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Friday, December 15, 2023

December 15, 2023

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 ALL TIMES ARE…

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

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0706E
SUNSET:  1612E

SUNSHINE, WINDY, WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES TODAY ON BLUE HILL….

This morning started off with mostly clear skies and a beautiful
red sunrise. We began with a few stratocumulus along the horizon
and most of the day featured a couple altocumulus clouds lingering
about. By the afternoon we had a mostly clear sky with some thinly
scattered strands of cirrus throughout.

Temperatures are on the rise with winds moving from the NW yesterday
to WSW for most of today. By the first daily observation at 7am we
had already surpassed yesterday’s high temperature! The warmth from
the sun felt great and has brought a fair amount of activity to the
hill this afternoon. The dew point has also risen considerably since
yesterday, but with the gusty wind, it still feels pretty chilly.

The wind has been rather productive today, alternating between a
WSW and westerly flow for most of the morning and early afternoon.
The average speed for the day so far is around 14mph. The current peak
gust is around 27mph which occurred just after 7am this morning.

Visibility was limited to about 30 miles in the beginning of the day
due to a thin layer of smoke trapped in an inversion layer. By the
1pm observation we had improved our visibility to only 40 miles.

The maximum temperature for today is 50F degrees, this is 10 degrees
above the normal high of 40F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 30F degrees, this is 5 degrees above the normal low of 25F.

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus all quadrants, few altocumulus
castellanus SW-W
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 24F; Relative Humidity: 69%
Wind: WSW @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1036.2 mb; 30.60 in. Hg: falling steadily
Visibility: 30 miles, thin smoke layer all quadrants
6-hr Max temp: 33F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 30 248/33/24/2508/026/ FEW SC ALQDS FEW ACC SW-W
THN K LYR ALQDS/ 8/550 57014 10033 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few altocumulus W
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 27F; Relative Humidity: 58%
Wind: W @ 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1024.2 mb; 30.24 in. Hg: falling steadily
Visibility: 30 miles, thin smoke layer NW-N-NE
3-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 250 -SCT 30 242/40/27/2611/024 FEW AC W THN K LYR NW-N-NE
8/051 57006

1 P.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few altocumulus W-NW-N
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 33F; Relative Humidity: 50%
Wind: W @ 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1021.8 mb; 30.17 in. Hg: falling, then more
rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hr Max temp: 50F
6-hr Min temp: 33F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 250 -SCT 40 218/50/33/2809/017/ FEW AC W-NW-N
8/051 58024 10051 20033

————————————————————–

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….34   NORMAL…..41
MIN…….33   NORMAL…..25
MEAN……28   NORMAL…..33

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………..-5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….+47 [+3.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………37  DEPARTURE……..+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..374  DEPARTURE…….-48
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1461  DEPARTURE……-165
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1372  DEPARTURE…….+89

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)……….E31 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….31 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….31 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….29 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………29 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..32 SW   @  10:45 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..31 SW   @  11:04 P.M.
MERLIN…………………30 WSW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……34      @  11:29 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………20 SW   @  11:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..20      @  11:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..21      @  11:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………20 SW   @  11:28 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………22 SW   @  11:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..20 SW   @  11:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..21 SW   @  11:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………19      @  11:57 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….10.8 NW[259 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..10.7
VECTOR #2……………..11.4
DAVIS #1………………10.8 WNW
DAVIS #2………………11.3 WNW
RMY #1………………..10.4 WNW
RMY #2………………..11.2 WNW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………10.8

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.18
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..3.50 DEPARTURE…..+0.99
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..54.87 DEPARTURE…..+3.89

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.3 DEPARTURE……-4.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)…….0.3 DEPARTURE……-6.7

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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

12/1  51/38/45/+8/0.04/0.0/213/38         29 SW  VEC1 28 SW  RMY 29
12/2  48/43/46/+9/T/0.0/000/00            18 SSW VEC1 19 SSW RMY 19
12/3  44/41/43/+7/0.76/0.0/000/00         31 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 33
12/4  49/37/43/+7/0.07/0.0/155/28         23 W   VEC1 22 W   RMY 23
12/5  38/28/33/-3/0.00/0.0/144/26         23 NNW VEC1 24 NW  RMY 24
12/6  34/22/28/-7/0.01/0.3/100/18         21 N   VEC1 21 N   RMY 20
12/7  28/17/56/-12/0.00/0.0/121/22        18 NNW VEC1 18 NW  RMY 19
12/8  42/24/33/-2/0.00/0.0/530/96         20 S   VEC1 18 S   RMY 18
12/9  52/33/43/+9/0.00/0.0/264/48         24 S   VEC1 24 S   RMY 24
12/10 60/43/52/+18/0.66/0.0/033/06        55 SSW VEC1 54 SSW RMY 53
12/11 61/33/47/+13/1.96/0.0/038/07        69 SSW VEC1 69 SSW RMY 71
12/12 42/29/36/+2/0.00/0.0/543/99         33 WNW VEC1 32 WNW RMY 34
12/13 43/28/36/+3/0.00/0.0/470/86         36 WNW VEC1 34 WNW RMY 36
12/14 34/22/28/-5/0.00/0.0/…/..         31 SW  VEC1 31 SW  RMY 32

12/15 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 25F

————————————————————–

DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE…

————————————————————–

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 15
HIGH 64 IN 1975
LOW 4 IN 1900, 1905, 1933
PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1981
SNOW 7.5 INS. IN 1951
PEAK GUST 65 MPH NW IN 1991

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 16
HIGH 61 IN 1971
LOW -2 IN 1930
PRECIP 1.88 INS. IN 2022
SNOW 8.5 INS. IN 2007
WIND 73 MPH SSE IN 1982

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly

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Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center · Legal

Data Use & Privacy Policy

Please read the full Policy before accessing Observatory data · Effective January 1, 2025

Notice: By accessing, downloading, or using any Blue Hill Observatory data or services, you unconditionally accept and agree to be bound by this Policy in its entirety. If you do not agree, you may not access or use Observatory data.
Effective January 1, 2025 · Milton, Massachusetts · bluehill.org
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