Wednesday, February 11, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SNOW RETURNS, OCEAN EFFECT BRINGS LIGHT SNOW
INTO THE AFTERNOON

Very light snow showers and flurries began prior to
the 7:00 AM EST observation, with only a trace measured
at that time with 36 inches of snow on the ground. Light
snow flurries turned into steadier snow not long after,
with 0.8 inches of new fluffy snow measured by the
10:00 AM EST observation.

Snow and poor visibility continued into early afternoon
totaling 1.4 inches through the 1:00 PM EST observation.
This additional snow now makes 103.0 inches for the
2014-2015 winter season, now the 9th snowiest on record
(list to follow later this week).

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) 49.1 in 2015 (through Feb 11 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) 92.0 in 2015 (through Feb 11 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: Light snow showers, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: N at 11G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, falling, then rising
Visibility: 10 miles, except 8 miles SE, obscured by light snow
6-hr max temp: 23F
6-hr min temp: 17F
24-hr precip: Trace
24 hr snowfall: Trace
Snow depth: 36 inches
BHO SA 1155 E21 OVC 10SW- 190/18/13/3611G17/009/
VSBY SE 8 MI SHWRS ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/
8/6// 4/036 55000 ASOS 70002 10023 20017

10 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, overcast nimbostratus,
bright spots overhead
Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: N at 10G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
Visibility: 2 miles, obscured by light snow
3-hr prcip: 0.02
3-hr snowfall: 0.8
BHO SA 1455 E13 OVC 2S- 192/18/15/3610G18/010/
BRGT SPTS OVHD NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 0.8 INS/
8/6// 50002 MANUAL 60002

1 P.M.
Weather: Light snow, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: NNE at 11G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.03 ins. falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 3 miles, obscured by light snow
6 Hr precip: 0.03 inches
6 Hr Snowfall: 1.4 inches
BHO SA 1755 E25 OVC 3S- 168/18/14/0211G21/003/
PRCP VRY LGT NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 1.4 INS/
8/6// 56024 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 60001 10019 20017
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..28   NORMAL…..36
MIN…..12   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….20   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-87 [-8.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..45  DEPARTURE………..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….473  DEPARTURE……….+86
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3821  DEPARTURE……….-97
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3898  DIFFERENCE………-77

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………29 N      AT  6:11 A.M.*
ASOS…………………..29 N      AT 12:02 A.M.
DAVIS………………….26 N      AT 12:02 A.M. RMY 29
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..20 N      AT  8:45 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..21 N      AT  8:45 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….18 N      AT  1:57 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………13.8 N
ASOS…………………13.0
DAVIS………………..12.1 N [008 degrees] * last of several occurrences…
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…TRACE  DEPARTURE…..-0.14
ASOS…………..0.02***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….4.25  DEPARTURE…..+2.90
ASOS…………..9.23***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.42  DEPARTURE…..+3.85
ASOS………….14.69***

***ERRONEOUS ASOS PRECIP GAUGE DATA DUE TO DRIFTING SNOW***

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..TRACE  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………47.7  DEPARTURE…..+42.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….101.6  DEPARTURE…..+63.6

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 morning low temp: 17F 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 11
HIGH 60F IN 1981
LOW -10F IN 1899
PRECIP 1.07 INCHES IN 1955
SNOWFALL 9.6 INCHES IN 1933
PEAK GUST 95 MPH S IN 1981

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

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald