Friday, December 18, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

RAIN COMES DOWN STEADILY OVERNIGHT, 0.50 INCHES OF NEW
RAIN BEFORE ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS TODAY- TEMPERATURES
CONTINUE ABOVE AVERAGE STREAK

Thick fog was in place by early afternoon yesterday, along
with steady rain beginning after 2:00 PM EST. By the 7:00 AM EST
observation this morning 0.50 inches of new rain had been measured.
A high temperature of 53F was reached last evening, some 14 degrees
above the daily normal high of 39F. Combined with a daily minimum
of 36F, temperatures averaged 14 degrees above normal for the day,
increasing the monthly temperature departure to +11.3 above normal
per day.

Skies were mostly cloudy this morning, with fog rolling in by
the 10:00 AM EST observation. Light rain began after 11:00 AM EST,
totaling 0.02 inches by the 1:00 PM EST observation. Temperatures
had dropped slowly through the morning to 45F by the 1:00 PM EST
observation. A maximum temperature of 48F had been reached so far.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus,
few stratus fractus in all directions, patches of
fog drifting below summit in all directions
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: W at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.67 ins. Hg, rising, then falling
but higher still
Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 47F
6-hr Min temp: 45F
24-hr precip: 0.50 ins
BHO SA 1155 E100 BKN 230 BKN 25 048/47/47/2810/967/
FEW STFRA ALQDS PTCHS FG DRFTG BLO SMT ALQDS THN FG ALQDS/
8/778 50009 ASOS 70051 MANUAL 70050 10047 20045

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratus fractus, broken stratocumulus,
broken altocumulus, overcast cirrostratus, few altocumulus
lencticularis distant WNW-NNE
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: NW at 9 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog
BHO SA 1455 E15 BKN 40 BKN 70 BKN 200 OVC 25
054/47/47/3109/969/ FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-NNE THN FG ALQDS/ 8/747 51006

1 P.M.
Weather: Light rain, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.62 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 10 miles, except 15 miles SE, light rain, thin fog
6-hr max. temp: 48F
6-hr min. temp: 45F
6-hr precip: 0.02 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E10 OVC 10R- 032/45/44/3008/962/ VSBY SE 15 MI
THN FG ALQDS/ 8/6// 58022 ASOS 60002 MANUAL 60002 10048 20045

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..53   NORMAL…..39
MIN…..36   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….45   NORMAL…..31

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………+14
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………..+196  [+11.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..20   DEPARTURE………-14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….336   DEPARTURE……..-198
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1338   DEPARTURE……..-457
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1658   DIFFERENCE…….-320

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….29 SE  AT  9:04 A.M.
ASOS……………………26 S   AT  3:26 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..28 SE  AT  9:03 A.M. RMY 28
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………22 SE  AT  9:28 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………20 SE  AT  9:36 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..20 SE  AT  9:36 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..12.3 SSE
ASOS…………………..11.6
DAVIS………………….11.2 SSE [146 Deg.] * Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…..0.50  DEPARTURE……+0.35
ASOS……………0.51
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………..1.50  DEPARTURE……-1.27
ASOS……………1.52
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..40.92  DEPARTURE…..-10.39
ASOS…………….N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.0  DEPARTURE……-6.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….TRACE  DEPARTURE……-8.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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

12/1  42/30/36/-1/…./0.0/000/00           19 NNE RMY 19
12/2  53/37/45/+9/…./0.0/000/00           25 SSE RMY 25
12/3  53/37/45/+9/…./0.0/162/29           43 WNW RMY 42
12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80           32 NW  RMY 32
12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99           21 W   RMY N/A
12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96          22 SW  RMY N/A
12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64          31 NE  RMY N/A
12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31
12/9  44/34/39/+5/…./0.0/044/08           28 SSE RMY N/A
12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/…/..             29 SE  RMY N/A
12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/…/..          28 SSW RMY 28
12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/…/..          23 W   RMY N/A
12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/…/..          18 ESE RMY 19
12/14 60/43/52/+20/…./0.0/000/00          32 S   RMY N/A
12/15 61/45/53/+21/…./0.0/…/..          48 W   RMY 51
12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 N   RMY N/A
12/17 53/36/45/+14/…./0.0/000/00          29 SE  RMY 28

12/18 since midnight is 45F; normal low is now 23F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015

**12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983**

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 18
HIGH 59 IN 1928
LOW -11 IN 1919
PRECIP 1.44 INS. IN 1915
SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1904
PEAK GUST 76e W IN 1978

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 19
HIGH 59 IN 1899
LOW -1 IN 1919
PRECIP 2.06 INS. IN 1986
SNOWFALL 14.1 INS. IN 1945
PEAK GUST 68 NE IN 1986

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald