Thursday, February 12, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

OCEAN EFFECT SNOW BRINGS 1.4 INCHES WEDNESDAY,
CLIPPER SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE REGION LATE MORNING
WITH MORE SNOW

Another day of snow began this morning at 9:40 AM EST
when flurries began again ahead of an Alberta Clipper
system. Yesterday’s ocean effect snow brought a quick
1.4 inches bringing this season’s snowfall total
up to 103.0 inches through 1:00 PM EST yesterday.

By today’s 1:00 PM EST observation an additional 0.3 inches
of new snow was recorded, bringing the seasonal total
to 103.3 inches, and the monthly total up to 49.4 inches,
still the third snowiest February on record. A maximum
temperature of 26F was recorded at the observation as well,
with visibility obscured to 5 miles by very light snow.

Below are the list of recent records recently broken
by this season’s historic snowfall. More information
can be found on our website BlueHill.org:

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) 49.4 in 2015 (through Feb 12 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) 92.3 in 2015 (through Feb 12 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: Broken altostratus, inversion present below
summit, approximately 500 feet above city
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: estimated W at 1 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, falling, then rising
Visibility: 50 miles, except 30 miles SSW-NNW, obscured by inversion
6-hr max temp: 17F
6-hr min temp: 14F
24-hr precip: 0.03 inches
24 hr snowfall: 1.4 inches
Snow depth: 36 inches
BHO SA 1155 E80 BKN 50 107/17/7/E2701/985/ VSBY SSW-NNW 30 MI
INVSN PRSNT ESTMD TOP 5 HND OVR CTY NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.4 INS
WND LGT/ 8/010 4/036 55004 ASOS 70001 MANUAL 70003 10017 20014

10 A.M.
Weather: Very light snow begins 9:40 AM EST,
overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: S at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
Visibility: 10 miles, obscured by light snow
3-hr prcip: Trace
3-hr snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E20 OVC 10S- 095/20/15/1807/981/
INVSN PRSNT ESTMD TOP 5 HND OVR CTY PRCP VRY LGT
NEW SNW PST 3 HRS TRACE/ 8/6// 58012 MANUAL 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Very light snow, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: S at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.73 ins. falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 5 miles, obscured by light snow
6 Hr precip: 0.01 inches
6 Hr Snowfall: 0.3 inches
BHO SA 1755 E38 OVC 5S- 067/26/22/1911/973/ NEW SNW PST 6 HRS
0.3 INS/ 8/6// 58028 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 60001 10026 20016

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..24   NORMAL…..36
MIN…..15   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….20   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-94 [-8.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..45  DEPARTURE………..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….518  DEPARTURE……….+93
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3866  DEPARTURE……….-90
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3947  DIFFERENCE………-81

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………30 N      AT 12:54 A.M.
ASOS…………………..31 N      AT 11:58 A.M.
DAVIS………………….28 NNE    AT 12:55 A.M. RMY 29
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21 N      AT 12:28 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..21 N      AT 12:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….19 N      AT 12:58 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………11.2 N
ASOS…………………10.5
DAVIS…………………9.8 N [005 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.03  DEPARTURE…..-0.11
ASOS…………..0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….4.28  DEPARTURE…..+2.79
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.45  DEPARTURE…..+3.74
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……….1.4  DEPARTURE……+0.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………49.1  DEPARTURE…..+43.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….103.0  DEPARTURE…..+64.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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

2/11 morning low temp: 14F since midnight, normal low is now 18

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 12
HIGH 56F IN 1999
LOW -14F IN 1914
PRECIP 4.85 INCHES IN 1886 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 2006
PEAK GUST 70 MPH E IN 1985

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 13
HIGH 64F IN 1951
LOW -10F IN 1967
PRECIP 2.80 INCHES IN 2008
SNOWFALL 13.5 INCHES IN 1894
PEAK GUST 60 MPH SE IN 1972

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald