BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2010
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
POWERFUL NORTHEASTER HIT WITH SNOWFALL TOTAL NEAR 17 INCHES
AS NNE-N WINDS GUSTED PAST 60 MPH LAST EVENING
 
Due to the severe weather conditions we did not
arrive here at the Observatory until 12:30 P.M. 
early this afternoon.  Our best estimate of snow-
fall through 7 A.M. is 16.0 inches with 1.60 melted
equivalent in the standard gage.  ASOS totaled quite
a bit higher with over 2 inches of melted.
Another 0.8 inch snowfall occurred from 7 AM to 1 PM
bringing the storm total to 16.8 inches.
 
Winds last evening reached peak gusts from north and
north-northeast to 58-65 MPH.
 
The following have been recorded: 
Aerovane 65 MPH NNE @ 8:24 PM
ASOS     61 MPH NNE @ 8:24 PM
420C     58 MPH NNE @ 8:24 PM
 
Today's observation: 
 
1 P.M. 
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast nimbostratus,
very light snow occurring, drifting snow
Temperature: 23F, Dew point: 20F; Wind: WNW at 23G36 kts,
Wind: Peak wind gust WNW at 37 kts @ 11:58 AM
Wind: Direction variability  W to NNW
Sea-level pressure: 28.96 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 8 miles
6-hourly snowfall 0.8 inch
6-hourlY precip: 0.07 inch  
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26 
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....30     NORMAL.....36
MIN.....20     NORMAL.....21
MEAN....25     NORMAL.....28
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................-3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................-52 [-2.2 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............40    DEPARTURE........+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........914    DEPARTURE.......+59
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........2074    DEPARTURE.......-70
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2058    DIFFERENCE......+16
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............. 58 NNE AT  8:24 P.M.  
                   AEROVANE...............65 NNE AT  8:24 P.M. 
                   ASOS...................61 NNE AT  8:24 P.M.   
                   DAVIS..................59 N   AT  8:24 P.M.   
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............N/A 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............37 N   AT  9:25 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............37 N   AT  9:25 P.M.    
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........N/A 
                   ASOS.................16.7        
                   DAVIS................15.8 N [355 DEG]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....1.60  DEPARTURE........+1.45
                         ASOS..............2.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.63  DEPARTURE........+0.82
                         ASOS..............5.20 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........62.66  DEPARTURE........+12.19
                         ASOS.............63.11**
** ASOS missing rainfall due to system failure on 6/24-25
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........16.0  DEPARTURE....+15.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............22.0  DEPARTURE....+13.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............22.1  DEPARTURE....+10.5
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2010 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
12/1  55/43/49/+13/0.49/0.0/000/00  55 SE   AERO 61 MPH SE
12/2  48/29/39/+3/0.00/0.0/540/100  30 W
12/3  38/29/34/-1/0.00/0.0/050/09   25 WNW
12/4  40/28/34/-1/0.00/0.0/516/93   27 WNW
12/5  34/23/29/-6/0.00/0.0/127/23   24 W
12/6  32/22/27/-7/0.00/0.0/447/81   37 WSW  AERO 38 MPH WSW
12/7  33/23/28/-6/0.00/0.0/463/84   35 W    AERO 37 MPH W
12/8  31/19/25/-8/0.00/0.0/550/100  39 W    AERO 40 MPH W
12/9  26/14/20/-13/0.00/0.0/550/100 29 WNW
12/10 25/9/17/-16/0.00/0.0/181/33   17 SSE
12/11 44/25/35/+3/0.00/0.0/460/84   23 WSW
12/12 55/33/44/+12/1.57/0.0/000/00  55 SE   AERO 69 MPH SE
12/13 55/33/44/+12/0.35/0.0/027/05  50 SSE  AERO 58 MPH SSE
12/14 33/16/25/-6/T/T/120/22        30 W
12/15 19/13/16/-15/0.02/0.2/038/07  33 WNW  AERO 38 MPH WNW 
12/16 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/491/90   25 SSW
12/17 34/17/26/-5/0.00/0.0/.../..   22 WNW
12/18 37/22/30/0/0.00/0.0/.../..    20 N
12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/.../..    17 N
12/20 30/23/27/-3/0.34/3.2/.../..   33 NW   AERO 37 MPH NW
12/21 38/23/31/+1/0.02/0.2/.../..   38 NW
12/22 36/28/32/+3/0.14/1.4/../..    31 NW   AERO 35 MPH NW
12/23 36/27/32/+3/0.11/1.1/.../..   36 NW   AERO 38 MPH NW
12/24 35/23/29/0/0.00/0.0/.../..    31 NW 
12/25 29/18/24/-5/0.00/0.0/060/11   20 WNW
12/26 30/20/25/-3/.../../000/00     58 NNE  AERO 65 MPH NNE
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2010
 
12/15 - NEW RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMP. OF 19F;
this surpasses the previous record of 20F 
in 1903,1905,1931, and 1962 
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 26
HIGH 58 IN 1973,1982
LOW -12 IN 1980
PRECIP 3.64 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 17.5 INS. IN 1909
PEAK GUST 84 MPH SSE IN 1957
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 27
HIGH 57 IN 1895,1949
LOW -4 IN 1903
PRECIP 2.43 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 11.2 INS. IN 1947
PEAK GUST 53e W IN 1957,1978; WNW 1976
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 28
HIGH 60 IN 1982
LOW -2 IN 1933
PRECIP 2.16 INS. IN 1967
SNOWFALL 9.5 INS. IN 1967
PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1983
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling