BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
HIGH CLOUDS CLEARING AWAY BY EARLY AFTERNOON
SUNSHINE BEGINS BY 1 P.M. WITH TEMPERATURE 31F
 
A layer of rather dense high cirrus and cirrostratus
clouds covered the sky except to the north all morning
but by early afternoon clearing moved north to south and
bright sunshine appeared with temperatures climbing
to the low 30's from a morning low of 21F.   The air
continues quite dry with dew points in the mid teens.
Winds diminished to light from the southwest. 
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altostratus layer (S, broken cirrostratus 
Temperature: 21F, Dew point: 13F, Wind: W at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 21F
6-hourly precip: 0.00 in.
24-hourly precip: 0.00 in.
24-hourly snowfall: 0.0
Snow depth on ground: 3 inches
BHO SA 1155 180 SCT E220 BKN 30 171/21/13/2610/004/
AS LYR SE-SW CLR SKY NW-E/ 8/018 4/003 53013 10026 20021
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrostratus, lower cirrostratus SE-SW, clear
sky NW-NE, edge of layer north of station  
Temperature: 26F, Dew point: 13F, Wind: WNW at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 35 miles, 45 WNW, thin smoke layer W-N, light haze
BHO SA 1455 E220 BKN 35 183/26/13/2909/007/
EDGE CS LYR XTDNG W-N-E VCNTY STN CLR SKY NW-NE
LWR CI SE-SW THN K NW-NE LGT HZ ALQDS VSBY WNW 45/
8/008 51012 
 
1 P.M.
Weather:  Scattered cirrocumulus, altocumulus, dense cirrus,
dense layer extending ESE-S-WSW, patches of snow virga 
Temperature: 31F, Dew point: 14F, Wind: SW at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.02 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 50 miles
6-hour maximum temperature: 31F
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 250 SCT 50 165/31/14/2306/002/
AC/ACC/SNW VIRGA SE-SW CC OVHD/SNW VIRGA TRLS DENS
CI LAYR XTDNG ESE-WSW MSTLY CLR SKY W-N-NE/
8/082 58018 10031 20021
   
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 5
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....36    NORMAL.....34 
MIN.....26    NORMAL.....19
MEAN....31    NORMAL.....27
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...............+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..............-21  [-4.0 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............34  DEPARTURE.........-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............211  DEPARTURE........+21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2451  DEPARTURE........-68
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....2387  DIFFERENCE.......+64
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............30   W  AT  8:51 P.M. *  
                   AEROVANE.............28   W  AT  8:44 P.M. *  
                   ASOS.................29  WSW AT  8:52 P.M.   
                   DAVIS................30  WSW AT  8:23 P.M.    
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............23   W  AT  8:25 P.M.    
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........23   W  AT  8:25 P.M.    
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........23  WSW AT  8:25 P.M.     
                   AVERAGE........... 13.6   W
                   ASOS...............13.6
                   DAVIS..............12.3  WSW [250 deg]  
* last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00  DEPARTURE.........-0.15
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR JANUARY............ 0.06  DEPARTURE.........-0.69
                         ASOS...............1.06 #
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2009).... 0.06  DEPARTURE.........-0.69
                         ASOS...............1.06 #
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 1/1/09 and 1/2/09
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY................ trace  DEPARTURE.........-2.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............30.4   DEPARTURE........+14.3
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
   TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
1/1 16/1/9/-18/0/0/538/98          44 WNW   Aero 44 MPH WNW
1/2 32/9/21/-6/0/T/.../..          28 S
1/3 32/21/27/0/0/0/.../..          43 WNW   Aero 44 MPH WNW
1/4 35/17/26/-1/0/0/.../..         36 W     Aero 33 MPH W
1/5 36/26/31/+4/0.06/0/.../..      30 W   
 
1/6 morning low temp: 21F; our normal low is now 19F  
    
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2009...
 
..NONE..
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6
HIGH 66F IN 2007
LOW -14F IN 1896
PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893
WIND 70 MPH WNW IN 1959
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 7
HIGH 60F IN 1930
LOW -7F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1977
SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1977
WIND 74 MPH NW IN 1968
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling