Sunday, January 5, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

TEMPERATURES BACK ABOVE FREEZING TODAY!

After the coldest weather in nearly three years, the temperature has
moderated today, with S-SSW winds bringing in the more mild air.  The
morning low of 23F was 5 degrees above average, and this afternoon the
temperature has risen to a slightly above average 36F so far.  This is the
first time the temperature has been above freezing since December 29.  The
first four days of this month have averaged 14.5 degrees below normal!

Skies were mostly clear at the start of the day today, but mid and high
level clouds have increased in coverage from late morning through early
afternoon.  These clouds are in advance of our next weather system, which
is likely to impact us late today, tonight, and tomorrow.  With the rise
in temperatures and the expectation that temperatures will be well above
normal tomorrow, this is expected to be a rain event.  This rain and
warm temperature combination will take a toll on our snow cover, which was
at 9 inches this morning.

THE PRELIMINARY DECEMBER 2013 STATS

[Departures are relative to the 1981-2010 averages]

TEMPERATURE: Deg. F
Avg. Max. 38.0 [-1.1] Avg. Min. 23.7 [+0.1] Mean      30.9 [-0.4] 24-hr. corrected mean: 30.7
Max. temp: 63F on 22nd
Min. temp: 7F  on 17th
Total heating degree day units: 1053 [+10] Total seasonal heating units:   2277 [-28 less than average] [Season starts 7/1] Seasonal total this date 2012:  2028 [249 more than last season]

PRECIPITATION: Inches
Total: 5.27 [+0.38] Greatest in 24 hours: 1.43 (14-15th)
Total snowfall: 15.5 [+2.1] Greatest in 24 hours: 6.8 inches (14-15th)

WIND
Av. speed (uncorrected): 11.9 mph
Av. speed (corrected):   12.3 mph
Prevailing direction: W 15%

SUNSHINE
Total astronomical minutes: 5,772 of possible 17,037 or 34%
Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 5,574 of possible 16,470 or 34%

PRELIMINARY ANNUAL STATS FOR 2013

TEMPERATURE: Deg. F
Avg. Max. 58.5 [+0.8] Avg. Min. 41.5 [+1.1] Mean      50.0 [+0.9]

PRECIPITATION: Inches
Total: 51.87 [-1.55] Snowfall: 99.3 [+36.6] (Jan-Dec)

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant all quadrants
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: SW at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, falling slightly then rising
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze
6-hr. min temp: 23F
Snow cover: 9 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 261/23/15/2312/030/ FEW AC DSNT ALQDS DSNT HZ/
8/070 4/009 53014 10025 20023

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, lower altocumulus distant SE-SW, few cirrus
and dense cirrus NW-NE, thin smoke layer along horizon W-NE
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: S at 11 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 120 SCT 65 269/29/16/1911/032/ LWR AC DSNT SE-SW
FEW CI AND DNS CI NW-NE LGT DSNT HZ THN K LYR ALG HRZN W-NE/ 8/051 51008

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, few lower altocumulus, cirrus distant WNW-NE
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: SSW at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising slightly then falling
Visibility: 55 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max. temp: 36F
BHO SA 1755 E65 BKN 55 252/35/20/2009/027/ FEW LWR AC CI DSNT WNW-NE
LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/071 58017 10036 20023

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..25    NORMAL…..34
MIN…..-4    NORMAL…..18
MEAN….11    NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..-15
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..-57 [-14.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..54  DEPARTURE…….. +15
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….211  DEPARTURE………+57
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2488  DEPARTURE………+30
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2199  DIFFERENCE…….+289

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………35 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M.
AERO…………………..37 SSW  AT  7:08 P.M.
ASOS…………………..37 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M.
DAVIS………………….37 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M. RMY 38
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..30 SSW  AT  6:59 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..28 SSW  AT  7:02 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….28 SSW  AT  7:03 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………15.9 SSW
ASOS…………………16.6
DAVIS………………..14.7 SW [224 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.14
ASOS…………..0.02
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.35  DEPARTURE………….+0.77
ASOS…………..1.55
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..1.35  DEPARTURE………….+0.77
ASOS…………..1.55

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.0    DEPARTURE…………..-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………….15.6    DEPARTURE………….+13.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………31.2    DEPARTURE………….+13.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-JANUARY 2013-2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
RMY:  RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized

12/1  45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00           22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23
12/2  38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00             15 NW  AERO 15 MPH NW  RMY 16
12/3  45/32/39/+3/0.00/0.0/284/51         18 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY 20
12/4  43/29/36/+1/0.00/0.0/389/70         21 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21
12/5  53/38/46/+11/0.02/0.0/000/00        36 S   AERO 40 MPH S   RMY 39
12/6  55/33/44/+9/0.38/T/000/00           25 SSW AERO 28 MPH SSW RMY N/A
12/7  40/26/33/-1/0.12/T/287/52           23 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/8  30/22/26/-8/T/T/039/07              25 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/9  41/25/33/-1/0.35/0.6/000/00         28 E   AERO 28 MPH E   RMY 24
12/10 33/21/27/-6/0.14/2.1/000/00         28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 28
12/11 28/19/24/-9/0.00/0.0/345/63         27 SW  AERO 28 MPH SW  RMY 27
12/12 23/14/19/-14/0.00/0.0/542/99        28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 30
12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/405/74        31 W   AERO 32 MPH W   RMY 33
12/14 28/9/19/-13/0.45/4.8/000/00         30 E   AERO 26 MPH E   RMY N/A
12/15 36/21/29/-3/0.98/2.0/000/00         48 NE  AERO 50 MPH NE  RMY 51
12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/529/97        36 W   AERO 37 MPH W   RMY N/A
12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/104/19         28 N   AERO 30 MPH N   RMY 28
12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/436/80         29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 29
12/19 42/22/32/+2/0.00/0.0/425/78         38 SW  AERO 44 MPH SW  RMY 42
12/20 52/34/43/+13/0.00/0.0/332/61        26 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 29
12/21 58/42/50/+20/0.00/0.0/082/15        28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30
12/22 63/35/49/+20/0.01/0.0/000/00        37 SW  AERO 41 MPH SW  RMY 41
12/23 37/32/35/+6/0.73/0.0/000/00         24 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY 25
12/24 36/25/31/+2/T/T/142/26              25 NW  AERO 29 MPH N   RMY N/A
12/25 25/13/19/-9/0.00/0.0/480/88         29 NW  AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 30
12/26 35/19/27/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00         24 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 25
12/27 32/22/27/-1/0.00/0.0/344/63         25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 26
12/28 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/300/55         30 WSW AERO 32 MPH SW  RMY 32
12/29 42/34/38/+11/1.23/0.0/000/00        36 NNE AERO 37 MPH NNE RMY 38
12/30 39/17/28/+1/0.00/0.0/071/13         38 W   AERO 39 MPH W   RMY 36
12/31 24/11/19/-9/0.00/0.0/236/43         30 W   AERO 31 MPH W   RMY 30

1/1   26/16/21/-6/0.00/0.0/…/..         25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 27
1/2   24/0/12/-15/…./../000/00          39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39
1/3   12/-3/5/-21/…/../000/00           36 N   AERO 39 MPH N   RMY 34
1/4   25/-4/11/-15/…./../…/..         35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38

1/5 morning low temp: 23F; the normal low is now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013
12/22- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F;
surpasses previous record of 62F set in 1994

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5
HIGH 61F IN 2007
LOW -9F IN 1981
PRECIP 0.98 INS. IN 1993
SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6
HIGH 66F IN 2007
LOW -14F IN 1896
PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien