Friday, August 18, 2023

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

FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0454E
SUNSET:  1841E

MORNING THUNDERSTORMS PROVIDE WIND, RAIN, AND BELOW AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES…

Morning storms moved into the area pretty early today. Before
the activity, we had obscured skies and foggy conditions on
the hill. The storm came through rather intensely, dumping over
an inch of rain in one hour! Once the storm moved through we had
a quick peek of the sun and cloud clearing only to have the
warming temperatures assist in forming more clouds.

The passing severe storms this morning produced a confirmed, brief
EF-0 tornado in Stoughton, a EF-1 tornado in Weymouth, and other
tornados near Attleboro, MA and across northern Rhode Island.

The high temperature once again remained well below average,
however, the overnight low was slightly above normal. Because of
the rain and humidity, our dew points hovered in the upper 60’s
today. With the wind suddenly slowing down after the rain moved
through it made for an overall sticky feel out there.

The wind remained on the light side early and then became rather
gusty when the thunderstorm came through. We had a gust of about
27 mph during that time, just before 10am. The average so far is
only about 8 mph.

As mentioned above, visibility was poor during the morning hours.
After the storms passed, we rebounded beautifully at 60 miles of
visibility at our 1pm observation.

The maximum temperature so far today has been 77F, which is
3 degrees below the normal high for today of 80F. The minimum
temperature since midnight is 65F, which is 2 degrees above the
normal low of 63F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 100ft
Temperature: 68F; Dew Point: 68F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: SE @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1007.8 mb; 29.76 in. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 1/16 mile, foggy
6-hr Max temp: 68F
6-hr Min temp: 65F
24-hr Precip: 0.02
BHO SA 1155 X W1 1/16F 078/68/68/1307/976/ 8//// 57020 6002/
70002 10068 20065

10 A.M.
Weather: Light drizzle, overcast stratus, few lower stratus
fractus all quadrants, precipitation very light
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 69F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: SW @ 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1005.8 mb; 29.70 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 12 miles, thin fog all quadrants
3-hr Precip: 1.06 inches
BHO SA 1455 E6 OVC 12L- 058/69/69/2211/970/ FEW LWR STFRA ALQDS
THN F ALQDS TE10 RW-E33 L-B52 PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/6// 55020 6106/

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 71F; Relative Humidity: 86%
Wind: SSW @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1014.9 mb; 29.76 in. Hg: falling, then steady
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 77F
6-hr Min temp: 68F
6-hr Precip: 1.06 inches
BHO SA 1755 E9 BKN 60 049/75/71/2007/976/ 8/4// 56009 6106/
10077 20068

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SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….70   NORMAL…..80
MIN…….62   NORMAL…..63
MEAN……66   NORMAL…..72

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……….-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………-29 [-1.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….0  DEPARTURE……..-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……………0  DEPARTURE…….-11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……….0  DEPARTURE………0

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2023 THRU DEC 2023)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….1  DEPARTURE……..-6
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………97  DEPARTURE…….-30
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….519  DEPARTURE……..+5
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..700  DEPARTURE……-181

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)……….E15 E    @  11:19 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….14 E    @  11:19 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….13 ESE  @  08:58 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….13 E    @  11:19 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………12 E    @  11:13 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..14 E    @  11:12 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..13 ESE  @  08:58 P.M.
MERLIN…………………14 SE
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……13      @  11:19 A.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL……………….9 E   @  11:24 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE……………9     @  11:21 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE……………9     @  11:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………10 E   @  08:22 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE…………….9 E   @  11:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE………………9 E   @  11:21 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE………………9 E   @  11:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………10     @  11:21 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..4.6 ENE [110 total miles] VECTOR #1………………4.9
VECTOR #2………………5.2
DAVIS #1……………….4.8 E
DAVIS #2……………….4.8 ESE
RMY #1…………………5.0 E
RMY #2…………………5.2 E
RICHARDS (C5C)………….5.7

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.02 DEPARTURE…..-0.10
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..1.49 DEPARTURE…..-0.72
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..36.26 DEPARTURE…..+3.35

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

8/1   76/58/67/-6/0.00/763/88             24 NW  VEC1 24 NW  RMY 24
8/2   75/54/65/-8/0.00/830/96             23 SSW VEC1 22 SSW RMY 23
8/3   79/59/69/-4/0.00/725/84             32 SSW VEC1 34 SSW RMY 34
8/4   77/62/70/-3/T/172/20                29 SSW VEC1 29 SSW RMY 29
8/5   83/66/75/+2/0.00/523/61             18 NW  VEC1 16 WNW RMY 17
8/6   82/60/71/-2/0.00/839/98             20 W   VEC1 19 W   RMY 19
8/7   72/65/69/-4/0.14/034/04             29 SSE VEC1 30 SSE RMY 29
8/8   82/68/75/+3/0.47/187/22             39 S   VEC1 42 S   RMY 42
8/9   82/66/74/+2/0.00/756/89             39 WNW VEC1 38 WNW RMY 38
8/10  83/64/74/+2/0.02/254/30             28 SSW VEC1 27 SSW RMY 28
8/11  80/63/72/+0/0.07/810/96             36 W   VEC1 36 W   RMY 38
8/12  84/61/73/+1/0.00/733/87             26 SSW VEC1 26 SSW RMY 26
8/13  84/68/76/+4/0.07/629/75             26 SSW VEC1 26 SSW RMY 27 TSTM
8/14  82/63/73/+1/T/536/64                25 W   VEC1 24 W   RMY 29
8/15  70/64/67/-5/0.70/000/00             28 NE  VEC1 27 NE  RMY 28
8/16  68/64/66/-6/T/000/00                18 ESE VEC1 19 ENE RMY 18
8/17  70/62/66/-6/T/…/..                15 E   VEC1 14 E   RMY 14

8/18 The low since midnight is 65F, the daily normal low is 63F

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 18
HIGH 93F IN 2002
LOW 49F IN 1918, 1941
PRECIP 4.64 INCHES IN 1955 [DIANE] PEAK GUST 46 MPH WNW IN 2007

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 19
HIGH 92F IN 2019
LOW 48F IN 1958
PRECIP 8.07 INCHES IN 1955 [DIANE – RECORD FOR MONTH] PEAK GUST 78 MPH ENE IN 1991 – HURRICANE BOB

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly