Sunday, August 23, 2020

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

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

RECORD WARM AND HUMID UNDER A MIX OF SUN AND CLOUDS…

A rare complete undercast was observed early this
morning as low-lying dense fog settled over the
countryside below the summit, while here on top it
was mainly clear and sunny. Undercasts are rather
common phenomena in mountainous areas, however here
at Blue Hill, at only 635ft in elevation, it’s much
less common and a thrill when it happens!

After that excitement early this morning, the day has
been rather quiet. A mix of sun and clouds has been
the theme with very light and variable wind
all morning. Finally as we’ve moved into the mid
afternoon hours, an increasing south wind has taken
over with gusts upwards of 23 mph so far!

This southerly flow is helping to pump low level
moisture into the region as reflected with the dew
point sitting in the mid to upper 60s, making it
feel rather humid.

We’ve reached 89 degrees so far today, this has broken
our record high for the day. The previous record as only
88 degrees set in 1918, 1947, 1949, and 1996!

The high so far today is 89F, 11 degrees above the
daily normal maximum of 78F. The low since midnight
is 64F, which is 3 degrees above the normal minimum
of 61F.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Undercast, scattered stratus fractus, scattered altocumulus
and altocumulus castellanus, thin scattered cirrus
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 66F; Relative Humidity: 90%
Wind: E at 2 kts, wind light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.08 ins. Hg: rising unsteadily
Visibility: 10 miles, 1 mile NW-NE (fog), 30 miles Sw-W
6-hr Max temp: 69F
6-hr Min temp: 64F
24-hr Precip: 0.26 ins.
BHO SA 1155 /// OVC 001 SCT 130 SCT 250 -SCT 10 186/69/66/0902/008/
UNDERCAST ALQDS FEW STFRA OCCLY DRFTG OVR SMT F NW-NE VSBY NW-NE 1
SW-W 30 ABV UNDERCAST WND L/V/ 8/681 52013 70026 10069 20064

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus
Temperature: 78F; Dew Point: 69F; Relative Humidity: 74%
Wind: SSE at 3 kts, wind light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1455 250 -SCT 35 191/78/69/1603/009/ HAZY WND L/V/ 8/001 50005

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, thin scattered
cirrus, cumulonimbus distant N moving E
Temperature: 89F; Dew Point: 66F; Relative Humidity: 47%
Wind: S at 8G14 kts, wind direction variable S varying SW
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 89F
6-hr Min temp: 67F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1755 45 SCT 110 SCT 250 -SCT 35 176/89/66/1908G14/005/
CB DSNT N MVG E HAZY WND 17V22/ 8/943 58015 10089 20067

SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..85   NORMAL…..79
MIN…..66   NORMAL…..61
MEAN….76   NORMAL…..70

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………….. +6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………..+88 [+3.8 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………..11  DEPARTURE…….+6
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….225  DEPARTURE……+81
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……………712  DEPARTURE…..+217
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……….593  DEPARTURE…..+119

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..18 NNE AT 11:32 A.M. (TSTM)
AERO…………………….16 S   AT  5:08 P.M.
ASOS…………………….17 S   AT  6:41 P.M.
DAVIS……………………17 S   AT  5:33 P.M
RMY 16  MERLIN 15
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….14 WSW AT 10:45 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….13 NW  AT 11:14 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………14 WSW AT 10:46 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….. 6.6 SSE
ASOS………………….. 6.8
DAVIS…………………. 7.0 SW [235 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.26  DEPARTURE……+0.13
ASOS…………..0.23
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.13  DEPARTURE……-1.87
ASOS…………..1.11
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….30.20  DEPARTURE……-3.79
ASOS………….30.92

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST CALENDAR DAY DATA
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
M:    Missing data

08/01  87/66/77/+5/0.00/…/..             18 S    AERO 21 S    RMY 19
08/02  85/69/77/+5/0.02/…/..             36 S    AERO 37 S    RMY 38
08/03  91/75/83/+11/0.00/…/..            36 WSW  AERO 38 SW   RMY 36
08/04  83/71/77/5/0.21/…/..              67 SSE  AERO 71 S    RMY 70
08/05  90/68/79/+7/0.00/…/..             28 SW   AERO 30 SW   RMY 29
08/06  84/65/75/3/0.00/…/..   20 W    AERO 17 W    RMY 19
08/07  79/65/72/0/T/…/..                 16 NE   AERO 16 NE   RMY N/A
08/08  83/64/74/+2/0.00/…/..             20 S    AERO 20 S    RMY 19
08/09  90/65/78/+6/0.00/…/..             26 SSW  AERO 26 SSW  RMY 26
08/10  94/69/82/+11/0.00/…/..            22 W    AERO 20 W    RMY 20
08/11  92/72/82/+11/0.00/…/..            31 SSW  AERO 35 SSW  RMY 31  TSTM
08/12  93/74/84/+13/0.00/…/..            22 SSW  AERO 22 SW   RMY 19
08/13  88/71/80/+9/0.00/…/..             18 ENE  AERO 18 NE   RMY 18
08/14  82/67/75/+4/0.00/…/..             23 ENE  AERO 23 ENE RMY N/A
08/15  67/62/65/-6/T/…/..                33 NNE  AERO 32 NNE  RMY N/A
08/16  69/62/66/-5/…./…/..             26 ENE  AERO 28 ENE  RMY 26
08/17  73/59/66/-5/…./…/..             25 NE   AERO 24 NE   RMY N/A
08/18  84/63/74/+3/…./…/..             23 W    AERO 23 W    RMY 24
08/19  81/59/70/0/0.03/…/..              26 W    AERO 28 W    RMY 27
08/20  80/56/68/-2/0.00/…/..             22 W    AERO 21 W    RMY 22
08/21  88/61/75/+5/0.00/…/..             28 SW   AERO 26 SW   RMY 28
08/22  85/66/76/+6/0.26/…/..             18 NNE  AERO 16 S    RMY 16

08/23  The low since midnight is 64F, the daily normal low is 61F

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 23
HIGH 88F IN 1918, 1947, 1949, 1996
LOW 45F IN 1923
PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2010
PEAK GUST 60e MPH NW IN 1940

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 24
HIGH 92F IN 1947
LOW 43F IN 1971
PRECIP 2.40 INCHES IN 2010
PEAK GUST 54 MPH W IN 1986

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas