Friday, December 16, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016

BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE LOWERS WIND SPEEDS AFTER GUSTY EVENING

Wind speeds have decreased due to high pressure over the region.
Winds were gusting up to 50 MPH last evening and early this morning,
but had fallen to just 9 MPH this afternoon.  Temperatures have
rebounded very slowly from the morning low of 1F to 14F at the
1:00PM observation.  No minimum records have yet been broken
despite the very cold conditions.

Skies were mostly sunny today with few stratocumulus and cirrus in
the distance.  Visibility remained at 70 miles.

7 A.M.
Weather: Few stratocumulus NNE-SW
Temperature: 2F; Dew Point: -9F; Wind: WNW at 18G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 5F
6-hr Min temp: 1F
24-hr precip: Trace
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 250/02/-9/2918G20/027/ FEW SC NNE-SW/
8/400 53045 10005 20001

10 A.M.
Weather: Few statocumulus NNE-SSE, few cirrus SSE-WSW
Temperature: 7F; Dew Point: -11F; Wind: WNW at 14G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.36 ins. Hg, rising, then less quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 281/07/-11/3014G20/036/ FEW SC NNE-SSW
FEW CI SSE-WSW/ 8/401 51031

1 P.M.
Weather: Few cumulus NE-SSE and WSW-NW, few cirrus SE-W
Temperature: 14F; Dew Point: -14F; Wind: WSW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.38 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 14F
6-hr Min temp:  1F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 287/14/-14/2408/038/ FEW CU NE-SSE AND WSW-NW
FEW CI SE-W/ 8/101 50006 10014 20001

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..29   NORMAL…..39
MIN…..13   NORMAL…..24
MEAN….21   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..-11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..-13 [-1.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..44   DEPARTURE………+10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….477   DEPARTURE………+12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1507   DEPARTURE……..-220
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1293   DIFFERENCE…….+214

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….50 W   AT 11:01 P.M.
ASOS……………………58 W   AT 11:02 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..55 NNW AT  2:01 P.M. RMY 56
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………48 WNW AT 11:48 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………40 WNW AT 11:49 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..38 WNW AT  1:59 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….23.6 NNW
ASOS………………….22.0
DAVIS…………………20.0 W [260 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…Trace  DEPARTURE……-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.84  DEPARTURE……-1.62
ASOS…………..0.93
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….37.81  DEPARTURE…..-13.18
ASOS………….38.36

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..Trace  DEPARTURE…….-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.7  DEPARTURE…….-3.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………1.7  DEPARTURE…….-6.2

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

12/1  55/39/47/+10/0.20/0.0/385/69          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 36
12/2  48/34/41/+5/0.00/0.0/535/96           32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
13/3  44/31/38/+2/0.00/0.0/445/80           37 WNW AERO 39 WNW RMY 40
12/4  39/27/33/-2/0.00/0.0/355/64           25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A
12/5  36/27/32/-3/0.13/0.4/000/00           26 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 29
12/6  42/30/36/+1/0.00/0.0/392/71           22 W   AERO 21 W   RMY N/A
12/7  39/34/37/+3/0.10/0.0/000/00           21 E   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A
12/8  40/29/35/+1/0.00/0.0/033/06           30 W   AERO 31 W   RMY 33
12/9  35/21/28/-6/0.00/0.0/549/100          35 W   AERO 36 WNW RMY 34
12/10 27/17/22/-11/0.00/0.0/544/99          26 WNW AERO 27 WNW RMY 29
12/11 33/16/25/-8/0.06/0.4/411/75           17 SSW AERO 15 SW  RMY N/A
12/12 41/27/34/+1/0.35/0.9/038/07           29 ESE AERO 29 SE  RMY 30
12/13 41/30/36/+4/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 WSW AERO 25 W   RMY 27
12/14 40/26/33/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           30 WNW AERO 31 WNW RMY N/A
12/15 29/13/21/-11/T/T/…/..               50 W   AERO 62 W   RMY 56

12/16 Low temp since midnight is 1F; normal low is now 24F

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 16
HIGH 61 IN 1971
LOW -2 IN 1930
PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1960
SNOW 8.5 INS. IN 2007
WIND 73 MPH SSE IN 1982

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 17
HIGH 63 IN 2000
LOW -10 IN 1942
PRECIP 3.03 INS. IN 1888
SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1988
PEAK GUST 78 MPH SSE IN 2000

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle