Friday, February 20, 2015

Agreement required — click “Accept & Continue” below to review and accept the Data Use & Privacy Policy

Access to this content requires acceptance of our Data Use & Privacy Policy.

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

BELOW AVERAGE TEMPS PERSIST FOR 25TH CONSECUTIVE
DAY, LONGEST COLD STRETCH IN 25 YEARS

Two rounds of snow yesterday mid day and late afternoon
brought an additional 0.3 inches of snow, bringing this
season’s total to 131.4 inches, and 77.5 inches so far
for the month of February, increasing the record for
the snowiest month on record here in 130 years.

This morning’s low of 0F, also continues a pattern
of below average temperatures, which now extend to
25 consecutive days, not including today. This stretch
appears unmatched since 1989, when a string of
32 days occurred from 29th of November through the 30th
of December. Below normal temperatures look to persist
through Saturday, with Sunday being our best chance
to go above freezing in quite some time.

By the 1:00 PM EST observation, mostly clear conditions
were present with only a few altocumulus and cirrus
distant to the WNW to N. Visibility had improved to
70 miles; however, winds were still gusting in the
mid 30’s with wind chills below zero. A maximum
temperature of 13F had been recorded.

Snow for the season now totals 131.4 inches, placing
this season at Blue Hill firmly in third place
on the list of snowiest seasons. February 2015 is also
the snowiest February on record, as well as the
snowiest month on record. This latest storm has also
made it onto the list of single greatest storm totals
in February and all time. See below:
BHO Greatest Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan, 2015
3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960
4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
5) 30.0 on 31 Mar – 1 Apr, 1997
6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013
7) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
8) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
9) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
10) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003
11) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001
12) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
13) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
14) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
3) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
4) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
5) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
6) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
7) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
8) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Snowiest February, inches (1885-2015):

1) 77.5 in 2015 (through Feb 20 at 1:00 PM EST)
2) 65.4 in 1969
3) 51.3 in 2003
4) 45.2 in 1967
5) 40.4 in 1920
6) 39.7 in 2013
7) 37.0 in 1893

BHO Snowiest January-February, inches (1886-2015):

1) 120.4 in 2015 (through Feb 20 at 1:00 PM EST)
2) 77.9 in 1948
3) 70.2 in 2005
4) 68.7 in 1904
5) 67.5 in 1920
6) 66.9 in 1994

BHO Greatest Snow Depth, inches (1895-2015):
1) 46 in February 2015
2) 43 in March 1969
3) 42 in January 1948
4) 41 in February 1969
5) 39 in February 1948
6) 38 in February 1920
7) 33 in February 1978
33 in January 1996
9) 31 in February 2003
31 in February 2011
11)30 in March 1960
30 in March 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant
offshore NE-ESE
Temperature: 1F; Dew Point: -11F; Wind: W at 19G28 kts,
Peak Wind: 28 knots W @ 06:47 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 50 miles, except 40 miles NE-ESE, light distant haze
6-hr max temp: 4F
6-hr min temp: 0F
24-hr precip: 0.02 inches
24 hr snowfall: 0.3 inches
Snow depth: 41 inches
BHO SA 1155 E250 BKN 50 112/1/-11/2719G28/986/ VSBY W-NW 40
FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE LGT DSNT HZ NE-ESE NEW SNW PST
24 HRS 0.3 INS PK WND 2628/47/ 8/502 4/021 52026 ASOS 70001
MANUAL 70002 10004 20000

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant offshore E,
few cirrus distant NNE-ENE
Temperature: 7F; Dew Point: -10F; Wind: WNW at 20G29 kts
Peak Wind: 32 knots WNW @ 9:40 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 138/7/-10/2920G29/994/ FEW CU DSNT OFFSHR E
FEW CI DSNT NNE-ENE PK WND 2932/40/ 8/102 51026

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus lenticularis distant
WNW-NNE, few cirrus distant W
Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: -6F; Wind: W at 20G30 kts
Peak Wind: 30 knots W @ 12:54 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. rising then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr max temp: 13F
6-hr min temp: 0F
6-hr precip: none
6-hr snowfall: none
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 161/12/-6/2720G30/001/ FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-NNE
FEW CI DSNT W PK WND 2730/54/ 8/041 53023 10013 20000
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..26 NORMAL…..38
MIN……6 NORMAL…..20
MEAN….16 NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-211 [-11.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..49 DEPARTURE……….+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….930 DEPARTURE………+209
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4278 DEPARTURE……….+27
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4251 DIFFERENCE……….+5

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………40 W AT 6:19 P.M.
ASOS…………………..43 W AT 6:19 P.M.
DAVIS………………….39 W AT 5:06 P.M. RMY 43
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..33 WNW AT 6:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..32 W AT 6:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….30 WNW AT 6:01 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….14.5 W
ASOS………………….15.4
DAVIS…………………12.6 W [272 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.02 DEPARTURE…..-0.13
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.66 DEPARTURE…..+3.04
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….10.87 DEPARTURE…..+3.99
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings
on February 9-10th and 14-15th

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.3 DEPARTURE……-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………77.5 DEPARTURE…..+68.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….131.4 DEPARTURE…..+88.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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
2/1 28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/…/.. 29 WNW RMY N/A
2/2 29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00 44 NE RMY 46
2/3 21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/…/.. 31 NW RMY N/A
2/4 36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/…/.. 31 S RMY 33
2/5 34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/…/.. 38 NW RMY 39
2/6 19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/…/.. 28 NW RMY 27
2/7 25/14/20/-7/…./…/…/.. 25 WSW RMY N/A
2/8 29/11/20/-7/…./…/000/00 30 NNE RMY 29
2/9 19/12/16/-11/…./…/000/00 29 N RMY 28
2/10 28/12/20/-7/…./…/…/.. 29 N RMY 29
2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/…/.. 30 N RMY 29
2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/…/.. 31 NW RMY N/A
2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/…/.. 35 NW RMY 35
2/14 26/1/14/-14/…./…/…/.. 24 NW RMY N/A
2/15 18/-6/6/-22/…./…/…/.. 53 NW RMY 59
2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/…/.. 43 NW RMY N/A
2/17 21/5/13/-15/0.12/2.0/…/.. 18 NW RMY 16
2/18 28/15/22/-7/…./…/…/.. 17 W RMY N/A
2/19 26/6/16/-13/0.02/0.3/…/.. 40 W RMY 43