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Mount Washington
Home to "the world's worst weather"
Mount Washington, in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire's White Mountains, is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 feet, and famous far out of proportion to its modest height for its savage weather. It stands where several major storm tracks collide, and its exposed summit endures hurricane-force winds, dense fog, and bitter cold for much of the year - earning it the nickname "home of the world's worst weather."
In 1934 the summit observatory clocked a surface wind gust of 231 miles per hour, which stood as the fastest ever measured on Earth's surface for more than 60 years. Snow can fall in any month, and conditions can turn deadly with startling speed, a danger that has claimed many hikers. Yet a cog railway and an auto road carry visitors to the top, where on rare clear days the view stretches across several states and into Canada.