Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

A LOOK BACK AT THE WEATHER HERE THE LAST TIME THE
RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES IN BOSTON SO, SO MANY YEARS AGO
A WINNING WORLD SERIES GAME DAY IN BOSTON SEPTEMBER 11, 1918

FROM THE BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY RECORD BOOKS…September 11, 1918
A sunny and unseasonably cool and dry day with high temp. of 55F and a
low of 41F with a prevailing wind from the NE. The dew point was down
to 31F at 2 P.M. The day averaged 17 degrees cooler than normal!

In contrast, October 30, 1918 was unseasonably warm for late October
with a high of 74 and low of 59 for a mean of 67 degrees or some
20 degrees warmer than normal.  The 8 P.M. dew point was 60 degrees!

After 0.02 inch of rain this morning skies are beginning to clear this
afternoon in time for this evening’s game at Fenway.

October continues to be very dry, with only 1.02 inches of rainfall so far this
month not including 0.02 in. which fell this morning.  From October 7-29, only
0.19 inch of rain has fallen on the summit.
That’s a mere 5% of the 30-year normal.  From September 3 through October 29,
only 2.18 inches of rain has fallen, or 27% of the 30-year normal for this
period.  Depending on the timing and amount of rain over the next couple
of days, October 2013 could finish in the top ten driest on record at
Blue Hill.

BHO DRIEST OCTOBERS (INCHES, 1886-2013)
1)  0.22 IN 1924
2)  0.39 IN 1994
3)  0.50 IN 1946
4)  0.61 IN 1935
5)  0.63 IN 1897
6)  0.79 IN 2001
7)  1.02 IN 2013  *thru October 29
8)  1.15 IN 1918
9)  1.25 IN 1940
10) 1.31 IN 1967

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, few stratocumulus distant ENE-E
offshore, bright sky along horizon distant NE-SE, light rain
occurring (intermittent, very light) rain began 6:35 A.M. EST
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 34F; Wind: WSW at 7 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 35 miles, light rain, distant haze
6-hr min temp: 38F
6-hr precip: trace
24-hr precip: trace
BHO SA 1155 E38 OVC 35R- 261/40/34/2507/030/ FEW SC ALG HRZN
DSNT ENE-E BRGHT SKY ALG HRZN DSNT NE-SE R-B35 PCPN VRY LGT/
8/52/ 57001 MANUAL 6000/ 10040 20038

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, light rain occurring
with thin fog
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: WSW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 12 miles N-SE, 45 miles WNW,
light rain and thin fog
BHO SA 1455 E25 OVC 15R- 259/40/36/2407/030/ VSBY N-SE 12
WNW 45 THN F ALQDS/ 8/02/ 58002 MANUAL 6001/ ASOS 60001

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, lower, overcast altocumulus, higher layer,
small break in overcast overhead, bright spots overhead thru SW
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 40F; Wind: SW at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.23 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, except 15 miles N-SE, thin fog and hazy all quadrants
6-hr max temp: 45F
6-hr precip: 0.02 in.
BHO SA 1755 65 SCT E75 OVC 30 238/45/40/2306/023/ SML BINOVC
OVHD BRGHT SPTS IOVC OVHD-SW VSBY N-SE 15 THN F HAZY ALQDS/
8/07/ 58021 MANUAL 6002/ ASOS 60002 10045 20040

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..50    NORMAL…..56
MIN…..30    NORMAL…..39
MEAN….40    NORMAL…..47

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………..+85 [+2.7 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………0  DEPARTURE……….0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………5  DEPARTURE……….0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………701  DEPARTURE……..+99
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….767  DIFFERENCE…….-66

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..25  DEPARTURE………+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….298  DEPARTURE……..-87
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………444  DEPARTURE……..-83
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….388  DIFFERENCE…….+56

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………15 N   AT  6:00 A.M.
AERO…………………..15 N   AT  6:00 A.M.
ASOS…………………..N/A *
DAVIS………………….15 N   AT  5:54 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..12 N   AT  6:02 A.M. #
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..N/A *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….13 N   AT  5:57 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………… 8.0 NNW
ASOS…………………..N/A *
DAVIS…………………7.1 N [360 degrees] * The ASOS system was out of service from approximately 9 A.M. EDT
on Tuesday until mid-morning today due to power failure with no
back-up generator.
# Last of several occurrences.

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….trace  DEPARTURE………….-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.02   DEPARTURE………….-3.36
ASOS…………..1.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….42.94   DEPARTURE………….-0.52
ASOS…………..N/A**
**ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M………0.0    DEPARTURE…………..0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………0.0    DEPARTURE………….-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..0.0    DEPARTURE………….-0.2

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

10/1  75/50/63/+6/0.00/676/96         16 WNW AERO 16 MPH WNW RMY 18
10/2  78/56/67/+10/0.00/666/95        29 W   AERO 30 MPH W   RMY 29
10/3  77/56/67/+11/0.00/628/90        20 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/4  67/56/62/+6/0.26/028/04         18 NW  AERO 20 MPH NW  RMY N/A
10/5  67/56/62/+6/0.01/125/18         14 ENE AERO 12 MPH ENE RMY N/A
10/6  58/53/56/+1/0.56/000/00         20 NE  AERO 20 MPH NE  RMY N/A
10/7  75/57/66/+11/0.07/213/31        48 S   AERO 55 MPH S   RMY 55
10/8  65/50/58/+4/0.00/581/85         25 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY 28
10/9  59/49/54/0/0.00/545/80          25 ENE AERO 24 MPH ENE RMY 25
10/10 61/46/54/0/0.00/095/14          18 NE  AERO 17 MPH NE  RMY 18
10/11 67/50/59/+6/0.00/473/70         20 NE  AERO 20 MPH NE  RMY N/A
10/12 59/50/55/+2/0.02/007/01         30 ENE AER0 31 MPH ENE RMY 32
10/13 59/46/53/0/0.00/482/72          23 ENE AERO 23 MPH ENE RMY 23
10/14 64/42/53/+1/0.00/580/87         15 SSW AERO 15 MPH SSW RMY 15
10/15 66/50/58/+6/0.00/266/40         16 ESE AERO 16 MPH ESE RMY N/A
10/16 60/49/55/+4/0.00/013/02         23 ESE AERO 24 MPH ESE RMY 23
10/17 70/52/61/+10/0.06/277/42        21 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY N/A
10/18 67/50/59/+8/T/630/96            32 WNW AERO 32 MPH W   RMY 31
10/19 65/45/55/+5/0.00/379/58         21 W   AERO 22 MPH W   RMY N/A
10/20 61/44/53/+3/0.00/644/99         33 W   AERO 36 MPH W   RMY 34
10/21 67/43/55/+5/0.00/648/100        23 SSW AERO 25 MPH SSW RMY 27
10/22 69/44/57/+8/T/419/65            25 SSW AERO 27 MPH SSW RMY 27
10/23 50/40/45/-4/0.00/103/16         18 WNW AERO 18 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/24 53/36/45/-4/0.00/640/100        31 W   AERO 31 MPH W   RMY 34
10/25 49/34/42/-7/0.00/401/63         25 WNW AERO 26 MPH WNW RMY 26
10/26 54/34/44/-4/0.00/521/82         35 SW  AERO 36 MPH SSW RMY 39
10/27 55/39/47/-1/0.04/480/76         30 W   AERO 30 MPH W   RMY 29
10/28 58/35/47/-1/0.00/…/..         31 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 34
10/29 50/30/40/-7/0.00/…/..         15 N   AERO 15 MPH N   RMY 15

10/30  morning low temp: 38F; the normal low is now 38F

DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 30
HIGH 75F IN 1946,1989
LOW 21F IN 1928
PRECIP 1.85 INCHES IN 1917
SNOWFALL 2.0 INCHES IN 2011
PEAK GUST 66 NW IN 1963

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 31
HIGH 79F IN 1946
LOW 22F IN 1904
PRECIP 3.74 INCHES IN 1991
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1906
PEAK GUST 70e S IN 1945

RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 1
HIGH 75 IN 2003
LOW 22 IN 1913,1923
PRECIP 2.93 INCHES IN 1985
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1906,1951
PEAK GUST 78 ESE IN 1997

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling