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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
RECORD BREAKING BLIZZARD HITS GREAT BLUE HILL…
The snow began falling this morning around
6:40 A.M. and quickly began to accumulate.
The snow continued throughout the day and was
heavy a times. So far today we have received
record breaking daily amount snow of 14 ins by
4:00 P.M. EST. The previous record of 8.6 ins
was set in 1923 then tied in 1941.
Another besides the large snowfall amounts another
significant part of this storm was the dramatic
pressure drop we have experienced over the past
24 hours. This has caused high winds that were
sustained between 20 and 30 MPH at times. So far
today we had a peak gust of 47 kts (54 MPH). The
high winds caused blowing snow which reduced
visibility to 1/4 by 1:00 PM. EST. making for
blizzard conditions this afternoon on top of Great
Blue Hill.
PRELIMINARY STATS FOR DECEMBER 2017
TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 33.9 [-5.2]
Avg. Min. 21.2 [-2.4]
Mean 27.6 [-3.7]
Corrected mean: 27.2
Max. for month: 58 on the 5TH
Min. for month: -3 on the 29TH
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 1153 [+110]
Total for the season: 2122 [-183]
Total for last season: 2032
PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 2.98 [-1.91]
SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 9.4 [-4.0]
WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.6
Avg. corrected wind speed: 12.0
Prevailing wind direction: W @ 23%
Peak gust and direction: 62 S on the 5th
SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes: N/A
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Fog and light snow, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: N at 16G24 kts,
Peak wind: 27 kts (31 MPH) N at 6:18 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.65 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 2 miles
distant fog S-NNE
6-hr Max temp: 25F
6-hr Min temp: 22F
24-hr precip: Trace
24-hr snowfall: Trace
Snow depth: 2 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E20 OVC 2S-F 039/25/20/3516G24/965/ NEW SNW PST
24 HRS TRACE S-B40 VRY LGT S- CTD PK WND 3527/18 PRESFR/
8/02/ 58074 10025 20022
10 A.M.
Weather: Fog and snow
Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NNW at 19G32 kts,
Peak wind: 32 kts ( 37 MPH) NNW at 10:53 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.42 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1/2 mile
3-hr precip: 0.18 ins.
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/2SF 963/24/22/3419G32/942/ NEW SNW PST 3
HRS 1.5 INS S- BCMG S UNK PK WND 3432/53 PRESFR/ 8//// 56076
MANUAL 6018/ ASOS 60018
1 P.M.
Weather: Heavy snow and fog
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: NNW at 20G30 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.08 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1/4 mile
6-hr Max temp: 27F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
6-hr precip: 1.11 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 8.5 ins.
Snow depth: 10 ins.
BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/4S+F 848/26/25/3420G30/908/ NEW SNW PST 6 HRS
8.5 INS S BCMG S+ UNK PK WND 3432/53 PRESFR/ 8//// 56115 4/010
MANUAL 6111/ 60119 10027 20023
SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..28 NORMAL…..35
MIN…..11 NORMAL…..18
MEAN….20 NORMAL…..26
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-50 [-16.9 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….45 DEPARTURE……….+6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………165 DEPARTURE………+50
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….2287 DEPARTURE……..-133
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..2118 DIFFERENCE…….+169
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….23 WSW AT 5:16 A.M.
AERO……………………20 W AT 12:18 A.M.
ASOS……………………22 W AT 5:18 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..22 W AT 5:17 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………16 WSW AT 4:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………16 S AT 7:35 P.M
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..16 W AT 4:00 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….10.6 S
ASOS………………….10.9
DAVIS…………………10.3 SW [227 DEG.]
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00 DEPARTURE……-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.00 DEPARTURE……-0.44
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..0.00 DEPARTURE……-0.44
ASOS…………..0.00
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0 DEPARTURE…….-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.0 DEPARTURE…….-1.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………9.4 DEPARTURE…….-8.3
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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
12/01 50/35/43/+6/0.04/0.0/262/47 28 NW AERO 29 NW RMY 30
12/02 42/29/36/0/0.00/0.0/033/06 20 NNW AERO 18 NNW RMY N/A
12/03 42/32/37/+1/0.00/0.0/172/31 14 N AERO 10 N RMY N/A
12/04 43/32/38/+3/0.00/0.0/522/94 16 E AERO 14 E RMY N/A
12/05 58/34/46/+11/0.18/0.0/000/00 62 S AERO 66 S RMY 65
12/06 56/32/44/+9/0.54/0.0/160/29 52 S AERO 55 S RMY N/A
12/07 44/30/37/+3/0.00/0.0/540/98 25 WSW AERO 24 WSW RMY 25
12/08 38/28/33/-1/0.00/0.0/116/21 21 W AERO 18 W RMY 20
12/09 34/28/31/-3./0.70/5.5/000/00 23 NNW AERO 23 NNW RMY 23
12/10 35/27/31/-2/0.02/0.1/384/70 30 W AERO 30 W RMY 27
12/11 38/29/34/+1/T/T/301/55 23 W AERO 21 W RMY 22
12/12 43/31/37/+4/0.06/0.0/000/00 35 W AERO 31 W RMY N/A
12/13 31/18/25/-7/0.00/0.0/372/68 44 W AERO 44 W RMY 44
12/14 27/14/21/-11/T/T/257/47 35 WSW AERO 33 W RMY 34
12/15 24/12/18/-14/0.00/0.0/011/02 25 W AERO 23 W RMY N/A
12/16 32/17/25/-6/0.00/0.0/382/70 33 W AERO 35 W RMY 36
12/17 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/425/78 21 NW AERO 21 NW RMY 20
12/18 35/20/28/-3/T/T/011/02 20 SSE AERO 16 SSE RMY 20
12/19 49/34/42/+12/0.00/0.0/185/34 36 WNW AERO 35 SW RMY 38
12/20 42/26/34/+4/T/T/447/82 41 W AERO 40 W RMY 45
12/21 32/23/28/-2/0.00/0.0/533/98 26 NW AERO 24 NW RMY 27
12/22 32/21/27/-2/…./…/000/00 18 E AERO 17 E RMY N/A
12/23 36/24/30/+1/…./…/000/00 31 WSW AERO 28 WSW RMY 31
12/24 35/29/32/+3/…./…/191/35 30 ENE AERO 25 ENE RMY N/A
12/25 35/21/28/0/…./…/098/18 50 W AERO 54 W RMY 47
12/26 24/13/19/-9/0.00/0.0/529/97 39 W AERO 39 W RMY 41
12/27 19/6/13/-15/0.00/0.0/530/97 28 WNW AERO 25 WNW RMY N/A
12/28 10/1/6/-22/0.00/0.0/…./.. 37 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 43
12/29 13/-3/5/-22/0.00/0.0/…/.. 25 W AERO 25 W RMY 27
12/30 14/1/8/-19/0.03/0.5/…/.. 21 W AERO 18 W RMY 24
12/31 10/0/5/-22/0.00/0.0/…/.. 32 WNW AERO 32 WNW RMY 35
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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
1/1 11/-5/3/-24/0.00/0.0/…/.. 30 NW AERO 30 NW RMY 31
1/2 15/-2/7/-20/0.00/0.0/…/.. 26 W AERO 25 W RMY 26
1/3 28/11/20/-6/0.00/0.0/…/.. 23 WSW AERO 20 WSW RMY N/A
1/4 Low temp since midnight is 22F; normal low is now 18F
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4
HIGH 60F IN 2000
LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981
PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982
SNOW 8.6 INS. 1923, 1941
PEAK GUST 84 MPH S IN 1982
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5
HIGH 61F IN 2007
LOW -9F IN 1981
PRECIP 0.98 INS. IN 1993
SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan
