Saturday, February 8, 2020

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

STRONG WIND WITH RAPIDLY CHANGING PRESSURE
AND INCREASING CLOUDS….

Yesterday, Blue Hill recorded a max gust of 71 mph around 4 P.M.,
which is still below the record for the date of 87 mph, set in
1951. The highest sustained wind yesterday was 50 mph.
The low pressure experienced yesterday definitely set a record.
The station pressure went down to 27.970 in Hg (947.2 mb) at the Observatory’s elevation, making it the lowest pressure experienced since February 2010! The storm total was around an inch, after an additional 0.21
inches fell as rain yesterday.

Today we experienced almost clear skies this morning, following
a very impressive overnight pressure rise of more than 40 millibars.
As the day went on, fair weather cumulus clouds began to fill the sky.
The temperature dropped from over 50 degrees to 20 degrees overnight,
signifying the rapid moving in of a cool, dry air mass from the north.
The wind stayed strong with the significant change in pressure, gusting
to around 40 mph.

The high so far today is 32F, 3 degrees below the normal high
of 35F. The low since midnight is 20F, 2 degrees above the normal
low of 18F.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2020

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 40.6 [+6.8] Avg. Min. 25.9 [+8.8] Mean      33.3 [+7.8] 24-hour corrected mean: 32.8
Max. for month: 68F on the 12th
Min. for month: 8F on the 18th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:    978 [-248] Total for the season:  3229 [-302] Total for last season: 3495

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 1.46 [-2.89] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 4.2 [-12.9] Greatest in 24 hrs: 3.0 ins. on the 18th-19th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 12.3 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   12.8 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   W [19%] Peak gust and direction:     60 SSW on the 12th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 8388 minutes of possible 17130 or 49%
Astronomical total minutes: 8642 minutes of possible 17639 or 49%

JANUARY 2020 RANKED 9TH WARMEST ON RECORD!
Warmest 24-Hour Adjusted Mean Temperature, deg F (1886-2020):

1) 35.6 in 1913
2) 35.0 in 1932
3) 34.6 in 1937
4) 33.9 in 2006
5) 33.8 in 1933
33.8 in 1950
33.8 in 1990
8) 33.5 in 2002
9) 32.8 in 2020
10) 32.7 in 2017

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, few cumulus offshore
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: W at 15 kts,
Peak wind: 32 MPH (28 kts) WNW at 6:10 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg: rising rapidly
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr Max temp: 23F
6-hr Min temp: 20F
24-hr Precip:  0.21 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 65 142/31/10/2815/995/ FEW CU OFFSHR PK WND
2928/10/ 8/105 70021 53053 10023 20020

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrostratus
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: W at 16G24 kts,
Peak wind: 36 MPH (31 kts) W at 8:57 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg: falling then rising
Visibility: 65 miles
3-hr Precip:   0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 250 BKN 65 182/26/9/2716G24/007/ PK WND 2731/1257/
8/105 51040

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cumulus
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: WNW at 19G35 kts,
Peak wind: 44 MPH (38 kts) W at 12:19 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg: falling then rising
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E50 BKN 65 189/33/11/2919G35/009/ PK WND 2738/19/
8/100 51007 10032 20021

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..53   NORMAL…..35
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….39   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………….+12
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….+70 [+9.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………26  DEPARTURE…….-12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..202  DEPARTURE…….-71
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3431  DEPARTURE……-372
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3721  DEPARTURE……-290

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..71 WSW AT  4:22 P.M.
AERO…………………….71 SSW AT  3:47 P.M.
ASOS…………………….69 SW  AT  3:00 P.M.
DAVIS……………………69 WSW AT  4:18 P.M. RMY 73
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….50 W   AT  4:41 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….46 SSW AT  3:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………49 W   AT  4:40 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..19.2 W
ASOS…………………..19.6
DAVIS………………….19.0 W [273 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.21  DEPARTURE……+0.07
ASOS…………..0.27
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.94  DEPARTURE……-0.01
ASOS…………..0.96
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..2.40  DEPARTURE……-2.90
ASOS…………..2.50

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.1  DEPARTURE…….-3.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..24.3  DEPARTURE……-12.3

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  38/30/34/+7/…./0.0/400/73           39 W   AERO 38 W   RMY 41
01/02  46/29/38/+11/0.00/0.0/269/49          28 SW  AERO 28 SW  RMY 30
01/03  46/40/43/+17/0.00/0.0/000/00          21 SW  AERO 18 SW  RMY N/A
01/04  46/36/41/+15/…./0.0/000/00          16 NNW AERO 16 NNW RMY N/A
01/05  36/24/30/+4/…./0.5/116/21           43 NW  AERO 46 NW  RMY 43
01/06  33/23/28/+2/T/T/133/24                26 W   AERO 21 W   RMY N/A
01/07  38/29/34/+8/…./0.4/161/29           30 WSW AERO 28 WSW RMY N/A
01/08  39/22/31/+5/…./0.4/350/63           50 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 47
01/09  28/16/22/-4/…./0.0/540/97           43 WNW AERO 40 WNW RMY N/A
01/10  48/23/36/+11/T/…./0.0/106/19        37 SW  AERO 37 SW  RMY 39
01/11  65/46/56/+31/…./0.0/408/73          53 SSW AERO 53 SSW RMY N/A
01/12  68/36/52/+27/…./0.0/297/53          60 SSW AERO 62 SSW RMY N/A
01/13  39/31/35/+10/0.01/T/000/00            21 NE  AERO 20 NE  RMY N/A
01/14  38/31/35/+10/0.01/0.0/000/00          16 W   AERO 15 W   RMY N/A
01/15  48/35/42/+17/0.00/0.0/503/89          24 W   AERO 23 W   RMY 24
01/16  42/24/33/+8/0.06/T/142/25             54 W   AERO 52 W   RMY 59
01/17  24/10/17/-8/0.00/0.0/552/97           50 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY N/A
01/18  28/8/18/-7/0.35/2.8/000/00            28 WSW AERO 24 ESE RMY N/A
01/19  40/21/31/+6/0.02/0.2/332/58           44 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 42
01/20  26/12/19/-6/0.00/0.0/442/77           33 NW  AERO 32 NW  RMY N/A
01/21  24/10/17/-8/0.00/0.0/472/82           22 NW  AERO 21 NW  RMY N/A
01/22  34/13/24/-1/0.00/0.0/566/98           16 SW  AERO 16 SW  RMY N/A
01/23  46/26/36/+11/0.00/0.0/348/60          21 SW  AERO 20 SW  RMY 19
01/24  44/31/38/+13/0.00/0.0/524/90          21 ENE AERO 17 ENE RMY N/A
01/25  50/36/43/+18/0.57/0.0/000/00         41 ESE AERO 41 ESE RMY 40
01/26  49/35/42/+17/0.00/0.0/346/59         33 W   AERO 31 W   RMY 32
01/27  43/33/38/+13/0.00/0.0/106/18         30 W   AERO 29 W   RMY 29
01/28  37/30/34/+9/0.00/0.0/030/05          25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY 27
01/29  38/23/31/+6/0.00/0.0/522/88          24 N   AERO 23 N   RMY 24
01/30  34/16/25/-1/0.00/0.0/547/92          17 NNW AERO 16 NNW RMY N/A
01/31  43/24/34/+8/0.00/0.0/430/72          22 S   AERO 21 S   RMY 22

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY

1/11/20: DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 65F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 60F SET IN 1975.

1/11/20: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 46F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 40F SET IN 1983.

1/12/20: DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 68F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 60 SET IN 2018.
TIES HIGHEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY,
MATCHES 68F SET ON 1/26/1950.

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  38/30/34/+8/0.01/T/…./..          14 WSW AERO 14 WSW RMY N/A
02/02  40/30/35/+9/0.00/0.0/…./..        18 W   AERO 18 WNW RMY 18
02/03  44/27/36/+10/0.00/0.0/…./..       28 W   AERO 28 W   RMY 28
02/04  44/33/39/+13/0.00/0.0/…./..       19 E   AERO 16 E   RMY 18
02/05  41/30/36/+10/0.00/0.0/…./..       20 NNW AERO 19 NNW RMY N/A
02/06  31/30/34/+8/0.00/0.0/…./..        29 E   AERO 28 E   RMY 27
02/07  53/25/39/+12/…./0.1/…./..       71 WSW AERO 71 SSW RMY 73

02/08 The low since midnight is 20F, daily normal minimum is 18F

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 8
HIGH 60F IN 1933
LOW -9F IN 1934
PRECIP 2.50 INS. IN 1945
SNOWFALL 16.1 INS. IN 2013
PEAK GUST 63e MPH NE IN 1945, 2013

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 9
HIGH 58F IN 1990
LOW -21F IN 1934 [LOWEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD] PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 16.9 INS. IN 2016
PEAK GUST 89 MPH NE IN 1969

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner