Check Out These Gorgeous Pictures From the Mount Washington Observatory

From the Mount Washington Observatory Facebook page, these pictures show the colors of the sunrise from over 6,000 feet up.  Several feet of Rime ice has collected on the western side.

What is Rime Ice?

According to the Mount Washington Observatory, rime ice forms whenever a cloud passes over the summit.  If the cloud is below freezing, (32 degrees) the moisture inside the cloud stays liquid.  The moment the liquid hits something that is 32 degrees and below, it freezes on contact.

As the rime ice forms, it creates a white, feathery ice that tells the story of where the wind was blowing at the time of the storm.

Rime ice is one of the reasons why the observatory must be manned at all times.  The men and women at the observatory have to go out and knock off the rime ice from the monitoring weather towers.

If you ever wanted to visit the Mount Washington Observatory, they do have lots going on. You can also find out what the current weather status on the summit is anytime by clicking here.

If you've never been to the Summit of Mount Washington and you live here in New Hampshire, you have no excuse not to go.  People from all over the world want to visit and we live here.  The state's not that big, so let's go!