Saturday, January 24, 2026

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2026 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST) SUNRISE: 0705E SUNSET:  1648E ARCTIC FRONT USHERS IN BITTER COLD AND GUSTY NW WINDS…. Plenty of sunshine today, with clear conditions this morning transitioning to an increase in upper level clouds that have settled in over the area. Even so, the sunshine has been out all day, filtering through the cirrus level, though it is doing absolutely nothing to warm us, as the arctic air has been dominating the conditions today. Temperatures have been well below normal today, as we have hit our coldest temperature of the 2025-2026 winter. This morning the mercury dipped to 0.3F and with the added wind gusts, we had wind chills in the -20s! Because of the dry arctic air, dew points have been in the negative teens throughout the day. “Biting cold” doesn’t even begin to describe how it has felt on the hill today. It has begun to “warm” up as temperatures have struggled to make it to the double digits by noon time. As if the temperatures weren’t cold enough, the wind has been pretty steady and gusty throughout the day. Winds picked up intensity yesterday evening out of the west-northwest and shifted to a more northwesterly (and colder) flow during the early morning hours. The average speed for the day so far is around 16mph, with frequent gusts in the 20-25mph range during the earlier part of the day. The peak gust for the day so far is 49mph which occurred at 12:28am this morning. Visibility was around 40 miles this morning, and improved to around 60-70 miles during the later part of the morning and early afternoon hours. The maximum temperature so far today is 11F degrees, which is 23 degrees below the normal high of 34F. The minimum temperature since midnight is 0F degrees, which is 17 degrees below the normal low of 17F. ————————————————————– Today’s Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus NE-E-S, few cirrus SE-SW Temperature: 0F; Dew Point: -14F; Relative Humidity: 48% Wind: NW @ 12G21 kts, peak wind 30mph NW at 06:29 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 1032.5 mb; 30.49 in. Hg: rising unsteadily Visibility: 40 miles 6-hr Max temp: 9F 6-hr Min temp: 0F 24-hr Precip: 0.00 inches 24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches Snow Depth: 3 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 325/0/-14/3112G21/049/ FEW SC NE-E-S FEW CI SE-SW PK WND 3126/29/ 8/501 4/003 52022 10009 20000 10 A.M. Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus NE-E Temperature: 5F; Dew Point: -12F; Relative Humidity: 43% Wind: NW @ 14G24 kts Sea-level pressure: 1034.1 mb; 30.54 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly Visibility: 70 miles 3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches 3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches BHO SA 1455 E250 BKN 70 341/5/-12/3114G24/054/ FEW SC NE-E/ 8/501 51016 1 P.M. Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus ENE-ESE Temperature: 11F; Dew Point: -13F; Relative Humidity: 32% Wind: NW @ 11G19 kts Sea-level pressure: 1033.7 mb; 30.53 in. Hg: rising, then falling Visibility: 60 miles 6-hr Max temp: 11F 6-hr Min temp: 0F 6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches 6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches Snow Depth: 3 inches BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 60 337/11/-13/3211G19/053/ FEW SC ENE-ESE/ 8/501 4/003 58004 10011 20000 ————————————————————– SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2026 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX…….32   NORMAL…..34 MIN…….10   NORMAL…..17 MEAN……21   NORMAL…..26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………….-5 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………+63 [+2.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2025 THRU JUN 2026) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….44  DEPARTURE……..+5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………815  DEPARTURE…….-65 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….3055  DEPARTURE…….-35 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..2841  DEPARTURE……+214 PEAK WIND GUST (MPH): Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower, F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all on Main Tower. E=Estimated *=Last of multiple occurrences F420C (Official)………..46 WNW  @   08:29 P.M. VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….46 WNW  @   08:29 P.M. VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….50 WNW  @   08:36 P.M. DAVIS #1……………….45 NW   @   08:26 P.M. DAVIS #2 ………………45 NW   @   08:36 P.M. RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..47 WNW  @   08:29 P.M. RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..51 WNW  @   08:36 P.M. MERLIN…………………47 WNW RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……47 WNW  @   08:37 P.M. FASTEST MILE: CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………33 WNW  @   08:37 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..30 WNW  @   08:30 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..36 WNW  @   08:37 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………32 WNW  @   08:30 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………36 WNW  @   08:37 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..29 WNW  @   08:30 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..35 WNW  @   08:37 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………30 WNW  @   08:30 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION: CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..14.3 WNW [342 total miles] VECTOR #1………………13.7 VECTOR #2………………14.8 DAVIS #1……………….14.4 WNW DAVIS #2……………….14.6 WNW RMY #1…………………13.3 WNW RMY #2…………………14.3 W RICHARDS (C5C)………….13.9 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST): TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.14 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH (JAN)……..1.56 DEPARTURE…..-1.83 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2026)……..1.56 DEPARTURE…..-1.83 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST): TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE…..-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH (JAN)………….10.3 DEPARTURE…..-3.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2025-2026)……17.2 DEPARTURE….-11.2 ————————————————————– PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST PEAK GUST: F420C (Official) VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust RMY:  R.M. Young #1 wind gust recording system (Instantaneous) TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ….: Data not yet available, records not finalized M:    Missing data 1/1  29/11/20/-9/0.15/2.7/264/48         43 NW  VEC1 43 NW  RMY 42 1/2  25/12/19/-9/0.00/0.0/397/72         26 W   VEC1 26 W   RMY 27 1/3  30/14/22/-6/0.00/0.0/342/62         31 WNW VEC1 31 WNW RMY 31 1/4  30/21/26/-2/0.03/0.4/171/31         26 NNW VEC1 27 NNW RMY 28 1/5  25/11/18/-10/0.04/0.2/249/45        23 SSE VEC1 22 NW  RMY 23 1/6  32/22/27/-1/0.01/T/000/00           22 ENE VEC1 21 E   RMY 23 1/7  36/30/33/+6/0.25/0.1/000/00         23 NW  VEC1 21 ENE RMY 24 1/8  45/30/38/+11/0.00/0.0/500/90        26 NW  VEC1 27 WNW RMY 27 1/9  50/32/41/+14/0.06/0.0/228/41        41 SW  VEC1 42 SSW RMY 44 1/10 50/36/43/+16/0.36/T/022/04          33 W   VEC1 31 W   RMY 31 1/11 41/30/36/+9/0.06/0.0/079/14         43 WNW VEC1 41 WNW RMY 43 1/12 37/24/31/+4/0.00/0.0/303/54         47 WNW VEC1 46 WNW RMY 47 1/13 45/28/37/+11/0.00/0.0/457/81        35 SSW VEC1 35 SSW RMY 33 1/14 49/39/44/+18/T/0.0/017/03           36 SSW VEC1 36 SSW RMY 36 1/15 51/25/38/+12/T/0.0/340/60           39 SW  VEC1 39 SW  RMY 38 1/16 30/15/23/-3/0.00/0.0/483/85         46 W   VEC1 46 W   RMY 46 1/17 38/24/31/+5/0.02/T/040/07           39 SSW VEC1 39 SSW RMY 40 1/18 33/28/31/+5/0.44/4.4/000/00         22 S   VEC1 22 S   RMY 21 1/19 34/22/28/+2/0.11/2.2/132/23         35 WSW VEC1 33 WSW RMY 38 1/20 24/11/18/-8/0.00/0.0/564/98         33 W   VEC1 33 W   RMY 34 1/21 33/7/20/-6/0.01/0.1/387/67          33 SSW VEC1 34 SSW RMY 36 1/22 43/27/35/+9/0.02/0.2/…/..         38 W   VEC1 38 W   RMY 42 1/23 32/10/21/-5/0.00/0.0/…/..         46 WNW VEC1 46 WNW RMY 47 1/24 The low since midnight is 0F, the daily normal low is 17F. ————————————————————– JANUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE NONE. ————————————————————– DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated) RECORDS FOR JANUARY 24 HIGH 60F IN 1967 LOW -12F IN 1907 PRECIP 2.40 INS. IN 1935 SNOWFALL 11.3 INS. IN 1935 PEAK GUST 82 MPH S IN 1996 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 25 HIGH 56F IN 2010 LOW -9F IN 1935 PRECIP 2.24 INS. IN 1979 SNOWFALL 12.5 INS. IN 1941 PEAK GUST 81 MPH WNW IN 1972 TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly