Friday, February 17, 2023

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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0638E
SUNSET:  1719E

OVERCAST AND BREEZY WITH A FEW RAIN SHOWERS, CONTINUED
UNSEASONABLY MILD….

A new record high minimum temperature for yesterday’s date
was established, with a low of 50F. This beat the previous
record of 41F set in 1976. The low of 50F also tied for the
warmest low ever recorded in February, tying with 50F set on
the 21st in 2018.

Unseasonably mild weather continues today, however the sky
has been overcast all day. As a matter of fact, we spent some
time in the clouds (fog) earlier this morning with the
visibility dropping to 1/16th of a mile for a time.

Rain showers moved through late this morning into the early
afternoon, however they only amounted to 0.02″ in the
gauge. This month continues to be exceptionally dry, in stark
contrast to last month which saw an abundance of precipitation.

The wind has been busy today, blowing in from the south and
southwest. The average speed for the day so far is around 14mph.
Frequent gusts around 30mph have been occurring since late this
morning, with a peak thus far of 32mph officially.

As mentioned, visibility has been limited today, ranging from
around 1/16th of a mile this morning, to the maximum thus far
of 15 miles, occurring at the 1pm observation.

The high so far today is 55F, which is 18 degrees above the
normal maximum of 37F. The low since midnight is 47F, which
is 27 degrees above the normal low of 20F.

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 100 ft
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 48F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S @ 14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1003.5 mb; 29.63 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 49F
6-hr Min temp: 47F
24-hr Precip:  Trace
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W1 1/16F 035/48/48/1914/963/ 8//// 56028 70000
10049 20047

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratus fractus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 52F; Dew Point: 51F; Relative Humidity: 98%
Wind: SW @ 12G22 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1000.7 mb; 29.55 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 8 miles, thin fog
3-hr Precip:  Trace
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 85 SCT E90 OVC 8 007/52/51/2212G22/955/ THN F ALQDS
RW-B50E51/ 8/72/ 58028 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 53F; Relative Humidity: 96%
Wind: SW @ 19G26 kts, peak wind SSW 32mph at 12:33 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 997.8 mb; 29.47 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 15 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 55F
6-hr Min temp: 48F
6-hr Precip:  0.02 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E5 OVC 15 978/55/53/2219G26/947/ THN F ALQDS RW-B05E20
PK WND 2127/33/ 8/5// 58029 6002/ 10055 20048

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SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….61   NORMAL…..37
MIN…….50   NORMAL…..20
MEAN……56   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……..+28
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….+110 [+6.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….9  DEPARTURE…….-28
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..497  DEPARTURE……-109
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3320  DEPARTURE……-690
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3695  DEPARTURE……-375

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
420C, Contacting, Merlin and Richards are all Main Tower.

420C (Official)…………29 W   @ 10:25 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….31 W   @ 10:25 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….33     @ 11:14 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….30 W   @ 10:11 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………32 WSW @ 10:25 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..M
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..34 WNW @ 10:25 A.M.
MERLIN…………………30 W
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……31     @ 11:10 A.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………24 SW  @ 11:15 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..23     @ 11:15 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..23     @ 11:11 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………24 W   @ 11:15 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………23 W   @ 11:11 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..M
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..23 WNW @ 11:11 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………23     @ 11:15 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……11.3 W [270 total miles] VECTOR #1…………….M
VECTOR #2…………….11.4
DAVIS #1……………..11.3 WSW
DAVIS #2……………..11.5 SW
RMY #1……………….M
RMY #2……………….11.4 WSW
RICHARDS (C5C)………..M

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.01 DEPARTURE…..-2.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……………6.80 DEPARTURE…..+0.14

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.1 DEPARTURE…..-10.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……15.0 DEPARTURE…..-29.3

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

2/1   30/18/24/-2/T/T/552/92              17 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 20
2/2   38/19/29/+3/0.00/0.0/518/86         25 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/3   28/-11/9/-17/T/T/557/92             56 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 64
2/4   14/-14/0/-26/0.00/0.0/473/78        45 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/5   49/14/32/+5/0.00/0.0/359/59         38 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 43
2/6   47/30/39/+12/0.00/0.0/025/04        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/7   31/22/27/0/0.01/0.1/461/75          29 SSW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 33
2/8   46/31/39/+12/0.00/0.0/413/67        30 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 34
2/9   49/33/41/+14/T/0.0/149/24           31 SSE  VEC1 N/A    RMY 32
2/10  60/31/46/+19/0.00/0.0/603/97        43 W    VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/11  43/31/37/+10/0.00/0.0/625/100       41 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 46
2/12  48/28/38/+10/0.00/0.0/339/54        22 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 24
2/13  42/33/38/+10/0.00/0.0/069/11        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 36
2/14  50/34/42/+14/0.00/0.0/…/..        30 NW   VEC1 33     RMY 35
2/15  56/35/46/+18/0.00/0.0/…/..        39 SSW  VEC1 44     RMY 49
2/16  61/50/56/+28/T/0.0/…/..           29 W    VEC1 31     RMY 34

2/17 The low since midnight is 47F, the daily normal low is 20F

DAILY RECORDS

02/03/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -11F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -7F SET IN 1955

02/04/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -4F SET IN 1886 AND 1908

02/10/2023: NEW RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 56F SET IN 1909

02/16/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 41F SET IN 1976. THIS ALSO
TIES THE WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY SET
IN 2018

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 17
HIGH 61F IN 1981
LOW -16F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.86 INCHES IN 2003
SNOWFALL 20.0 INCHES IN 2003
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1968

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 18
HIGH 65F IN 1981
LOW -10F IN 1958
PRECIP 1.97 INCHES IN 1887, IN 1952
SNOWFALL 9.2 INCHES IN 1952
PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2008

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas