How do we keep folks from hiking Saturday?

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

Dr. Dasypodidae

Well-known member
VFTT Supporter
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
Messages
2,439
Reaction score
277
Location
Thornton, NH
I was reading, long ago, about how when it gets really cold down in Antartica, when the wind blows harder, it warms up a bit due to friction. They could watch the temps rise as the wind gusted.

Yes, I think that is correct. Note the MWOBS temperature has appeared to flatline at -46.1 F for the past few hours.
 

bikehikeskifish

Well-known member
VFTT Supporter
Joined
Oct 4, 2006
Messages
6,093
Reaction score
540
Location
New Hampshire
Graph shows -46.9 at 0400 today - 20-minute granularity... green line is mine.

attachment.php

Tim
 

Attachments

  • 2023-02-04_06-49-39.jpg
    2023-02-04_06-49-39.jpg
    106.2 KB · Views: 546

DayTrip

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
3,589
Reaction score
60
So, does Don Adams Get Smart quote, "Missed it by that much" apply:)

It showed a 24 hr low of -47.1 this morning. Was the record -47.0? I assumed it was rounded on that summary screen so don't know if it is "official".

On the wind chill do they post an official number for that somewhere? The lowest one I saw last night was -109. That doesn't seem to be recorded as officially based onsome Googling I did looking for the record last night. I know it's really an estimated statistic versus an official measurable number but I was still curious to know.

EDIT: The F6 for the day shows - 46 deg F and notes a daily and monthly record so I guess we did indeed "miss it by that much".
 
Last edited:

TEO

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
1,017
Reaction score
92
Location
New England
Screenshot 2023-02-04 at 9.57.02 AM.jpg

Here's the MWOBS screen shot showing -47.1 ºF for a 24-hour low. I saw -109º F windchill late last night, too. The NOAA's windchill calculator won't calculate windchills for winds faster than 110 m.p.h. The windchill at -47.1º F with 110 m.p.h. winds would be -112.1º F, -110.3º F with 100 m.p.h. wind, and -108.3º F with 90 m.p.h. winds.
 

iAmKrzys

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
546
Reaction score
2
Location
New Jersey
I wonder a bit how accurate and reliable these measurements are? About 10 years ago there was a lot noise about neutrino that appeared to travel faster than light until eventually it was discovered that it was likely due to a faulty connection between a GPS receiver and a computer: https://www.livescience.com/18603-error-faster-light-neutrinos.html

Still, most likely this temperature measurement is not less accurate than the one that set the record before.
 
Last edited:

SpencerVT

Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
397
Reaction score
5
Location
Brattleboro, Vermont
As I understand it, the Mount Washington record low ambient temperature was -47.
I saw the Observatory recorded -47.1, so it would appear that it has beaten the record low.
Wow.
 

skiguy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 31, 2004
Messages
3,639
Reaction score
237
Location
MWV NH
From The Obs Facebook Page around noon time today: Mars has nothing on the Home of the World’s Worst Weather! For 90 years, Mount Washington Observatory has persevered on top of the Northeast’s highest peak in the name of scientific research and public education. Operating out of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington State Park, our dedicated team of weather observers are on the summit collecting data every hour of every day all year long. Last night they were there to measure an actual temperature of -47° F near 3:00 a.m., matching the Observatory's record low set in 1934, and they experienced windchill temperatures approaching -110°F.
 

Dr. Dasypodidae

Well-known member
VFTT Supporter
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
Messages
2,439
Reaction score
277
Location
Thornton, NH
One snowmobile crash in Columbia now posted on the F&G site, so perhaps hikers made it through the weekend unscathed. There was a decrease in the number of reports for Saturday but lots for Sunday on the NETC site.
 

B the Hiker

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1,146
Reaction score
93
Location
Middletown, CT
Certainly the standard for negligence would have changed on Saturday, had someone been in need of a rescue.
 

skiguy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 31, 2004
Messages
3,639
Reaction score
237
Location
MWV NH
Certainly the standard for negligence would have changed on Saturday, had someone been in need of a rescue.
Negligence is a continuum not a standard. Recklessness is within that continuum and resides farther towards one end of that continuum. As mentioned here many times before when this subject comes up it will be all about the Judges and the Lawyers. At this point no standards have been set. The system has not been exercised to any degree to set standards and or precedents on that continuum as most cases have been settled out of court. On the positive side we were fortunate this past weekend not to have had to test the continuum. Therefore IMO as stated before we don't need to do anything more to keep people out of the woods as the system in place successfully worked.
 
Last edited:

ChrisB

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
1,512
Reaction score
67
Location
Not quite yet
So when all was said n done, no SAR callouts (that I've heard about) over the weekend from HELL!!

People paid attention to warnings and weather predictions, realized they were not little supermen/women, and stayed low or stayed home.

A victory for good ole common sense. From Franconia to Facebook I salute you all!

I did see a FB entry from a gal in an Ice Fest seminar. She said the only way to stay warm on Sat was to continually hike up n down from the base of Willy's. Ouch!
 

B the Hiker

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1,146
Reaction score
93
Location
Middletown, CT
Negligence is a continuum not a standard. Recklessness is within that continuum and resides farther towards one end of that continuum. As mentioned here many times before when this subject comes up it will be all about the Judges and the Lawyers. At this point no standards have been set. The system has not been exercised to any degree to set standards and or precedents on that continuum as most cases have been settled out of court. On the positive side we were fortunate this past weekend not to have had to test the continuum. Therefore IMO as stated before we don't need to do anything more to keep people out of the woods as the system in place successfully worked.

Negligence is a standard.
 

Dr. Dasypodidae

Well-known member
VFTT Supporter
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
Messages
2,439
Reaction score
277
Location
Thornton, NH
There are legal standards to determine simple negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness, which one could argue fall on a continuum from least to most offensive. I am not a lawyer, but I can look up this stuff on the internets. :)
 

Mike P.

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
3,559
Reaction score
86
Location
Colchester, CT
A standard that is argued in Courts in every county, in America and decided by an everchanging body of jurists as directed by a judge and after listening to two smart people argue against one another. Yes, sometimes the case seems stupid, however, one of the smart people have to raise a shadow of doubt, or perhaps in certain circumstances a reasonable person might think that's okay. This standard is an evolving and changing term that is different in NYC than it is in Butte, Houston or Nome.

If people started taking selfies shirtless in the winter on summits and posting them, and you could if you layered up immediately afterwards, could one assume from evidence on the internet, shirts were not necessary? I see there is a sub-group of hikers who are having a beer on the summit, how much alcohol is okay and how much is stupid when walking?
 
Top