Friday, December 26, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

NEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR DECEMBER 24
TEMPERATURES ALSO WELL ABOVE AVERAGE CHRISTMAS DAY
DRY WEATHER TODAY WITH CONTINUED MILD CONDITIONS

A significant surge of warmth associated with a low pressure system far
to our west sent the temperature soaring over the past few days, with
a new record high temperature of 61F set on December 24.  December 25
also saw a high temperature of 61F right around midnight, which was one
degree short of the record for that date.  We have also added to this
month’s very high precipitation total, with over an inch of additional rain
in the past three days, bringing the monthly total over 7 inches.  Winds
were gusty over this time as well, with an average speed of nearly 20mph
yesterday, and gusts near 40mph.

Today has been a much more typical day, although the temperature continues
to run above average, with a high for the day so far of 47F being well
above the normal high for this time of year of 36F.  It is also dry for
a change today.  The last day here at the summit with no measurable
precipitation was a week ago today, 12/19.  It appears the streak of days
with precipitation will be broken today.  In addition to the precipitation,
it has been a very cloudy month, with nearly half the days of the month
so far having no sunshine observed.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant SW-N
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, rising then rising more rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 40F
6-hr min temp: 35F
24-hr precip.: 0.14 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 020/35/28/2412/012/ FEW AC DSNT SW-N DSNT HZ/
8/070 53022 ASOS 70014 MANUAL 70014 10040 20035

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant SW-NE, few altocumulus S-WSW,
few thin cirrus distant E-S
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, rising then rising more rapidly
Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze
BHO SA 1455 CLR 45 218/42/29/2512/017/ FEW SC DSNT SW-NE FEW AC S-WSW
FEW THN CI DSNT E-S DSNT HZ/ 8/551 53018

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus mostly distant W-NE, few altocumulus
distant SE-S
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: W at 11 kts,
Wind: Direction variable WSW-WNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max temp: 47F
6-hr min temp: 35F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 60 201/46/30/2811/012/ FEW SC MSTLY DSNT W-NE
FEW AC DSNT SE-S LGT DSNT HZ WND 24V30/ 8/550 56017 10047 20035

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2014 CHRISTMAS DAY

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..61   NORMAL…..36
MIN…..41   NORMAL…..21
MEAN….51   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+23
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+80 [+3.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..14  DEPARTURE……….-23
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….721  DEPARTURE……….-97
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1880  DEPARTURE………-200
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2061  DIFFERENCE……..-181

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………37  W  AT  9:15 A.M.
ASOS…………………..42  W  AT  1:40 P.M.
DAVIS………………….41  W  AT  9:16 A.M. RMY 43
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..32  W  AT  9:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..31  W  AT  1:19 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….30  W  AT  9:17 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….19.9 W
ASOS………………….18.5
DAVIS…………………17.5 WSW [247 degrees]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.14  DEPARTURE…..-0.02
ASOS…………..0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….7.19  DEPARTURE…..+3.17
ASOS…………..7.41
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….54.95  DEPARTURE…..+2.40
ASOS………….55.60

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….2.3  DEPARTURE……-7.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..11.0  DEPARTURE……-1.8

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/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  63/37/50/+13/0.01/0.0/391/70             28 WNW RMY 31
12/2  37/30/34/-2/0.10/T/000/00                26 E   RMY 29
12/3  49/34/42/+6/0.31/0.0/000/00              40 W   RMY 43
12/4  41/27/34/-1/0.00/0.0/505/91              29 WNW RMY N/A
12/5  42/23/33/-2/0.12/0.0/382/69              21 E   RMY 22
12/6  43/36/40/+5/0.99/0.0/000/00              25 NNW RMY N/A
12/7  36/18/27/-7/0.15/0.0/193/35              31 N   RMY 34
12/8  25/16/21/-13/0.01/0.1/000/00             24 N   RMY N/A
12/9  48/25/37/+3/3.23/0.0/000/00              48 ENE RMY 52
12/10 47/35/41/+8/0.43/0.0/000/00              35 NNE RMY 37
12/11 35/29/32/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00              27 SW  RMY 27
12/12 36/26/31/-2/0.00/0.0/230/42              23 WNW RMY 25
12/13 40/27/34/+2/0.00/0.0/191/35              28 NW  RMY 28
12/14 43/28/36/+4/0.00/0.0/377/69              20 NW  RMY 20
12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/536/98              17 NW  RMY 17
12/16 42/33/38/+7/T/T/011/02                   17 E   RMY N/A
12/17 45/37/41/+10/0.43/0.0/000/00             27 W   RMY N/A
12/18 41/32/37/+6/0.02/T/213/39                35 WNW RMY 38
12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/000/00               26 NW  RMY 29
12/20 32/24/28/-2/…./…/…/..              21 NNE RMY 23
12/21 31/29/30/+0/…./…/000/00              20 NNE RMY 22
12/22 42/29/36/+7/…./…/…/..              23 E   RMY N/A
12/23 44/39/42/+13/…./…/000/00             28 ENE RMY 30
12/24 61/40/51/+22/…./…/000/00             32 SSW RMY 41
12/25 61/41/51/+23/…./…/…/..             37 W   RMY 43

12/26 morning low temp: 35F since midnight; normal low is now 20F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2014:

-DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR DECEMBER 9 2014
Old record of 1.51 inches set in 1952,
replaced with new record of 3.23 inches.

-DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR DECEMBER 24 2014
Old record of 58F set in 1996,
replaced with new record of 61F.

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 26
HIGH 58 IN 1973,1982
LOW -12 IN 1980
PRECIP 3.64 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 17.5 INS. IN 1909
PEAK GUST 84 MPH SSE IN 1957

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 27
HIGH 57 IN 1895,1949
LOW -4 IN 1903
PRECIP 2.43 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 11.2 INS. IN 1947
PEAK GUST 73 S IN 2011

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien