Summit forecast for 6,288 ft · Presidential · Updated 3x daily
As of August 17, 2026 at 3:40 AM ET
Mount Washington (6,288 ft) is currently 48°F (feels like 41°F) with foggy and SSW winds at 17 mph, gusting to 34 mph. Today's freezing level is 13,944–15,092 ft. Expect the summit to run about 16°F colder than the trailhead. Trail conditions are rated Dangerous.
Valley forecasts don't apply up high — temperatures drop about 3.6°F per 1,000 ft on Mount Washington.
| Elevation | Temp Range | Max Wind | Wind Chill (Low) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit 6,288 ft | 52° – 56°F | 34 mph | 52°F |
| Treeline 4,000 ft | 57° – 64°F | 31 mph | 57°F |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 63° – 72°F | 12 mph | 63°F |
Freezing level today: 13,944–15,092 ft
~3.6°F drop per 1,000ft
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Today Aug 17 | Tomorrow Aug 18 | Wednesday Aug 19 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | fog | rain | fog | fog | fog | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 54° 53° | 56° 54° | 55° 53° | 53° 50° | 50° 47° | 51° 49° | 51° 50° | 54° 51° | 52° 49° |
| Chill °F | — | — | — | 48° | 43° | 44° | 46° | — | 41° |
| Wind mph | 28 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 23 | 28 |
| Gust mph est. | 45 | 26 | 13 | — | 14 | 21 | — | 37 | — |
| Storm risk | — | mod | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | 0.5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Freezing ft | 14,513 ft | 14,410 ft | 12,789 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Vis mi | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | <0.1 | clear | clear | clear | clear |
| UV | 0 | 3 | — | 1 | 5 | — | 5 | 6 | — |
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| Elevation | Today Aug 17 | Tomorrow Aug 18 | Wednesday Aug 19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 6,288 ft | 53/54° 28 | 50/53° 5 | 50/51° 11 |
| 5,800 ft | 54/55° 29 | 51/54° 3 | 52/53° 10 |
| 5,000 ft | 55/57° 29 | 53/55° 8 | 54/57° 8 |
| 4,100 ft | 57/59° 26 | 55/57° 11 | 57/61° 6 |
| 3,300 ft | 59/62° 20 | 58/59° 11 | 60/65° 5 |
| 2,500 ft | 61/65° 12 | 61/61° 8 | 56/70° 4 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 63/67° 10 | 62/63° 7 | 57/72° 4 |
4 more days of forecast — plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
Conditions synthesized from: NWS Higher Summits Forecast, NOAA Open-Meteo, Mount Washington Observatory, NETC Trip Reports, NOHRSC Snow Depth, Mt. Washington Avalanche Center, USGS Stream Levels, OpenWeather Air Quality.
AI-generated from public data. Always verify conditions before heading out — backcountry weather can change quickly.
As of August 17, 2026 at 3:40 AM ET: Mount Washington (6,288 ft) is currently 48°F (feels like 41°F) with foggy and SSW winds at 17 mph, gusting to 34 mph. Today's freezing level is 13,944–15,092 ft. Expect the summit to run about 16°F colder than the trailhead. Trail conditions are rated Dangerous.
Temperatures drop roughly 3.6°F per 1,000 ft of elevation on Mount Washington. Today the trailhead (2,000 ft) tops out around 72°F while the summit (6,288 ft) reaches about 56°F, with a wind chill as low as 52°F.
Winds at the summit of Mount Washington are forecast to reach 34 mph today, with 31 mph at treeline. Above treeline there is no shelter from wind — plan layers around wind chill, not air temperature.
Today's freezing level (13,944–15,092 ft) is above the 6,288 ft summit of Mount Washington, so the full route should stay above freezing.