at the top to be similar to those in the valley, only to find themselves, like me, in a whole different treacherous world.

Mount Washington, New Hampshire
NASA

The winds were clocked by the anemometer at 100 mph and the temperature was –20ºF (-6.7°C). That gave us a wind chill of -69ºF (-56.1°C)! What's that like? When I spit, it froze instantly in the air and hit the observatory as a piece of ice. I could see my breath as it came out. It made a hissing, crackling sound as it immediately froze. I found a square piece of thin ice and when I broke it, it sounded as if I had broken a piece of glass. The rime ice that coated the buildings—shaped by the high winds—made that same glass-shattering sound when we broke that, too. Where the ice was thick, I tried to hammer it with the ice ax, but the tool could not penetrate the ice and just bounced off. Once we got back to the iron door of the observatory, I took a cup of water and tossed it outside; it froze in the air instantly and blew past the building. Then I took a cup of hot coffee and tossed it outside; it, too, froze in the air and blew away. The sound of the water freezing was like crackling, and the hot coffee was even louder!

When I returned to the observatory and took off my gear, my face hurt. My nose burned, my feet and hands were frozen, and I was exhausted. Even through all that gear, the cold wind sent piercing daggers all though my aching body. I have stood outdoors in snowstorms, blizzards, and even hurricanes, but I have never experienced anything that compares to this.

The cold wind made its way through my face gaiter and burned the skin off my nose and forehead. I lost a couple of toenails and several of my fingernails turned black. To this day, when I go out in the cold, my fingers and toes remind me of that unforgettable adventure. I had heard that once you get frostbite, you are more likely to feel those effects again more quickly the next time you are in the cold, and now I know that's true.

Late the next day, we were able to leave the mountain. The storm had passed and the temperatures had warmed to levels at which the snowcat could operate. I couldn't believe the change in the conditions. It was sunny, with blue skies and no wind. It was absolutely serene and beautiful. The Presidential Range and Tuckerman's Ravine were covered in crystals and shining brilliantly. That's what you can run into at Mount Washington. One day horrific and the next day calm. We thanked the staff of Mount Washington Observatory for their hospitality and for keeping us safe, as well as for the learning experience. I would go back again in an instant—in the summertime!

Colored Snow

I'm sure you've heard the universal warnings, “Be careful, do not eat the yellow snow!” Yuk!

But, what if it tasted like watermelon? Yum, yum! Now that's extreme! In some mountainous areas, Colorado especially, it is not uncommon to find pink snow falling from the sky. The pink is caused by a type of alga called
Chlamydomonas nivalis
. It's called “watermelon snow” because it actually has a taste very similar to watermelon.

Can you image, walking outside after a snowfall and finding pink snow all over the ground? And it's safe to eat? At least the locals there say it is safe to eat…better in small quantities, I'm sure!

There are more than 350 kinds of algae that survive in very cold temperatures. These algae can turn the snow many colors, such as black, brown, or yellow. (Just don't confuse it with the other kind of yellow snow!)