Thursday, January 22, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SHORT PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW LEAVES DUSTING
MILDER TEMPERATURES RETURNING TODAY

A short period of light snow before dawn today left a scant
dusting of snow here at the summit. Temperatures began rising
overnight from a low of 25 degrees around 6 p.m. late yesterday
to 30 degrees by 1 A.M. this morning followed by a low of
only 27 degrees or 10 degrees warmer than just 24 hours ago.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus, the
stratocumulus dissipating past hour, break in overcast WSW-W,
total new snow past 6 and 24 hours trace
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: N at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 20 miles, hazy, lower at 15 miles NE-SE, virga and
snow in that direction
6-hr max temp: 30F
6-hr min temp: 27F
6-hr precip: trace
6-hr snowfall: trace
24-hr precip: trace
24-hr snowfall: trace
Total snow on ground: trace
BHO SA 1155 28 SCT E95 OVC 20 213/27/22/3510/016/ SN/VIRGA NE-SSE
BINOVC WSW-W HAZY VSBY NE-SE 15 TOTAL NEW SNW 6/24 HRS TRACE/
8/57/ 53002 MANUAL 6000/ MANUAL 70000 10030 20027

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken cirrus, few cumulus
distant E-ESE
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: NNW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.21 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy, WNW 45 miles
BHO SA 1455 E36 BKN 250 BKN 35 229/29/21/3407/021/ FEW CU
DSNT E-ESE VSBY WNW 45 DSNT HZ/ 8/801 51016

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken altocumulus,
cumulus all quadrants with moderate tops ENE-SSE
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: N at 5 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.18 ins. Hg, falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles, except 50 miles WNW, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 36F
6-hr min temp: 27F
BHO SA 1755 55 SCT E95 BKN 40 220/34/20/3505/018/ FEW CU ALQDS
CU MDT TOPS ENE-SSE VSBY WNW 50 DSNT HZ/ 8/830 58009 10036 20027

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..30   NORMAL…..34
MIN…..17   NORMAL…..17
MEAN….24   NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….-30 [-1.6 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..41  DEPARTURE………..+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….859  DEPARTURE……….+31
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2919  DEPARTURE………-214
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3048  DIFFERENCE……..-129

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………21 WNW   AT  1:02 A.M.
ASOS…………………..21 NW    AT  1:10 A.M.
DAVIS………………….20 WNW   AT 12:40 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..15 NW    AT  2:02 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..16 NW    AT  2:02 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….15 WNW   AT  2:02 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………… 8.0 NW
ASOS………………….8.4
DAVIS…………………7.0 N [350 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….trace DEPARTURE…..-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.74  DEPARTURE…..-1.24
ASOS…………..1.82
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..1.74  DEPARTURE…..-1.24
ASOS…………..1.82

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M………trace DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….4.9  DEPARTURE……-6.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..15.9  DEPARTURE…..-11.8

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/…/..                   46 WSW RMY 50
1/17 21/5/13/-12/0.00/0.0/…/..              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/…/..                33 W   RMY 36
1/20 36/23/30/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..              28 W   RMY 28
1/21 30/17/24/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..              21 WNW RMY N/A

1/22 morning low temp: 27F since midnight; normal low is now 17F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 22
HIGH 59F IN 1916
LOW -8F IN 1888,1976
PRECIP 1.24 INS. IN 1891,1987
SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 2005
PEAK GUST 67 MPH W IN 1976

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 23
HIGH 62F IN 1906
LOW -10F IN 1976
PRECIP 2.40 INS. IN 1935
SNOWFALL 14.6 INS. IN 1966
PEAK GUST 85 MPH S IN 1992

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling