BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016  ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 9.8 INCHES OF SNOW FALLEN BY 1:00 PM EST TODAY, LOW VISIBILITY AND DRIFTING SNOW OFFER SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS FROM WARM START TO FEBRUARY Rain began late last evening before changing to snow early this morning around 5:00 AM EST. By the 7:00 AM EST observation 2.0 inches of heavy wet snow had fallen, with an additional 3.5 inches by 10:00 AM EST. By the 1:00 PM EST observation snow had accumulated another 4.3 inches, bring the storm total to 9.8 inches so far. Snow has fallen moderately for a good portion of the day with some light drifting of snow and poor visibility from snow fall and fog. Temperatures have dropped from a high at midnight this morning at 39F to 29F by the 1:00 PM EST observation. The month of January finished significantly warmer than normal, at 4.0 degrees F above normal. The average minimum temperature of 22.3F was more than 5 degrees above normal as well.  January was drier than normal as well, with precipitation 0.58 inches less than normal, and 2.8 inches less than normal for snow. PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2016   TEMPERATURE, Deg. F Avg. Max. 37.2 [+3.4] Avg. Min. 22.3 [+5.2] Mean      29.8 [+4.3] (corrected) 24-hour Corrected Mean: 29.5 Max. for month: 58 on 10th Min. for month:  4 on  5th   HEATING DEGREE DAYS Total cooling units: 1086 [-140]  Total for the season: 2742 [-789] Total for last season: 3531   PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 3.77 [-0.58] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.55 ins. on the 10th Snowfall: 14.3 [-2.8] Greatest in 24 hrs: 7.1 ins. on the 23rd   WIND, mph Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 13.7 Avg. corrected wind speed: 14.0 Prevailing wind direction: NW @ 19% Peak gust and direction: 55 WNW on the 19th   SUNSHINE: Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 8964 out of 17130 poss. or 149.4 hours or 52% (corrected) Astronomical total minutes:   9243 out of 17638 poss. or 154.1 hours or 52% (corrected) Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Moderate snow, fog Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 31F; Wind: N at 10 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly   Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, moderate snow and fog 6-hr Max temp: 38F  6-hr Min temp: 31F 24-hr precip: 0.56 ins. 24-hr snowfall: 2.0 ins. Snow depth: 2 ins. BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/4SF 165/31/31/3610/002/ NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 2.0 INS/  8//// 4/002 53002 ASOS 60041 70050 MANUAL 70056 10038 20031 10 A.M. Weather: Light snow, fog Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: NNE at 13G24 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, light snow and fog 3-hr precip: 0.39 ins. 3-hr snowfall: 3.5 ins. BHO SA 1455 W4 X 1/2S-F 158/30/30/0113G24/000/  NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 3.5 INS/ 8//// 58007 ASOS 60042 MANUAL 60039  1 P.M. Weather: Light snow, fog, low drifting snow in all directions  Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: NNW at 14G21 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, falling unsteadily Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, light snow, fog, drifting snow 6-hr Max temp: 32F 6-hr Min temp: 29F 6-hr precip: 0.89 ins. 6-hr snowfall: 7.8 ins.  BHO SA 1755 W4 X 1/2S-F 139/29/29/3314G21/994/ DRFTG SNW ALQDS  NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 4.3 INS/ 8//// 57019 ASOS 60090 MANUAL 60089 10032 20029 SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016     TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....55   NORMAL.....35 MIN.....39   NORMAL.....17  MEAN....47   NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+21 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+80 [+19.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............18   DEPARTURE.........-21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............76   DEPARTURE.........-80 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2818   DEPARTURE........-869 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3535   DIFFERENCE.......-717 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................37 W   AT   9:33 A.M.                                           ASOS........................35 W   AT   9:34 A.M.                        DAVIS.......................33 W   AT   9:33 A.M. RMY 35 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................25 W   AT   9:34 A.M.     MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................24 W   AT   9:34 A.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................23 SSW AT  12:16 A.M.      AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...............11.5 NW                    ASOS........................11.6                     DAVIS.......................10.3 W [177 Deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.56  DEPARTURE......+0.42                          ASOS..............0.50 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.56  DEPARTURE......+0.82                          ASOS..............1.55 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.13  DEPARTURE......+0.24                            ASOS..............5.29 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........2.0  DEPARTURE.......+1.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.0  DEPARTURE........0.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............17.6  DEPARTURE......-17.5 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/ AERO/RMY GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 1/1   37/29/33/+6/0.00/0.0/005/01           29 W               RMY 29 1/2   37/27/32/+5/0.00/0.0/461/84           31 W               RMY N/A          1/3   41/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/501/91           28 W               RMY 29 1/4   30/10/20/-6/T/T/000/00                29 NNW             RMY 29 1/5   23/4/14/-12/0.00/0.0/552/100          28 NNW             RMY N/A 1/6   43/17/30/+4/0.00/0.0/553/100          24 SW              RMY 24 1/7   43/25/34/+8/0.00/0.0/493/89 *       21 SW              RMY N/A 1/8   40/28/34/+8/0.00/0.0/000/00           28 E   AERO 25 ENE RMY 25 1/9   39/36/38/+12/T/0.0/000/00             21 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A  1/10  58/38/48/+23/1.55/0.0/000/00          53 SSE AERO 55 SSE RMY 53 1/11  48/21/35/+10/0.00/0.0/559/100         43 W   AERO 45 WSW RMY N/A 1/12  35/19/27/+2/0.18/2.2/359/64           30 SE  AERO N/A    RMY N/A 1/13  30/17/24/-1/0.02/0.2/551/98           50 W   AERO 58 W   RMY 54 1/14  28/17/23/-2/T/T/389/69                26 W   AERO N/A    RMY 25 1/15  40/23/32/+7/0.00/0.0/102/18           26 ESE AERO 25 ESE RMY 23 1/16  41/32/37/+12/1.03/T/000/00            32 NNW AERO 32 NNW RMY 28 1/17  33/26/30/+5/0.09/1.7/125/22           29 WNW AERO 28 WNW RMY N/A 1/18  26/15/21/-4/0.16/2.9/467/82 *        50 W   AERO 50 W   RMY 47 1/19  22/13/18/-7/0.00/0.0/194/34           55 WNW AERO 59 W   RMY 55 1/20  30/15/23/-2/0.00/0.0/471/82           46 WNW AERO 47 WNW RMY 45 1/21  30/15/23/-2/0.00/0.0/559/97           38 WNW AERO 38 NW  RMY 35 1/22  28/14/21/-4/0.00/0.0/399/69           32 NW  AERO 32 NW  RMY N/A 1/23  30/18/24/-1/0.74/7.1/000/00           54 NE  AERO 56 NE  RMY 50 1/24  33/14/24/-1/T/T/466/80                34 N   AERO 37 N   RMY 29 1/25  37/20/29/+4/0.00/0.0/444/76           22 NW  AERO 22 NW  RMY N/A  1/26  49/27/38/+13/0.00/0.0/064/11          44 SSW AERO 47 SSW RMY 43  1/27  43/27/35/+10/0.00/0.0/182/31          38 WNW AERO 40 SSW RMY 37   1/28  41/23/32/+7/0.00/0.0/537/91           29 SSW AERO 29 SSW RMY 29  1/29  39/32/36/+11/0.00/0.0/012/02          25 NW  AERO 24 NW  RMY 28   1/30  42/26/33/+8/0.00/0.0/482/81  *        39 SW  AERO 43 SW  RMY 38 1/31  56/36/46/+20/0.00/0.0/316/53 *       37 S   AERO 38 S   RMY 36 * Sunshine corrected on 7th, 18th, 30th, 31st 2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/.../..          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34 2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/.../..          23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A 2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53 2/4   55/39/47/+21/..../0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35 2/5 morning low since midnight 31F; normal low is 17F   DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2016 **1/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 58F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 54F SET BACK IN 2000** DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):  RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5 HIGH 65F IN 1991 LOW -14F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907 PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 6 HIGH 54F IN 1909 LOW -10F IN 1895 PRECIP 1.88 INS. IN 1896 SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 84e MPH NE IN 1978 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald