Impossible to ditch in a field (almost)

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
nk.net...


You should see Mt Fairweather. It comes straight out of the sea to
15,300
and probably has much worse weather than Mt Washington but there isn't a
weather station on the summit to prove it. Also the NWS started using a
new
wind chill chart a few years ago which only gives about half as much drop
due to wind as the previous chart. There are no more sub -100F on the
new
chart which goes to -45F and 60mph.
http://www.weatherimages.org/data/windchill.html


Headed back to Alaska next summer, might see if time allows for a visit.
Still, Mt. Washington's conditions are surprisingly brutal:

http://www.mountwashington.com/weather/index.html

In December and January there is a 1-in-3 chance of winds over 100MPH in
any
24-hour period and the average high temperature in July is 53F. That's
about
the same as the average *low* temperature in Fairbanks, AK at that time of
year. I'm sure if you went up into the Brooks Range or Siberia you could
find worse, though.

-cwk.


Most of the big Alaskan moutains probably have worse weather than Mt
Washington but there is nobody there in the dark months to record
conditions. Same for the Himalaya. The wind usually isn't bad on Denali
until you reach 16,400' and doesn't get really bad until bove Denali pass at
18,200'. If you took all the people who have ever been at or above Denali
pass in Dec-Mar in the past 100yrs, the total time spent there is probably
less than two weeks and almost none of it in bad weather. The first winter
ascent got pinned down for one of those weeks at Denali pass in winds
estimated at over 150mph.with temps of -58F. They named the book -148F for
the chill factor. The weather on Fairweather and Logan is reportedly worse
than Denali but I have never been to either.

Similiarly many of the worst hurricane winds are also unrecorded because the
weather instrument were destroyed. In one hurricane (I forget the name) the
beach sand was making sparks when it impacted concrete! Think about that!

I have never heard of another small mountain that comes close to Mt.
Washington though.

Mike
MU-2