Friday, February 23, 2018

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CLOUDS INCREASE AS PRESSURE BEGINS TO DROP IN
THE AFTERNOON…

The day began overcast but clouds decreased soon
after sunrise. Skies remained mostly sunny until
this afternoon when pressure began quickly falling,
clouds increased, and light precipitation began
falling around 1:20 P.M. EST.
Yesterday’s max of 53F was observed at midnight and
temperatures began to quickly drop shortly after.
With wind from the NE temperatures have returned to
more seasonable today. So far today we have a max
high of 41F, which is close to the daily normal of
39F. Overnight temperatures have also returned to
more seasonable with a overnight low of 28F since
midnight. The normal low minimum is 30F. The NE
wind became light and variable in the afternoon,
then shifted and now the wind is coming from the SSE.

BHO Warmest February Daily Maximum Temperature, deg F (1885-2018):
1) 71 on 24 Feb 2017
2) 70 on 21 Feb 2018
3) 68 on 24 Feb 1985
68 on 25 Feb 2017
68 on 20 Feb 2018
6) 67 on 26 Feb 1957
67 on 25 Feb 1976
67 on 23 Feb 2017
9) 66 on 20 Feb 1930
66 on 19 Feb 1981

BHO Warmest February Daily High Minimum Temperature, deg F (1885-2018):
1) 50 on 21 Feb 2018
2) 49 on 20 Feb 1981
3) 48 on 20 Feb 2018
4) 47 on 28 Feb 1910
47 on 23 Feb 1990
47 on 24 Feb 2017
7) 46 on 26 Feb 1957
8) 45 on 22 Feb 1954
45 on 05 Feb 1991
45 on 21 Feb 2002

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus,
few stratus fractus S-WNW, few stratocumulus in all
directions
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: NE at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.70 ins. Hg, rising then steady
Visibility:  20 miles, distant fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 30F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
24-hr precip:  0.10 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.8 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E200 BKN 300 BKN 20 397/30/30/0408/070/ NEW
SNW PST 24 HRS 0.8 INS FEW STFA S-WNW FEW SC ALQDS DSNT
FG ALQDS/ 8/435 51005 MANUAL 70010 ASOS 70009 10030 20028

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few stratocumulus in all
directions
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 31F; Wind: ENE at 4 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.67 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze in all directions
3-hr precip: 0.00
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 24 SCT E100 BKN 260 BKN 40 387/38/31/0704/067/
DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/435 58010

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: SSE at 4 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.57 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 41F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E80 BKN 100 OVC 40 351/40/23/1504/057/
DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/02/ 56037 10041 20030

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..53   NORMAL…..38
MIN…..30   NORMAL…..20
MEAN….42   NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………+13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..+170 [+7.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….23   DEPARTURE………-13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………657   DEPARTURE……..-171
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….3978   DEPARTURE……..-381
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..3778   DIFFERENCE…….+200

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….30 N  AT 1:09 A.M.
AERO……………………28 N  AT 1:10 A.M.
ASOS……………………31 NW AT 1:10 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..30 M  AT 1:10 A.M.** RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………19 N  AT 1:09 A.M.*
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………18 N  AT 4:54 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..18 M  AT 4:54 A.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..8.4 ENE
ASOS…………………..9.0
DAVIS………………….7.5 **
*Last of multiple occcurrences
** Davis direction malfunctioning

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.10  DEPARTURE……-0.04
ASOS…………..0.09
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.35  DEPARTURE……+0.25
ASOS…………..3.49
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.35  DEPARTURE……+1.90
ASOS………….10.07

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.8  DEPARTURE……..+0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………10.2  DEPARTURE……..-0.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..44.7  DEPARTURE……..+0.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1  45/27/36/+10/…./0.0/120/20      36 SSW AERO 35 SSW RMY N/A
2/2  34/08/21/-5/…./2.5/223/37       43 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY 46
2/3  25/04/15/-11/0.00/0.0/557/92      26 S   AERO 24 S   RMY 30
2/4  45/23/34/+8/…/T/000/00          31 SSE AERO 29 S   RMY 30
2/5  46/19/33/+7/0.00/0.0/464/76       47 WNW AERO 47 WNW RMY 44
2/6  31/17/24/+2/T/T/025/04            26 SSW AERO 23 SSW RMY 23
2/7  42/21/32/+5/0.62/1.1/000/00       45 SW  AERO 46 SW  RMY 47
2/8  30/20/25/-2/0.00/0.0/501/81       38 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY N/A
2/9  30/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/384/62       28 S   AERO 25 S   RMY N/A
2/10 51/28/40/+13/…./0.0/…/..      31 S   AERO 30 S   RMY 31
2/11 46/36/41/+14/…./0.0/000/00      24 SW  AERO 21 SW  RMY N/A
2/12 53/27/40/+13/…./0.0/…/..      33 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY N/A
2/13 31/21/26/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..       22 S   AERO 18 WNW RMY 21
2/14 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..       30 S   AERO 26 SSW RMY 29
2/15 47/35/41/+13/…./0.0/000/00      23 SSW AERO 20 SSW RMY N/A
2/16 50/31/41/+13/…./0.0/…/..      45 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 42
2/17 38/23/31/+3/…./…/…/..       33 SSW AERO 29 SSE RMY 33
2/18 42/29/35/+6/…./…/…/..       32 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY 34
2/19 48/30/39/+10/…./0.0/…/..      39 SSW AERO 37 SSW RMY 40
2/20 68/48/58/+29/…./0.0/…/..      32 SSW AERO 30 SSW RMY N/A
2/21 70/50/60/+31/0.00/0.0/…/..      32 SW  AERO 30 SW  RMY 33
2/22 53/30/42/+13/…./0.8/…/..      30 N   AERO 28 N   RMY N/A

2/23 Low temp since midnight is 28F; normal low is now 30F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2018

2/20/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 68F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 66F SET IN 1930
2/21/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 70F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 62F SET IN 1930
2/21/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 45F SET IN 2002

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 23
HIGH 67F IN 2017
LOW -8F IN 1907
PRECIP 1.48 INCHES IN 1967
SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1967
PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1974

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 24
HIGH 71F IN 2017
LOW -11F IN 1894
PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1969
SNOWFALL 27.4 INCHES IN 1969 [HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY AMOUNT ON RECORD] PEAK GUST 63 MPH NE IN 1998

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan