Saturday, December 20, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

PARTIAL SUNSHINE THIS MORNING FADES AS LOW CLOUDS
MOVE IN FROM THE OCEAN BY MID-DAY…LIGHT SNOW
FALLING ALONG SHORELINE TO THE EAST AT LATE MORNING
REACHES SUMMIT JUST AFTER 1 PM EST…

The low temperature this morning of 24F was the coldest
reading since 16F on December 8th. The temperature has
struggled to climb today, and it has reached only the
low 30s by early afternoon. There was partial sunshine
for a few hours this morning with a deck of stratocumulus
along the shoreline to the east. This moved inland during
the morning and overspread the area by late morning. A
few light snow showers and flurries were occurring along
the coastline with the visibility dropping to about 2 miles
in light snow at Plymouth at mid-day. Snow showers were
observed just to the east of the hill at 1 PM EST moving
west-southwest, and light snow began on the summit at
1:07 PM EST. This continued intermittently for the rest
of that hour, then the visibility improved and the snow
ended by 2 PM EST. Each of the local ponds, Houghton’s and
Ponkapoag, have about 2/10 ice cover today. For a time
before the snow began, the visibility increased to 75 miles
to the WNW, and using binoculars the snow cover on the
summit of Grand Monadock, 67 miles to the NW, could be seen.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus (2 layers), few cumulus
fractus ENE-SW, hazy
Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: N at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.25 ins. Hg, rising then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 25F
6-hr min temp: 24F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1155 20 SCT 30 SCT 30 245/24/20/3509/025/ FEW CUFRA ENE-SW
HAZY/ 8/570 53021 10025 20024

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, few
cumulus fractus vicinity of station, hazy
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: N at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 45 miles, visibility SW-NW 55, NE-SE 35, hazy
BHO SA 1455 20 SCT 70 SCT 45 259/31/22/3610/029/ FEW CUFRA VCNTY
STN VSBY SW-NW 55 NE-SE 35 HAZY/ 8/570 51014

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, higher
clouds visible distant W-N, snow shower E moving WSW
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: N at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, falling
Visibility: 50 miles, visibility W-WNW 75, ENE-E 6, decreasing E
6-hr max temp: 31F
6-hr min temp: 24F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E15 BKN 25 OVC 50 250/31/26/3606/027/ HIR CLDS VSBL
DSNT W-N VSBY W-WNW 75 ENE-E 6 VSBY DCRNG E SW E MVNG WSW WND LGT/
8/5// 56009 10031 20024

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..34   NORMAL…..38
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….30   NORMAL…..30

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+39 [+1.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..35 DEPARTURE…………0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….562 DEPARTURE……….-41
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1721 DEPARTURE………-143
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1897 DIFFERENCE……..-176

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………26 NW AT 9:22 A.M.
ASOS…………………..29 NW AT 9:22 A.M.
DAVIS………………….27 WNW AT 9:22 A.M. RMY 29
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21 NW AT 9:21 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..20 NW AT 9:23 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….18 NW AT 9:22 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………11.3 NW
ASOS…………………10.8
DAVIS…………………9.0 NW [309 degrees] * Last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.85 DEPARTURE…..+2.77
ASOS…………..6.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….53.61 DEPARTURE…..+2.00
ASOS………….54.20

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.6 DEPARTURE……-6.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………9.3 DEPARTURE……-0.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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/+8/0.43/0.0/000/00              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/+3/0.00/0.0/536/98              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