Saturday, January 3, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

COLORFUL SUNRISE EARLY THIS MORNING WITH INCREASING
AND LOWERING CLOUDS DURING THE DAY…
The scattering of middle clouds at sunrise were lit
in brilliant red colors for a time before the sun
rose this morning. There were a few periods of sunshine
earlier, though advancing middle and high clouds have
dominated much of the day as a storm approaches. Both
snow and rain are expected later today and during
Sunday.  The temperature has remained in the 20s all
day with a dew point in the teens.  The barometric
pressure has been very high all day as a strong area
of high pressure over New England today temporarily
holds in colder air this evening while the storm
advances from the southwest. The visibility has been
generally good in the 60-70 mile range much of the day.

The corrected mean wind speed for December 2014 of
12.2 mph was the lowest on record for the month, and
the annual mean wind speed for 2014 of 12.3 mph was
the third lowest on record.

SOME OF THE DECEMBER 2014 PRELIMINARY STATS

TEMPERATURE:  Deg. F
Av. Max. 42.0
Av. Min. 29.3
MEAN     35.7 [+4.3] 24-hour corrected mean: 35.5
Max. temp: 63 deg. Dec.  1
Min. temp: 14 deg. Dec. 31
Total heating degree day units:   908 [-142] Total heating degree day units
for the season beginning July 1: 2067 [-238]

PRECIPITATION: Ins.
Total: 7.21 [+2.32] Greatest in 24 hours;
Snowfall:  2.3 [-11.1] Seasonal: 11.0 [-5.0 ]

WIND:
Av. uncorrected wind speed: 11.8 MPH
Av.   corrected wind speed: 12.2 MPH
Prevailing wind direction: W @ 14%

SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes:   5880/16999 or 35%
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 5688/16470 or 35%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, overcast cirrus, few stratocumulus
distant ESE-SE, thin spots in overcast all quadrants, thin smoke
layer along horizon below inversion WSW-N
Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: NNE at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.61 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr max temp: 25F
6-hr min temp: 21F
24-hr precip.: 0.00 ins
BHO SA 1155 180 SCT 250 OVC 65 367/22/9/0310/061/ FEW SC DSNT ESE-SE
THN SPTS IOVC ALQDS THN K LYR ALG HRZN BLO INVSN WSW-N/ 8/507 51022
10025 20021

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, overcast cirrus and cirrostratus,
thin spots in overcast all quadrants, few breaks in overcast distant S-SSW
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: ENE at 4 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.66 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 120 SCT 250 OVC 70 383/26/14/0604/066/ THN SPTS IOVC ALQDS
FEW BINOVC DSNT S-SSW WND LGT/ 8/078 50016

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, overcast altostratus, few stratocumulus
distant NNE-NE, higher clouds visible distant NNE-E, sun occasionally
dimly visible
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: NNE at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.63 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr max temp: 28F
6-hr min temp: 22F
BHO SA 1755 100 SCT 150 OVC 60 372/28/17/0306/063/ FEW SC DSNT NNE-NE
HIR CLDS VSBL DSNT NNE-E SUN OCNLY DMLY VSBL WND LGT/ 8/578 56011
10028 20022

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..37   NORMAL…..35
MIN…..26   NORMAL…..19
MEAN….32   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..+5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..+3 [+1.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..33  DEPARTURE………..-5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..73  DEPARTURE………..-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2140  DEPARTURE………-241
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2374  DIFFERENCE……..-234

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………35 WSW AT  3:22 P.M.
ASOS…………………..40 W   AT  3:22 P.M.
DAVIS………………….36 W   AT 12:27 P.M. RMY 38
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..29 SW  AT  2:51 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29 W   AT  3:23 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….25 W   AT  3:22 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………15.1 WNW
ASOS…………………14.4
DAVIS………………..13.0 W [263 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.29
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.29
ASOS…………..0.00

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.0  DEPARTURE……-1.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..11.0  DEPARTURE……-6.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-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

12/1  63/37/50/+13/0.01/0.0/391/70             28 WNW RMY 31
12/2  37/30/34/-2/0.10/T/000/00                26 E   RMY 29
12/3  49/34/42/+6/0.31/0.0/000/00              40 W   RMY 43
12/4  41/27/34/-1/0.00/0.0/505/91              29 WNW RMY N/A
12/5  42/23/33/-2/0.12/0.0/382/69              21 E   RMY 22
12/6  43/36/40/+5/0.99/0.0/000/00              25 NNW RMY N/A
12/7  36/18/27/-7/0.15/0.0/193/35              31 N   RMY 34
12/8  25/16/21/-13/0.01/0.1/000/00             24 N   RMY N/A
12/9  48/25/37/+3/3.23/0.0/000/00              48 ENE RMY 52
12/10 47/35/41/+8/0.42/0.0/000/00              35 NNE RMY 37
12/11 35/29/32/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00              27 SW  RMY 27
12/12 36/26/31/-2/0.00/0.0/230/42              23 WNW RMY 25
12/13 40/27/34/+2/0.00/0.0/191/35              28 NW  RMY 28
12/14 43/28/36/+4/0.00/0.0/377/69              20 NW  RMY 20
12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/535/98   *          17 NW  RMY 17
12/16 42/33/38/+7/T/T/011/02                   17 E   RMY N/A
12/17 45/37/41/+10/0.43/0.0/000/00             27 W   RMY N/A
12/18 41/32/37/+6/0.02/T/213/39                35 WNW RMY 38
12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/000/00               26 NW  RMY 29
12/20 32/24/28/-2/0.11/1.0/164/30              21 NNE RMY 23
12/21 31/29/30/+0/0.08/0.7/000/00              20 NNE RMY 22
12/22 42/29/36/+7/0.01/0.0/038/07              23 E   RMY N/A
12/23 44/39/42/+13/0.31/0.0/000/00             28 ENE RMY 30
12/24 61/40/51/+22/0.63/0.0/000/00             32 SSW RMY 41
12/25 61/41/51/+23/0.21/0.0/213/39             37 W   RMY 43
12/26 47/35/41/+13/0.00/0.0/540/99             24 WSW RMY 28
12/27 50/35/43/+15/0.00/0.0/519/95  *          21 SSW RMY N/A
12/28 49/35/42/+14/0.02/0.0/038/07  *          31 W   RMY 36
12/29 41/26/34/+7/0.00/0.0/470/86              23 WNW RMY 23
12/30 27/16/22/-5/0.00/0.0/470/86              22 NW  RMY N/A
12/31 28/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/400/73              23 W   RMY N/A

* Sunshine corrected for the 15th, 27th and 28th

1/1   31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..              29 SSW RMY 30
1/2   37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..              35 WSW RMY 38

1/3   morning low temp: 21F since midnight; normal low is now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2014:

-DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR DECEMBER 9 2014
Old record of 1.51 inches set in 1952,
replaced with new record of 3.23 inches.

-DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR DECEMBER 24 2014
Old record of 58F set in 1996,
replaced with new record of 61F.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 3
HIGH 64F IN 2000
LOW -4F IN 1904
PRECIP 1.93 INS. IN 1999
SNOW 11.3 INS. 1996
PEAK GUST 92 MPH S IN 1960

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4
HIGH 60F IN 2000
LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981
PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982
SNOW 8.6 INS. 1923, 1941
PEAK GUST 84 MPH S IN 1982

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono