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

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SUMMER WARMTH AND BRIGHT SUNSHINE RETURN TO
GREAT BLUE HILL...

After yesterday's cloudy and fall-like conditions
which featured a beneficial 0.33 inches of rain,
summer has indeed returned to the observatory. 
Low overcast stratocumulus and distant stratus
fractus dominated the sky for our initial 7AM
observation. These low clouds soon melted away
as temperatures warmed throughout the 60s and much
of the way into the 70s. We've managed to reach 76
degrees thus far under mostly sunny conditions and
a light wind. Dew points have crept up to somewhat
humid levels (low-60s) after bottoming out in the
low-40s on Wednesday! We also made a substantial
recovery in the visibility department since sunrise.
Visibility has persitently improved peaking at 80 miles
at our concluding observation- that's up from 45 miles
as we opened up the day. 

Our winds have been of very little fanfare today. A
max gust of 16 MPH so far could only be mustered. 

The high so far today is 76F, which is 1 degrees below
the daily normal maximum of 77F. The low since midnight 
is 59F, also 1 degree below the average of 60F.  


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast Stratocumulus (few stratus fractus distant
E-W)
Temperature: 62F; Dew Point: 61F; Relative Humidity: 96%
Wind: NW at 5 kts (wind light)
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 45 miles, distant fog
6-hr Max temp: 62F
6-hr Min temp: 60F
24-hr Precip: 0.33 ins.
BHO SA 1155 35 OVC 45 094/62/61/3205/981/ FEW SF DSNT E-W
THN F ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/5// 51015 70033 10062 20060

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered Cumulus, Broken Cirrus & Cirrostratus
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 58F; Relative Humidity: 68%
Wind: W at 6 kts (wind light)
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1455 30 SCT 250 BKN 70 103/69/58/2806/983/ WND LGT/ 8/205 51009

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered Cumulus (few cirrus SE-SSW)
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 62F; Relative Humidity: 65%
Wind: WSW at 6G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 80 miles 
6-hr Max temp: 76F
6-hr Min temp: 62F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 80 100/75/62/2406G16/983/ FEW CI SE-SSW/
8/202 58003 10076 20062


SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....68   NORMAL.....78
MIN.....57   NORMAL.....60
MEAN....63   NORMAL.....69

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL................. -6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.................+98 [+3.4 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..................0  DEPARTURE......-5                      
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH................259  DEPARTURE.....+90
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...............746  DEPARTURE....+226
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE..........598  DEPARTURE....+148

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................18 SSE AT 1:45 P.M.  
                   AERO.........................20 SSE AT 1:44 P.M. 
                   ASOS.........................18 SSE AT 1:45 P.M.
                   DAVIS........................18 SSE AT 1:44 P.M.
                   RMY 20  MERLIN 18
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................14 SSE AT 1:44 P.M. & 1:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................14 SSE AT 1:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................14 SSE AT 1:42 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............. 6.2 W           
                   ASOS....................... 6.6
                   DAVIS...................... 6.5 W [281 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.33  DEPARTURE......+0.22
                         ASOS..............0.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.68  DEPARTURE......+0.09
                         ASOS..............3.71
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........32.75  DEPARTURE......-1.83
                         ASOS.............33.52


PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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
M:    Missing data

08/01  87/66/77/+5/0.00/.../..             18 S    AERO 21 S    RMY 19
08/02  85/69/77/+5/0.02/.../..             36 S    AERO 37 S    RMY 38
08/03  91/75/83/+11/0.00/715/83            36 WSW  AERO 38 SW   RMY 36
08/04  83/71/77/5/0.21/094/11              67 SSE  AERO 71 S    RMY 70
08/05  90/68/79/+7/0.00/668/78             28 SW   AERO 30 SW   RMY 29
08/06  84/65/75/3/0.00/701/82              20 W    AERO 17 W    RMY 19
08/07  79/65/72/0/T/136/16                 16 NE   AERO 16 NE   RMY N/A
08/08  83/64/74/+2/0.00/612/72             20 S    AERO 20 S    RMY 19
08/09  90/65/78/+6/0.00/661/78             26 SSW  AERO 26 SSW  RMY 26
08/10  94/69/82/+11/0.00/727/86            22 W    AERO 20 W    RMY 20
08/11  92/72/82/+11/0.00/.../..            31 SSW  AERO 35 SSW  RMY 31  TSTM
08/12  93/74/84/+13/0.00/.../..            22 SSW  AERO 22 SW   RMY 19
08/13  88/71/80/+9/0.00/.../..             18 ENE  AERO 18 NE   RMY 18
08/14  82/67/75/+4/0.00/.../..             23 ENE  AERO 23 ENE RMY N/A
08/15  67/62/65/-6/T/.../..                33 NNE  AERO 32 NNE  RMY N/A
08/16  69/62/66/-5/..../.../..             26 ENE  AERO 28 ENE  RMY 26
08/17  73/59/66/-5/..../.../..             25 NE   AERO 24 NE   RMY N/A
08/18  84/63/74/+3/..../.../..             23 W    AERO 23 W    RMY 24
08/19  81/59/70/0/0.03/.../..              26 W    AERO 28 W    RMY 27
08/20  80/56/68/-2/0.00/.../..             22 W    AERO 21 W    RMY 22 
08/21  88/61/75/+5/0.00/.../..             28 SW   AERO 26 SW   RMY 28
08/22  85/66/76/+6/0.26/.../..             18 NNE  AERO 16 S    RMY 16
08/23  89/63/76/+6/2.21/.../..             60 WNW  AERO 53 WNW  RMY 58  TSTM HAIL
08/24  87/67/77/+7/0.00/.../..             18 S    AERO 18 S    RMY 19
08/25  86/65/76/+7/0.01/.../..             35 NNW  AERO 37 NNW  RMY 35
08/26  74/56/65/-4/0.00/.../..             29 NW   AERO 32 NW   RMY N/A
08/27  68/57/63/-6/0.33/.../..             18 SSE  AERO 20 SSE  RMY 20

08/28 The low since midnight is 59F, the daily normal low is 60F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2020

8/23/20: DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 89F,
         BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD of 88F SET IN 1918, 1947, 1949, 1996

8/23/20: DAILY RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 2.21 INS,
         BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 2.09 INS SET IN 2010

8/23/20: DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 60 MPH,
         TIES PREVIOUS RECORD OF 60 MPH SET IN 1940


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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 28
HIGH 95F IN 1948
LOW 43F IN 1885
PRECIP 1.80 INCHES IN 1922
PEAK GUST 87 MPH SSE IN 1971 (DORIA)

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 29
HIGH 95F IN 1953
LOW 41F IN 1982
PRECIP 2.88 INCHES IN 1962
PEAK GUST 70e MPH S IN 1949

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Andrew Swanson