Tuesday, August 6, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ANOTHER INCREDIBLE MID-SUMMER DAY;
COOL START, BUT WARMING NICELY THIS AFTERNOON;
VERY CALM WINDS

Today definitely deserved a second look at the calendar. Temperatures in
several locations across the region dipped down into the 40s! Nearby
Norwood airport was one of the coolest spots, with a low of 44F this
morning. A sharp temperature inversion was present this morning, and with
the summit of Blue Hill above it, the low temperature only managed to
drop down to 56F.

This afternoon, temperatures are moderating nicely, reaching the upper 70s
here on the summit. The dew point temperature has been slowly creeping up
through day, starting in the mid 40s early this morning and now up to the
lower 50s.

Today will likely finish a few degrees below the 30-year normal for the
date. Including today, the recent streak of at or below normal
temperatures has reached 8 days. Such a streak has not occurred since the
impressive run of cool temperatures from March 14-25, 2013.

With the center of a surface high pressure system over New England, winds
have been very low today, with a peak wind gust so far of only 12 mph.
Several periods of completely calm conditions have also occurred today.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, scattered thin cirrus, patches of dense
cirrus NW-NE-E, inversion present, thin smoke layer along horizon NNW-E,
light distant haze, looming of mountains/hills distant NNW-N
Temperature: 64F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: Estimated W at 1 kt,
Wind: Very light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.13 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 80 miles, light distant haze
6-hr min. temp: 56F
BHO SA 1155 220 SCT 250 –SCT 80 204/64/48/E2701/013/ PTCHS DNS CI NW-NE-E
INVSN PRSNT THN K LYR ALG HRZN NNW-E LGT DSNT HZ LOOMING DSNT NNW-N WND
LGT AND VRB/ 8/002 52020 10064 20056

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, scattered thin cirrus, few small cumulus
forming distant W-N, few moderate cumulus along horizon SW, few altocumulus
lenticularis distant NNW-N, patches of dense cirrus WNW-N-ENE, cirrus
distant SSW and WSW-N-ESE, mostly clear sky ESE-WSW, light distant haze
Temperature: 71F; Dew Point: 49F; Wind: Estimated NW at 2 kts,
Wind: Very light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 220 SCT 250 –SCT 75 209/71/49/E3102/015/ FEW SML CU FRMG DSNT
W-N FEW MDT CU ALG HRZN SW FEW ACSL DSNT NNW-N PTCHS DNS CI WNW-N-ENE CI
DSNT SSW AND WSW-N-ESE MSTLY CLR SKY ESE-WSW LGT DSNT HZ WND LGT AND VRB/
8/242 50005

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, scattered dense cirrus,
scattered thin cirrus, cumulus all quadrants except distant NNE-ESE, few
moderate cumulus SE-SE-NNW, few altocumulus lenticularis distant NE, few
patches of dense cirrus NW-NE, cirrus SW-N-E and distant SSE-SSW, light
distant haze
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 51F; Wind: Estimated NNW at 3 kts,
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg, steady
Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max. temp: 77F
BHO SA 1755 55 SCT 120 SCT 220 SCT 250 –SCT 75 209/75/51/E3303/015/ CU
ALQDS XCPT DSNT NNE-ESE FEW MDT CU SE-SW-NNW FEW ACSL DSNT NE FEW PTCHS
DNS CI NW-NE CI SW-N-E AND DSNT SSE-SSW LGT DSNT HZ WND LGT AND VRB/
8/242 54000 10077 20064

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..75 NORMAL…..81
MIN…..54 NORMAL…..63
MEAN….65 NORMAL…..72

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………-12 [-2.6 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….0 DEPARTURE………-7
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………23 DEPARTURE……..-13
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….506 DEPARTURE…….+119
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..507 DIFFERENCE……..-1

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY…………….26 WNW AT 9:04 A.M.
AERO…………………25 WNW AT 9:04 A.M.
ASOS…………………26 WNW AT 9:05 A.M.
DAVIS………………..27 WNW AT 9:04 A.M. RMY 27
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………19 WNW AT 9:04 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………18 NW AT 4:24 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………..19 WNW AT 9:05 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………..11.3 WNW
ASOS………………..10.1
DAVIS………………..9.8 WNW[303 deg.] * last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00 DEPARTURE…………-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.24 DEPARTURE…………-0.51
ASOS…………..0.23
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….35.53 DEPARTURE…………+3.79
ASOS…………..N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 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

8/1 81/62/72/0/0.01/…/.. 25 S AERO 26 MPH S RMY 27
8/2 81/62/72/0/0.23/…/.. 26 W AERO 26 MPH W RMY 28
8/3 77/63/70/-2/T/…/.. 22 WSW AERO 23 MPH WSW RMY 23
8/4 79/58/69/-3/T/…/.. 25 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 26
8/5 75/54/65/-7/0.00/…/.. 26 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 27

8/6 morning low temp: 56F; the normal low is now 63F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 6
HIGH 95F IN 1931
LOW 48F IN 1934
PRECIP 1.47 INCHES IN 1995
PEAK GUST 44e MPH SSW IN 1940

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 7
HIGH 95F IN 1924
LOW 51F IN 2004
PRECIP 3.32 INCHES IN 1926
PEAK GUST 51 MPH NE 1975

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser