Wednesday, February 4, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

A CLEAR TUESDAY GIVES WAY TO AN OVERCAST WEDNESDAY,
MORE SNOW ON THE WAY FOR BHO

Following yesterday’s invasion of cold air from the NW,
and an overnight low of 1F, temperatures climbed
through the afternoon to a maximum of 21F. Although
there was plentiful sunshine, the cold helped retain
the snowpack through this morning, at a depth of
24 inches on average. A snow core was taken yesterday
morning, producing a liquid equivalent of 4.05 inches
of water.

At sunrise this morning, overcast altostratus had overspread
the region, blocking sunlight through 08:00 AM EST. Winds
have shifted south, bringing mostly hazy conditions as well,
with visibility reduced to 30 miles for most of the morning.

By the 1:00 PM EST observation mostly cloudy conditions
were present with faint sun. Temperatures had continued
to moderate through the morning, reaching a maximum of
32F so far. Stratocumulus had formed distant to the
SE-S with hazy conditions still present.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2015

TEMPERATURE Deg. F
Av. Max: 30.8 [-3.0] Av. Min: 15.4 [-1.7] Mean: 23.1 [-2.4] (corrected from previous discussions)
Corrected Mean: 23.3 (corrected from previous discussions)
Max. for month: 51 on 4th
Min. for month: -5 on 8th

HEATING DEGREE DAY UNITS
Total: 1289 [+63] Total for season: 3349 [-181]

PRECIPITATION, inches
Total: 5.17 [+0.82] Total snowfall: 42.9 [+25.8]

WIND:
Av. uncorrected wind speed: 13.8 MPH
Av. corrected wind speed: 14.1 MPH
Prevailing wind direction: N/A

SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes: N/A
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A

Additional data to be added in coming days

Top 10 Snowiest Januarys

1) 56.3 in 1948
2) 48.2 in 2011
3) 48.0 in 1904
4) 47.6 in 1996
5) 46.0 in 1966
6) 44.8 in 2005
7) 44.5 in 1923
8) 42.9 in 2015
9) 38.3 in 1987
10) 35.6 in 1978
Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few bright spots E-SE
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: S at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, decreasing, then increasing,
and lower
Visibility: 30 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max temp: 17F
6-hr min temp: 15F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
24 hr snowfall: 0.0 in.
Snow depth: 24 inches
BHO SA 1155 E70 OVC 30 256/17/8/1911/029/ FEW BRGHT SPTS E-SE
LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/02/ 4/024 55001 ASOS 70003 10017 20015

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altostratus
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: SSW at 14G20 kts
Sea-level pressure:  30.27 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
and lower
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 110 SCT 140 SCT 30 249/25/16/2014G20/027/
HAZY ALQDS/ 8/070 58007

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken altostratus,
few stratocumulus distant SE-S
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SSW at 18G24 kts
Sea-level pressure:  30.17 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 32F
6-hr min temp: 16F
BHO SA 1755 E80 BKN 100 BKN 35 217/31/22/2018G24/017/
FEW SC DSNT SE-S HAZY ALQDS/ 8/470 58032 10032 20016
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..21   NORMAL…..35
MIN……0   NORMAL…..17
MEAN….11   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..-15
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-30 [-10.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..54  DEPARTURE……….+15
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….147  DEPARTURE……….+30
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3496  DEPARTURE………-152
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3648  DIFFERENCE……..-106

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………31 NW     AT  5:15 A.M.
ASOS…………………..35 NW     AT  2:09 A.M.
DAVIS………………….34 WNW    AT  2:08 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..23 NW     AT  5:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..25 NW     AT  5:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….23 NNW    AT  5:17 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………13.5 NW
ASOS…………………13.7
DAVIS…………………11.9 WNW [290 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.13
ASOS…………..0.03*
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.53  DEPARTURE…..+1.16
ASOS…………..1.62
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.70  DEPARTURE…..+2.08
ASOS…………..7.08
*ASOS PRECIP AMOUNT LIKELY FROM MELTING SNOW IN GAUGE

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………16.5  DEPARTURE…..+15.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..70.4  DEPARTURE…..+35.8

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

1/1  31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/544/99              29 SSW RMY 30
1/2  37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/314/57              35 WSW RMY 38
1/3  34/21/28/+2/0.67/2.5/017/03              25 SE  RMY 26
1/4  51/33/42/+16/0.48/0.0/000/00             30 SSW RMY N/A
1/5  46/13/30/+4/0.00/0.0/542/98              48 W   RMY 54
1/6  15/10/13/-13/0.02/0.4/000/00             29 W   RMY N/A
1/7  22/01/12/-14/0.01/0.3/383/69             43 WNW RMY 47
1/8  16/-5/6/-20/0.00/0.0/539/97              39 WNW RMY N/A
1/9  27/16/22/-4/0.08/0.9/201/36              35 WSW RMY 38
1/10 22/11/17/-8/0.00/0.0/541/97              26 WNW RMY 27
1/11 31/9/20/-5/45/0.00/0.0/123/22            26 SSW RMY N/A
1/12 36/31/34/+9/0.23/T/000/00                29 NNW RMY N/A
1/13 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/524/93              30 NNW RMY 29
1/14 22/11/17/-8/T/T/000/00                   18 NNW RMY 16
1/15 27/20/24/-1/0.09/0.8/000/00              20 WSW RMY 22
1/16 35/12/24/-1/T/T/341/60                   46 WSW RMY 50
1/17 21/5/13/-12/0.00/0.0/558/98              30 WNW RMY N/A
1/18 50/19/35/+10/0.16/0.0/000/00             47 SE  RMY 52
1/19 44/28/36/+11/T/0.0/304/53                33 W   RMY 36
1/20 36/23/30/+5/0.00/0.0/495/86              28 W   RMY 28
1/21 30/17/24/-1/0.00/0.0/358/62              21 WNW RMY N/A
1/22 36/25/31/+6/T/T/…/..                   20 WNW RMY 20
1/23 36/18/27/+2/0.00/0.0/…/..              25 SSW RMY 26
1/24 32/27/30/+5/0.86/5.0/000/00              24 SSW RMY N/A
1/25 34/17/26/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..              31 W   RMY 33
1/26 26/9/18/-7/0.50/5.6/…/..               45 N   RMY N/A
1/27 17/10/14/-11/1.94/25.2/000/00            51 N   RMY 52
1/28 22/8/15/-10/T/T/…/..                   30 NW  RMY N/A
1/29 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/…/..              18 NW  RMY N/A
1/30 32/15/24/-2/0.13/2.2/000/00             45 NW  RMY 49
1/31 21/7/15/-11/0.00/0.0/…/../             52 NW  RMY 57

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 morning low temp: 14F since midnight, normal low is now 17

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015

-NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 27 JANUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 25.2 INS. IN 2015 [NEW RECORD FOR THE MONTH] DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

-NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. IN 2014
Previos 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 4
HIGH 63F IN 1991
LOW -4F IN 1886, 1908
PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1926
SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1961
PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1972

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5
HIGH 65F IN 1991
LOW -14F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907
PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald