Thursday, January 29, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

BLUE SKIES AND WARMING TEMPERATURES HELP
AID THE DIG OUT ON GREAT BLUE HILL

Clear skies began today, with an overnight low
of 11F. A large inversion was in place just a couple
hundred feet below the summit, and just over 3 miles
away at Norwood Memorial Airport, a minimum of
-16F was recorded. The inversion continued late into
the morning under very calm winds.

By the 1:00 PM EST observation cirrostratus were beginning
to invade in the distance from SW-NW. Visibility had
improved to 70 miles in all directions and the inversion
had begun to lift. It was 32F at 1:00 PM EST at both
Norwood Airport along with Great Blue Hill, the maximum
for the day so far.

Snow for January is now up to 40.7 inches, which moves
January 2015 into 8th place for snowiest January. With
more snow forecast for tomorrow, we can still
stand to move further up the list:

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) 40.7 in 2015
9) 38.3 in 1987
10) 35.6 in 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus overhead, inversion present,
top estimated at 400 feet over city north and all directions
Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: -3F; Wind: NNW at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, obscured by thin fog/haze below inversion
6-hr max temp: 12F
6-hr min temp: 11F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
24 hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Total snow on ground: 22 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 257/12/-3/3411/029/ FEW CI OVHD
INVSN PRSNT ESTMD TOP 4 HND OVR CTY N AND ALQDS/
8/001 4/022 51005 10012 20011

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus in all directions, inversion
present, estimated top 300 feet over city north and all directions
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 2F; Wind: estimated NNE at 3 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising, then steady
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr precip: 0.00
3-hr snowfall 0.0
BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 269/25/2/E0203/032/ FEW CI ALQDS INVSN PRSNT
ESTMD TOP 3 HND OVR CTY N AND ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/001 51012

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus fibratus, few cirrostratus distant
SW-NW, few stratocumulus distant offshore E
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: estimated E at 2 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.25 ins. Hg, steady, then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr max. temp: 32F
6-hr min. temp: 17F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins
BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 70 243/32/17/E0802/025/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR E
FEW CS DSNT SW-NW/ 8/505 58026 10032 20012

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..22   NORMAL…..34
MIN……8   NORMAL…..17
MEAN….15   NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….-44 [-1.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..50  DEPARTURE……….+10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………1153  DEPARTURE……….+45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3213  DEPARTURE………-199
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3339  DIFFERENCE……..-176

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………30 NW    AT 12:22 A.M.
ASOS…………………..MISSING**
DAVIS………………….28 NW    AT  9:01 A.M. RMY 29
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..22 NW    AT 12:35 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..MISSING**
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….19 NW    AT 12:23 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………13.4 NW
ASOS…………………MISSING**
DAVIS………………..11.4 NW [317 degrees] * last of several occurrences…
** ASOS WIND SENSOR FAILED APPROXIMATELY 4:00 AM EST 1/27/15

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.13
ASOS…………..0.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.04  DEPARTURE…..+1.10
ASOS…………..5.36
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..5.04  DEPARTURE…..+1.10
ASOS…………..5.30

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………40.7  DEPARTURE…..+25.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..51.7  DEPARTURE…..+20.2

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/-14/0.01/0.3/394/71             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/+5/0.84/5.0/000/00              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 morning low temp: 11F since midnight; normal low is now 17F

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 29
HIGH 66F IN 2002
LOW -11F IN 1888
PRECIP 1.48 INS. IN 1973
SNOWFALL 8.0 INS. IN 1943
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1973

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 30
HIGH 60F IN 1914
LOW -8F IN 1948
PRECIP 1.12 INS. IN 1925
SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1986
PEAK GUST 76 MPH WNW IN 1962

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald