Saturday, February 14, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

FRIGID TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING WITH PARTIAL SUNSHINE
EARLY TODAY…CLOUDS LOWERING AT MID-DAY AND PRESSURE
FALLING RAPIDLY AS LATEST SNOW STORM BEGINS DEVELOPING
SOUTH OF NEW ENGLAND…FIRST SNOW OBSERVED AT 12:55 PM…

Arctic cold has moved into New England once again today
ahead of the next storm expected the rest of today and
into tomorrow.  The minimum temperature on the summit
this morning was 1F, which was much higher than the
sub-zero readings in much of the surrounding area.
Nearby Norwood Airport recorded a minimum temperature
of -19F this morning, while Bedford, MA was -14F and
Worcester reported -3F.  Today will be the 20th
consecutive day with mean temperatures below average
starting back on Jan 26th.

Sunshine occurred for a couple of hours early today
before mid-level clouds partly obscured the sun and
lower clouds moved in by mid-day.  The developing area
of snow to the south began spreading into southern
New England by early afternoon and the first flakes
of very light snow were observed on the summit at
12:55 PM EST. The pressure was falling rapidly at
1 PM as the new storm is now moving into the waters
south of New England.  As of 2:30 PM, the snow has
become steadier and the visibility has dropped to
about 2 miles.

The seasonal snowfall of 103.6 inches has climbed to
the eighth highest on record.  Here are some of the
snowfall lists as of today:

BHO Greatest Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan, 2015
3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960
4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
5) 30.0 on 31 Mar – 1 Apr, 1997
6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013
7) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
8) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
9) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
10) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003
11) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001
12) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
13) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
3) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
4) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
5) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
6) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
7) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Snowiest February, inches (1885-2015):

1) 65.4 in 1969
2) 51.3 in 2003
3) 49.7 in 2015 (through Feb 14 at 1:00 PM EST)
4) 45.2 in 1967
5) 40.4 in 1920
6) 39.7 in 2013
7) 37.0 in 1893

BHO Snowiest January-February, inches (1886-2015):

1) 92.6 in 2015 (through Feb 14 at 1:00 PM EST)
2) 77.9 in 1948
3) 70.2 in 2005
4) 68.7 in 1904
5) 67.5 in 1920
6) 66.9 in 1994

BHO Greatest Snow Depth, inches (1895-2015):

1) 43 in March 1969
2) 42 in January 1948
3) 41 in February 1969
4) 39 in February 1948
5) 38 in February 1920
38 in February 2015
6) 33 in February 1978
33 in January 1996
9) 31 in February 2003
31 in February 2011
11)30 in March 1960
30 in March 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered dense cirrus, thin
overcast cirrus, few lower altocumulus, hazy
Temperature: 3F; Dew Point: -9F; Wind: S at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, falling then rising, now lower
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 3F
6-hr min temp: 1F
24-hr precip: 0.00 inches
24 hr snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow depth: 34 inches
BHO SA 1155 110 SCT 200 SCT 250 -OVC 30 159/3/-9/1906/000/
FEW LWR AC HAZY WND LGT/ 8/031 4/034 55004 10003 20001

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumlus, overcast altocumulus/altostratus,
few stratocumulus vicinity station, higher clouds visible distant NE-E,
sun dimly visible
Temperature: 1F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: SSE at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg, falling
Visibility: 30 miles
BHO SA 1455 80 SCT 140 OVC 30 143/13/-1/1610/995/ FEW SC VCNTY STN
HIR CLDS VSBL DSNT NE-E SUN DMLY VSBL/ 8/571 58016

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken stratus, overcast
altostratus, light snow began 12:55 PM, precipitation very light
Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: SE at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. falling rapidly
Visibility: 20 miles
6-hr max temp: 22F
6-hr min temp: 3F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1755 40 SCT E60 BKN 85 OVC 20S- 101/22/10/1408/983/ S-B55
PCPN VRY LGT PRESFR/ 8/67/ 58042 10022 20003

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..20   NORMAL…..36
MIN……2   NORMAL…..19
MEAN….11   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-17
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-117 [-9.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..54  DEPARTURE……….+17
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….616  DEPARTURE………+116
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3964  DEPARTURE……….-67
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4037  DIFFERENCE………-73

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………35 WNW AT  8:19 A.M.
ASOS…………………..37 WNW AT 12:54 A.M.
DAVIS………………….35 NW  AT  5:03 A.M. RMY 35
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..27 WNW AT 10:41 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..26 WNW AT 10:42 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….26 WNW AT 10:41 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………16.7 WNW
ASOS…………………15.9
DAVIS………………..14.5 WNW [301 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

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……….4.30  DEPARTURE…..+2.52
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.47  DEPARTURE…..+3.47
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings
on February 9-10th.

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………49.7  DEPARTURE…..+43.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….103.6  DEPARTURE…..+64.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/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

2/1  28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/…/..               29 WNW RMY N/A
2/2  29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00              44 NE  RMY 46
2/3  21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/4  36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..              31 S   RMY 33
2/5  34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/…/..               38 NW  RMY 39
2/6  19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/…/..              28 NW  RMY 27
2/7  25/14/20/-7/…./…/…/..              25 WSW RMY N/A
2/8  29/11/20/-7/…./…/000/00              30 NNE RMY 29
2/9  19/12/16/-11/…./…/000/00             29 N   RMY 28
2/10 28/12/20/-7/…./…/…/..              29 N   RMY 29
2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/…/..              30 N   RMY 29
2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/…/..              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/…/..              35 NW  RMY 35

2/14 morning low temp: 1F since midnight, normal low is now 19

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

– NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. surpasses previous record:
5.5 ins. in 1916, 1934

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 14
HIGH 56F IN 1949
LOW -8F IN 1979
PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2007
SNOWFALL 11.0 INCHES IN 1914
PEAK GUST 83 MPH SSW IN 2000

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 15
HIGH 60F IN 1954
LOW -18F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.28 INCHES IN 1950
SNOWFALL 11.2 INCHES IN 1940
PEAK GUST 94e MPH WNW IN 1946

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono