Lifestyle

Marty the Cat Mans the Worst Weather Spot in U.S.

By Karen Nichols

, December 27, 2008

It’s Raining Cats And Dogs!

(Marty, the newest weather cat.)

When the weather gets cold like it is right now, we spend an exciting evening checking out the weather at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, which claims to have the world’s worst weather.* (Today’s peak gust was 128.5 mph, and after bottoming out a 3 degrees, current temp is a balmy 15 degrees F [- 7 wind chill]). Mt Washington is home to hard-working Marty, the observatory’s official mascot. Formerly a resident of the Conway Area Humane Society, two-year-old Marty assumed the post earlier this year, after winning 53% of the popular vote in a runoff against two other worthy catestants.

Marty’s predecessor was Nin (pictured below), a popular mascot who retired at the age of 18 after serving about a dozen cold and windy years at the observatory.

Bundle up, Marty, and stay warm!

*It is the combination of extreme cold, wet, high winds, icing conditions and low visibility consistently found atop Mount Washington which earn it the title “Home of the World’s Worst Weather”. As William L. Putnam states in The Worst Weather on Earth, “There may be worse weather, from time to time, at some forbidding place on Planet Earth, but it has yet to be reliably recorded.” Despite its relatively low elevation (6,288′) Mount Washington is located at the confluence of three major storm tracks, and being the highest point in New England, it generally takes the brunt of passing storms. The steepness of the slopes, combined with the north/south orientation of the range, cause the winds to accelerate dramatically as they rise up from the valleys. The highest recorded windspeed at Mt Washington was 232 mph, recorded on April 12, 1934. — SOURCE: mountwashington.org.

[PHOTO SOURCE: Marty’s photo: mountwashington.org; Nin’s photo: Boston.com]