Weekend Window: Mount Washington

New Hampshire has received a lot of media coverage because of the debate hosted by ABCNews, facebook and local ABC affiliate WMUR, and the upcoming primaries, but the New England state has another claim to fame.

Mount Washington, N.H. has some of the country's worst weather and one of its highest Northeastern peaks.

(ABC News)
More Photos

New Hampshire is the home of Mount Washington, which is the highest peak in the Northeast United States.

Mount Washington is 6,288 feet above sea level.

"In the winter time the only way up is by snow cab," Kenneth Rancourt of the Mount Washington Observatory said. "Our observers live at the top for eight days in a row."

It's a frigid existence for workers, who face wind chills that can reach 60 to 70 degrees below zero.

"The winds in the tower are definitely above hurricane force. At one point they gusted up to 118," Rancourt said.

"On the summit of Mount Washington we get hurricane-force winds about 100 days a year," he added.

Yet researchers don't let the temperatures interfere with their work, which includes studying weather.

"Where we sit, as the highest point in New England, we have a unique opportunity to observe weather phenomena that doesn't happen anywhere else," said weather observer David Balfrey. "You see things that you wouldn't see anywhere else. Even if you go to some big mountains, you don't get to see what you'll see living on top of this mountain."