Posted on 04/12/2009 5:00:05 AM PDT by billorites
“Brian Clark, who has researched extensively what has become known simply as the “Big Wind.”
There’s a Ted Kennedy flatulence joke there somewhee......
231 mph is impressive. To put things in perspective, 80 mph is generally considered to be the wind speed that will just lift an average human into the air.
May 3, 1999, mobile doppler radar units operated by the National Weather Service recorded winds of 301 MPH in an F5 tornado. This was recorded near Bridge Creek, just on the southwest side of Oklahoma City. The recorded wind speed was +- 20mph.
One wonders how a wooden building remained standing, even if chained to the ground.
I know, I read the article.
People find it hard to believe that a “hill” in New England can be so dangerous. Those are people who haven’t been there. It has snowed every month of the year on Mt Washington and people have frozen to death every month of the year there. It’s less than 7000 feet high but has amazing weather.
Which makes you the exception ;o
“I think Mount Washington has claimed the lives of more visiters than any other mountain in North America.”
Yea, the last time I checked, downshifting an automatic transmission was not on a driver’s test. Bottom line, if you are going to operate machinery, take a few minutes to understand it (especially you feminists).
I took the Cog Railway up Mount Washington last summer.
That was really cool.
Towards the top it seems like your on a different planet.
Most of fatalities were hikers. I’m not counting traffic and rail accidents. It’s quit a narrow road, with a shear drop and no guard rail in places. My wife made me turn around about 2/3’s of the way up, first time I attempted it. Actually, since most people trust their own driving, I had her drive up. She pulled into a parking spot about 2/3’s up and had me drive down.
I came back latter in my 4WD standard transmission Ford Ranger and took it myself, no real problem. There have only been two fatalities on the mountain road, one a carriage accident in 1880 and an auto accident in 1984 due to brake failure.
They have a cog railway in operation since 1869, that suffered a derailment in 1967, killing eight passengers.well.
I’ve been up the Rockpile many times and it never ceases to amaze me how violently different the weather can be at altitude. I’ve started out at the base on cloudy, cool early summer days and encountered such ferocious winds and squalls upon passing the treeline that you’d think you were on another planet. The Observatory is quite impressive and they have a nice gift shop. One of the things you notice while inside (other than you’re no longer being buffeted by the wind) is the thickness of the glass around the building, necessitated by the power of nature outside.
When I was there in the summer, there were some guys working on the instrumentation on the roof, speaking German. I assume they were either Swiss or Austrian. Funny that they didn’t speak Swiss or Austrian, though.
LOL. Better keep Obama away from Mt. Washington. When he finds out there are no minorities stationed there, he'll demand an investigation.
Cue Grouch Marx: “With winds like this, who needs anemometers?”
40 years ago, I stayed overnight in one of the buildings at the top of Mt. Washington. (I knew someone who worked there.) This was in July, and the normal winds sounded like a hurricane. Can’t imagine what’s it like during a storm.
Now that’s funny!
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