We do not know Ward's exact location. The weather conditions prevented the Spot signal from reaching satellites for most of the past three weeks. Ward called on Monday to let us know it may be several days before we talk again. When I asked about the Spot he said his headlamp batteries are running low, so he's saving the Spot batteries in case they are needed for the headlamp.
He's carrying 5 days of food supplies as he enters "the Whites" of New Hampshire. From what we can tell he will be at or near Mt. Washington today (Wednesday). At 6,288 feet Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern U.S. It is notorious for extreme weather conditions, even in the summer months, and held the record for the highest recorded wind speed until 1996 (thank you Wikipedia).
As of 7:59 PM this evening, the Mount Washington Observatory reports the following conditions:
Summit Wind Speed - Current - 55.6 MPH, 24-Hr Peak - 89.2 MPF
Summit Temperature - 55F.
And from the site http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/ for today. A lot going on this forecast period, all due to a strong low centered over eastern Canada that will be bringing a significant impact to the summits over the forecast period. To start, this morning, a warm, moist air flow will continue to keep the summits in the fog or under cloudy skies as a strong cold front approaches from the west. The warm surge of air ahead of the incoming cold front may reach into the 60s which would approach our record for the day of 63F, but this seems unlikely given the current set up. The warm, moist air however will be a primer for the rest of the days events. As the front approaches, the warm moist air will allow for a few scattered rain showers or thunderstorms to pop up on its onset and as it passes this afternoon and evening, these scattered showers are expected to develop into strong to severe convective cells. These cells are expected to bring strong rain, large hail of an inch in diameter or more, strong and sudden downdraft winds, and continuous lightning, as well as the slight potential for tornadoes in lower lying areas. These convective cells are expected to continue into the evening as the front passes towards the east.
Behind this front, a very cold air mass is expected, dropping temperatures from 50s today to the 20s by tomorrow. So as a trailing upper level trough passes into Thursday, a few upslope snow showers will be possible in addition to glaze ice or rime ice formation on summits that remain in the fog. And lastly, this passing low will make for a very tight pressure gradient that will bring high winds over the forecast period with possible 100 mph gusts overnight. Century winds may also be possible with the thunderstorm downdrafts but the 100 mph gusts overnight will be purely from the gradient driven winds, so they wont be nearly as short lived as the downdrafts may be.
Click thisWebcam link for views from and of the mountain.
Mt. Washington has been a concern of mine after hearing and reading stories about the mountain and hikers. Please keep Ward in your prayers.
End
Sounds like Ward is in for a true White Mountains experience. The good news mom and dad is there is a wonderful "hut" system in the Whites as you know. Very few long distance hikers make it thru this section without taking advantage of "indoors" living for a few days. He'll have some weather inbetween huts, but can always hold up given a weather radio forecast by hut staff. These guys are seasoned, they know when not to leave safe ground. I'm sure we'll get a story or two out of the Whites!
ReplyDeleteChecked on the Hut schedule in the White Mountain range. The AMC (appalachian mountain club)maintains the huts starting in early June. Some are open this week most are not. Upon further investigation it looks as if all have staff reporting by this time. This is good news, no grungy AMC staff member would turn a scruffy thru hiker away in a million years. In fact they welcome their service for a free night stay and a warm meal. Its comforting to me that the huts are occupied and staffed! The wind is coming but at least Ward is inside.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to Carolina Kid for his enthusiasm and continuous support...."Lunch Box" is very strong, determined and level-headed (usually...fraternity brothers may beg to differ!!!) so I am sure he is ok but I cannot express how eager I am to make contact with him. I am ready to see my son and feed him an enormous meal!
ReplyDeleteBeth
I just checked the website for weather and hut schedule in the whites. It looks as if Mizpah, Lakes of the Cloud, and most importantly Madison Springs are open and weather improving from what it has been. Keep in mind the Mt Washington visitor center is up there also, he may have past it over the last day or two. After Madison Springs they will have a huge drop into Pinkham Notch, a very low elevation and safe location. From there he can access Gorham NH for lodging if need be. You may be interested in looking at this website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.outdoors.org/recreation/tripplanner/go/backcountry-weather.cfm