BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016 NEW YEAR'S DAY
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
2016 BEGINS MILD AND MOSTLY CLOUDY
 
The calendar may have turned to 2016, but this new year is beginning with
similar weather to much of what we saw in the final month of 2015.  The
morning low was a well above average 32F, and the temperature has climbed
slowly to a high so far of 37F.  This will be the 31st consecutive day of
above normal temperatures.  Mostly cloudy skies have been present, which was
another common theme from December, which had only about 34% of possible
sunshine. Wind speeds have increased somewhat today, coming mainly from the
west at 10-20mph with gusts nearing 30mph. 
 
Complete statistics for December and the year 2015 will be compiled in the
coming days.  We can confirm that December 2015 was the warmest December on
record, with a mean temperature of 42.9F, easily beating the previous record
of 38.1F in 2006.  2015 will also go down as having a yearly precipitation
deficit of just under 10 inches, with 9 out of 12 months below average.
 
BHO Warmest Decembers (24-hour Corrected Mean), deg F (1885-2015)
 
1) 42.9 in 2015
2) 38.1 in 2006
3) 37.5 in 2011
4) 37.3 in 2001
5) 37.2 in 1891
6) 36.9 in 1998
7) 36.7 in 1990
 
Happy New Year from all of us here at Blue Hill!
 
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, few lower stratocumulus distant offshore
NNE-E, few altocumulus lenticularis SE-S
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: WSW @ 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, about steady
Visibility: 45 miles
6-hr Max temp: 35F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
Snow depth: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E40 BKN 45 152/32/25/2510/998/ FEW LWR SC DSNT OFFSHR NNE-E
FEW ACSL SE-S/ 8/54/ 55000 10035 20032
 
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, few cumulus distant NNE-E and SE-S
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: W @ 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 65 miles
BHO SA 1455 E40 BKN 65 156/36/25/2610/999/ FEW CU DSNT NNE-E AND SE-S/
8/5// 50004
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: W @ 15G23 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
BHO SA 1755 E35 OVC 70 134/37/23/2815G23/993/ 8/5// 56022 10037 20032
 
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....44   NORMAL.....35
MIN.....32   NORMAL.....19
MEAN....38   NORMAL.....27
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+388  [+12.3 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............27   DEPARTURE.........-11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............653   DEPARTURE........-390
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1655   DEPARTURE........-650
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2060   DIFFERENCE.......-405
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................25  WNW  AT   6:28 P.M.*
                   ASOS........................26  W    AT   6:28 P.M. 
                   DAVIS.......................23  WNW  AT   4:52 P.M. RMY 25
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................18  SSE  AT  12:55 A.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................18  W    AT   6:29 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................16  SSE  AT  12:56 A.M. 
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............11.3 WNW
                   ASOS.......................11.5  
                   DAVIS.......................9.9 WNW [301 Deg.]
*Last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.14
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........4.27  DEPARTURE......-0.62
                         ASOS...............4.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........43.69  DEPARTURE......-9.74 
                         ASOS................N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................1.3  DEPARTURE......-12.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............1.3  DEPARTURE......-14.7
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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
 
12/1  42/30/36/-1/0.16/0.0/000/00           19 NNE RMY 19
12/2  53/37/45/+9/0.20/0.0/000/00           25 SSE RMY 25
12/3  53/37/45/+9/0.01/0.0/162/29           43 WNW RMY 42
12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80           32 NW  RMY 32
12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99           21 W   RMY N/A
12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96          22 SW  RMY N/A
12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64          31 NE  RMY N/A
12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31
12/9  44/34/39/+5/..../0.0/044/08           28 SSE RMY N/A
12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/209/38             29 SE  RMY N/A
12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/049/09          28 SSW RMY 28
12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/367/67          23 W   RMY N/A
12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/000/00          18 ESE RMY 19
12/14 60/43/52/+20/..../0.0/000/00          32 S   RMY N/A
12/15 61/45/53/+21/..../0.0/371/68          48 W   RMY 51
12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/415/76           25 N   RMY N/A
12/17 53/36/45/+14/..../0.0/000/00          29 SE  RMY 28
12/18 50/35/43/+12/..../0.0/000/00          29 NW  RMY 30
12/19 38/30/34/+4/0.00/0.0/480/88           39 W   RMY 40
12/20 40/28/34/+4/0.00/0.0/491/90           24 W   RMY N/A
12/21 51/31/41/+11/T/0.0/000/00             38 SSW RMY 42
12/22 57/49/53/+24/0.28/0.0/000/00          35 SW  RMY 35
12/23 56/47/52/+23/..../0.0/000/00          30 E   RMY 27
12/24 67/48/58/+29/..../0.0/033/06          37 SSW RMY 39 
12/25 64/52/58/+30/..../0.0/240/44          23 N   RMY N/A
12/26 53/40/47/+19/..../0.0/436/80          26 NNW RMY N/A
12/27 52/35/44/+16/..../0.0/000/00          36 NW  RMY 33
12/28 35/27/31/+3/T/T/355/65                33 NW  RMY 33
12/29 38/23/31/+4/..../1.3/000/00           35 ENE RMY 35
12/30 34/23/29/+2/..../T/000/00             17 SSE RMY N/A
12/31 44/32/38/+11/..../0.0/247/45          25 WNW RMY 25
 
1/1 low since midnight is 32F; normal low is now 19F 
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015
 
**12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983
**12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 67F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 61F SET IN 2014
**12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1900
**12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 64F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 62F SET IN 1889
**12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 52F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1964
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 1
HIGH 58F IN 1966
LOW -6F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 1982
SNOWFALL 7.2 INS. IN 1938
PEAK GUST 90e MPH S IN 1945
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2
HIGH 62F IN 1890
LOW -7F IN 1899,1918
PRECIP 2.10 INS. IN 1987
SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 1904
PEAK GUST 85e MPH S IN 1942
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien