February 2, 2023
WE CALL IT SATURDAY:
Is climate change to blame for the extreme cold? Researchers say there could be a connection. (Amanda Gokee, February 1, 2023, Boston Globe)
This weekend could bring record-setting cold, with temperatures as low as 101 degrees below zero with wind chill on the summit of Mount Washington, home to some of New England's most extreme weather. In Concord, N.H., it could be as cold as 40 degrees below zero with wind chill. [...]Temperatures predicted at the summit are cold enough to cause frostbite in a minute or less, Tarasiewicz said. In spite of the danger, the atmosphere at the observatory is mostly one of excitement."We're all sort of looking at the forecasts and the numbers in disbelief, but we're grinning the whole time," he said. "There's definitely an excited buzz up here with this type of weather. It's sort of why we signed up to work at a place like this and especially if there's a chance to break an all-time record low up here on the summit."The current record of 47 degrees below zero (that's without wind chill) was established at the observatory in 1934. On Friday night the ambient temperature is expected to fall to between 35 degrees below zero and 50 degrees below zero, he said. Winds could reach 60 to 105 miles per hour, according to the latest forecast.
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 2, 2023 7:03 AM