Friday, February 5, 2021

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
SUNRISE: 0653E
SUNSET:  1704E

OVERCAST SKIES WITH PASSING LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS…

Not a whole lot to write home about today. Skies have been
overcast with a few passing light rain showers during the
morning and afternoon hours. It has amounted to barely
0.01 inches.

Visibility gradually decreased as the precipitation approached.
We began at 60 miles at the 7AM observation and found the lowest
to be 20 miles thereafter.

Winds were rather gentle early this morning, but have since
become busier. The peak gust so far is 31 MPH with an average
of approximately 15 MPH. After a few days of northwesterly
winds, air flow is now southerly thus warming the column enough
to support rain rather than snow today.

The high temperature so far today is 38F, this is 3 degrees
above the daily normal maximum of 35F. The low since midnight
is 26F, which is 9 degrees above the normal minimum of 17F.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2021

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 35.4 [+1.6] Avg. Min. 22.5 [+5.4] Mean      28.9 [+3.4] 24-hour corrected mean: 28.8
Max. for month: 52F on the 16th
Min. for month: 2F on the 31st

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:   1114 [-112] Total for the season:  3044 [-487] Total for last season: 3531

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 2.32 [-2.03] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 7.2 [-9.9] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.1 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   11.7 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   NW [25%] Peak gust and direction:     48 ESE on the 16th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A
Astronomical total minutes: N/A

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken Stratocumulus, Broken Altocumulus (2 layers)
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 21F; Relative Humidity: 74%
Wind: SSE @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.80 in Hg; falling, then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 29F
6-hr Min temp: 26F
24-hr Precip: Trace
24-hr Snow: Trace
Snow Depth: 9 ins.
BHO SA 1155 90 BKN 140 BKN 60 091/28/21/1607/980/ NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE HAZY/
8/050 4/009 58011 10029 20026

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast Stratus, Light Rain (precipitation very light
beginning at 9:45 A.M)
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 32F; Relative Humidity: 94%
Wind: S @ 18G27 kts
Peak Wind: 31 MPH (27 kts) South @ 9:52 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 in Hg; falling, then rising
Visibility: 20 miles (thin fog)
3-hr Precip: Trace
3-hr Snow: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 50 OVC 20R- 086/34/32/1818G27/978/ R-B45 PCPN VRY LGT
THN F ALQDS PK WND 1827/52/ 8/6// 6000/ 55005

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast Stratus, Light Rain (continued very light precipitation)
Temperature: 37F, Dew point: 37F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S @ 13G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.67 in Hg, falling, then falling more slowly
Visibility: 20 miles (thin fog)
6-hr Max temp: 38F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
6-hr Precip: 0.01
6-hr Snow: 0.0 ins
Snow Depth: 9 ins.
BHO SA 1755 30 OVC 20R- 049/37/37/1813G21/967/ R-CTD PCPN VRY LGT
THN F ALQDS/ 8/6// 4/009 53037 6001/ 10038 20028

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….37   NORMAL…..35
MIN…….26   NORMAL…..17
MEAN……32   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1981-2010) NORMAL……… +6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+17 [+4.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………33  DEPARTURE…… -6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………. 139  DEPARTURE….. -17
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3183  DEPARTURE…..-504
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3345  DEPARTURE…..-162

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
420C/Official…………..23 NW  @  2:42 P.M.
AEROVANE (south tower)…..22 NW  @  2:46 P.M.
ASOS…………………..24 NW  @  2:42 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….25 NW  @  2:41 P.M.
DAVIS #2 (south tower)…..23 NNW @  2:41 P.M.
RMY…………………… M
VECTOR…………………27     @  2:42 P.M.
MERLIN…………………28

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………17 NW  @ 2:50 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….17 NW  @ 2:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………18 NW  @ 2:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………18 NW  @ 2:50 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY AVERAGE……………….. M
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR AVERAGE……………..18     @ 2:40 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL….9.3 NW [223 total miles] ASOS……………….9.5
DAVIS #1……………9.9 NW
DAVIS #2……………9.9 NW
RMY………………..M
VECTOR……………..9.5

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE  DEPARTURE….-0.14
ASOS………….0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………….2.80  DEPARTURE….+2.26
ASOS………….3.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..5.12  DEPARTURE….+0.23
ASOS…………5.41

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HOURS ENDING 7 A.M………TRACE  DEPARTURE…..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………15.2  DEPARTURE….+13.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………..48.6  DEPARTURE….+13.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

01/01   36/25/31/+4/0.06/0.3/330/60       23 E    AERO 23 NNW  RMY 23
01/02   43/30/37/+10/0.30/T/116/21        37 WNW  AERO 39 WNW  RMY 44
01/03   33/27/30/+4/0.07/0.8/000/00       23 NNE  AERO 22 NNE  RMY 25
01/04   37/28/33/+7/0.01/0.1/110/20       25 NNE  AERO 23 NNE  RMY 27
01/05   31/28/30/+4/0.05/0.7/000/00       21 NNW  AERO 21 NNW  RMY 22
01/06   38/28/33/+7/T/T/244/44            30 NW   AERO 29 NW   RMY 32
01/07   42/26/34/+8/0.00/0.0/516/93       28 NNW  AERO 26 NNW  RMY 31
01/08   40/21/31/+5/0.00/0.0/517/93       25 NNW  AERO 22 NNW  RMY 25
01/09   34/30/27/+1/0.00/0.0/395/71       25 N    AERO 23 N    RMY 24
01/10   39/24/32/+7/0.00/0.0/493/88       25 NNW  AERO 23 NNW  RMY 24
01/11   34/25/30/+5/0.00/0.0/000/00       17 SW   AERO 16 SSW  RMY 16
01/12   40/24/32/+7/0.00/0.0/438/78       23 WNW  AERO 23 WNW  RMY 24
01/13   40/26/33/+8/0.00/0.0/389/69       15 SW   AERO 14 SW   RMY 19
01/14   38/31/35/+10/0.09/T/000/00        16 SSW  AERO 16 SSW  RMY 19
01/15   40/32/36/+11/0.00/0.0/266/47      25 ESE  AERO 23 ESE  RMY 27 TSTM
01/16   52/33/43/+18/1.00/0.0/000/00      48 ESE  AERO 53 SE   RMY 54
01/17   41/32/37/+12/0.00/0.0/314/55      47 W    AERO 46 W    RMY 54
01/18   42/27/35/+10/T/0.0/366/64         35 W    AERO 37 WNW  RMY 36
01/19   39/23/31/+6/T/T/293/51            25 WNW  AERO 25 WNW  RMY 27
01/20   37/22/30/+5/T/T/144/25            32 WNW  AERO 33 WNW  RMY 34
01/21   31/17/24/-1/T/0.1/081/14          23 WNW  AERO 24 SSW  RMY 24
01/22   42/29/36/+11/0.00/0.0/226/39      28 WNW  AERO 24 WNW  RMY 29
01/23   29/14/22/-3/0.00/0.0/442/76       41 WNW  AERO 41 WNW  RMY 46
01/24   29/13/21/-4/0.00/0.0/571/98       43 WNW  AERO 48 WNW  RMY 44
01/25   35/15/25/0/0.00/0.0/…/..        28 NW   AERO 29 NW   RMY 30
01/26   36/20/28/+3/0.17/2.4/…/..       18 E    AERO 18 E    RMY 20
01/27   33/27/30/+5/0.12/1.9/…/..       16 NNW  AERO 17 NNW  RMY 17
01/28   29/13/21/-4/0.09/0.9/…/..       39 NW   AERO 48 NW   RMY 42
01/29   15/4/10/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..       44 NW   AERO 46 NW   RMY 50
01/30   19/3/11/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..       24 NW   AERO 28 NW   RMY 27
01/31   23/2/13/-13/0.00/0.0/…/..       18 NW   AERO 18 NW   RMY 19

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

02/01   32/21/27/+1/1.86/12.7/…/..      53 NE   AERO 65 NE   RMY 62
02/02   34/29/32/+6/…./…/…/..       52 NNE  AERO 55 NE   RMY 58
02/03   34/26/30/+4/…/…/…/..        20 NW   AERO 20 NW   RMY 22
02/04   37/26/32/+6/0.02/0.7/…/..       23 NW   AERO 22 NW   RMY M

2/05 The low since midnight is 26F, the daily normal low is 17F

DAILY RECORDS

02/01 -RECORD SNOWFALL OF 12.7 INS, BREAKING PREVIOUS RECORD
OF 11.0 INS SET IN 1898
02/01 -RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 1.86 INS, BREAKING PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 1.30 INS SET IN 1898

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: Andrew Swanson