Friday, February 6, 2015

Friday, February 6, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ARCTIC AIR MOVES IN, OVERNIGHT LOW OF -2F

Temperatures that started the day on Thursday
in the mid 30s, fell consistently as snow began
to taper off by late morning. By midnight
temperatures fell to 4F, and by 6:00 AM EST
this morning, -2. Today’s minimum daily record
of -10 set back in 1895 was too far out of reach;
however, westerly winds made for wind chills
in the negative teens.

Mostly clear conditions have given way to mostly
cloudy skies by the 1:00 PM EST observation, with a
thin overcast layer of altostratus/altocumulus and
snow showers distant to the SW. Temperatures reached
a maximum of 19F.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2015

TEMPERATURE Deg. F
Av. Max: 30.8 [-3.0] Av. Min: 15.4 [-1.7] Mean: 23.1 [-2.4] Corrected Mean: 23.3
Max. for month: 51 on 4th
Min. for month: -5 on 8th

HEATING DEGREE DAY UNITS
Total: 1289 [+63] Total for season: 3349 [-181]

PRECIPITATION, inches
Total: 5.17 [+0.82] Total snowfall: 42.9 [+25.8]

WIND:
Av. uncorrected wind speed: 13.8 MPH
Av.   corrected wind speed: 14.1 MPH
Prevailing wind direction: N/A

SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes:   8193/17660 or 46%
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 7938/17130 or 46%

Additional data to be added in coming days

Top 10 Snowiest Januarys

1) 56.3 in 1948
2) 48.2 in 2011
3) 48.0 in 1904
4) 47.6 in 1996
5) 46.0 in 1966
6) 44.8 in 2005
7) 44.5 in 1923
8) 42.9 in 2015
9) 38.3 in 1987
10) 35.6 in 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-SE
Temperature: 0F; Dew Point: -11F; Wind: W at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, increasing, then more quickly
Visibility: 40 miles, inversion present
6-hr max temp: 2F
6-hr min temp: -2F
24-hr precip: 0.15
24 hr snowfall: 3.5
Snow depth: 24 inches
BHO SA 1155 E250 BKN 40 212/0/-11/2811/016/
FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-SE INVSN PRSNT NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 3.5 INS/
8/502 4/024 53008 ASOS 70016 MANUAL 70015 10002 21002

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus
distant offshore ENE-SE, altocumulus lenticularis distant SW-NE
Temperature: 9F; Dew Point: -3F; Wind: W at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.14 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
Visibility: 40 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 40 208/9/-3/2708/014/
FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR ENE-SE FEW ACSL DSNT SW-NE/ 8/542 58004

1 P.M.
Weather: Think overcast of altocumulus/altostratus,
showers distant SW
Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 1F; Wind: WSW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. decreasing, then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy in all directions
BHO SA 1755 E80 -OVC 35 175/18/1/2407/005/
SHWRS DSNT SW HAZY ALQDS/ 8/07/ 56033 10019 20000

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..34   NORMAL…..35
MIN……4   NORMAL…..17
MEAN….19   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-38 [-7.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..46  DEPARTURE………..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….233  DEPARTURE……….+38
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3582  DEPARTURE………-144
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3726  DIFFERENCE………-98

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………38 NW     AT 12:04 P.M.
ASOS…………………..42 NW     AT 12:04 P.M.
DAVIS………………….37 NW     AT 12:04 P.M. RMY 39
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..29 NW     AT 10:15 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29 NW     AT 10:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….26 NW     AT 10:16 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………15.6 NNW
ASOS…………………15.8
DAVIS………………..13.1 NW [317 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.15  DEPARTURE…..+0.01
ASOS…………..0.16
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.68  DEPARTURE…..+1.00
ASOS…………..1.78
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.85  DEPARTURE…..+1.95
ASOS…………..7.24

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….3.5  DEPARTURE……+3.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………20.0  DEPARTURE…..+17.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..73.9  DEPARTURE…..+38.3

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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

1/1  31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/544/99              29 SSW RMY 30
1/2  37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/314/57              35 WSW RMY 38
1/3  34/21/28/+2/0.67/2.5/017/03              25 SE  RMY 26
1/4  51/33/42/+16/0.48/0.0/000/00             30 SSW RMY N/A
1/5  46/13/30/+4/0.00/0.0/542/98              48 W   RMY 54
1/6  15/10/13/-13/0.02/0.4/000/00             29 W   RMY N/A
1/7  22/01/12/-14/0.01/0.3/383/69             43 WNW RMY 47
1/8  16/-5/6/-20/0.00/0.0/539/97              39 WNW RMY N/A
1/9  27/16/22/-4/0.08/0.9/201/36              35 WSW RMY 38
1/10 22/11/17/-8/0.00/0.0/541/97              26 WNW RMY 27
1/11 31/9/20/-5/45/0.00/0.0/123/22            26 SSW RMY N/A
1/12 36/31/34/+9/0.23/T/000/00                29 NNW RMY N/A
1/13 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/524/93              30 NNW RMY 29
1/14 22/11/17/-8/T/T/000/00                   18 NNW RMY 16
1/15 27/20/24/-1/0.09/0.8/000/00              20 WSW RMY 22
1/16 35/12/24/-1/T/T/341/60                   46 WSW RMY 50
1/17 21/5/13/-12/0.00/0.0/558/98              30 WNW RMY N/A
1/18 50/19/35/+10/0.16/0.0/000/00             47 SE  RMY 52
1/19 44/28/36/+11/T/0.0/304/53                33 W   RMY 36
1/20 36/23/30/+5/0.00/0.0/495/86              28 W   RMY 28
1/21 30/17/24/-1/0.00/0.0/358/62              21 WNW RMY N/A
1/22 36/25/31/+6/T/T/197/34                   20 WNW RMY 20
1/23 36/18/27/+2/0.00/0.0/569/98              25 SSW RMY 26
1/24 32/27/30/+5/0.86/5.0/000/00              24 SSW RMY N/A
1/25 34/17/26/+1/0.00/0.0/426/73              31 W   RMY 33
1/26 26/9/18/-7/0.50/5.6/70/12                45 N   RMY N/A
1/27 17/10/14/-11/1.94/25.2/000/00            51 N   RMY 52
1/28 22/8/15/-10/T/T/278/47                   30 NW  RMY N/A
1/29 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/546/92              18 NW  RMY N/A
1/30 32/15/24/-2/0.13/2.2/000/00              45 NW  RMY 49
1/31 21/7/15/-11/0.00/0.0/323/54              52 NW  RMY 57

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 morning low temp: -2F since midnight, normal low is now 18

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015

-NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 27 JANUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 25.2 INS. IN 2015 [NEW RECORD FOR THE MONTH]

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

-NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. IN 2014
Previos record: 5.5 ins. in 1916, 1934

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 6
HIGH 54F IN 1909
LOW -10F IN 1895
PRECIP 1.88 INS. IN 1896
SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 84e MPH NE IN 1978

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 7
HIGH 51F IN 1951,1953
LOW -8F IN 1910
PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1983
SNOWFALL 17.1 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 87e MPH SSE IN 1951

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald