Friday, February 9, 2024

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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0649E
SUNSET:  1708E

OVERCAST MORNING MAKES WAY FOR AFTERNOON SUNSHINE AND GUSTY WINDS….

Overcast conditions persisted for the entirety of the morning.
By 1pm, the majority of the thick clouds moved offshore with the
western sky finally visible. A beautiful blue sky was seen with the
exception of a few altocumulus clouds hanging around. With dew
points in the low to mid 30’s and the southerly flow of wind, the
air feels much warmer than typical for February.

Temperatures have stayed steady in the mid 30’s for most of the
morning and once the sun made a late appearance the temperature
rebounded quite nicely. By 1pm we had made it to 40F but with
more sunshine hours to be seen, we may see a little warmer before
the day comes to a close.

Winds have been predominantly from the SSW and rather quite active
today. The average wind speed so far is about 12 mph, which is nearly
double the average from yesterday. Our current peak gust occurred
just after our 1pm observation at about 27 mph.

The morning started with some dense fog and an average visibility
of about 5 miles. Fortunately, as the humidity dropped and the clouds
cleared out, visibility improved to about 40 miles.

The maximum temperature so far today is 40F degrees, which is
4 degrees above the normal high of 36F. The minimum temperature
since midnight is 30F degrees, which is 12 degrees above the normal
low of 18F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, few cirrus all quadrants
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 31F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: SSW @ 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1022.6 mb; 30.20 in. Hg: rising then falling
Visibility: 5 miles, 1 mile E-S-W, 10 miles WNW-N-NE, fog
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 60 SCT 5F 226/31/31/2109/020/ FEW CI ALQDS
VSBY 1 E-S-W VSBY 10 WNW-N-NE 8/501 58007 10032 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altostratus,
virga distant ESE-SSE
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 33F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S @ 9G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1022.0 mb; 30.18 in. Hg: falling, then steady
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 E30 BKN 65 OVC 30 220/33/33/1909G18/018/ 8/51/
56006 VIRGA DSNT ESE-SSE HAZY

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrostratus N-E-S, few altocumulus SW-W-NW
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 35F; Relative Humidity: 82%
Wind: S @ 14G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1018.9 mb; 30.09 in. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 40 189/40/35/1914G20/009/ FEW AC SW-W-NW
8/055 57031 10040 20031

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SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….44   NORMAL…..36
MIN…….29   NORMAL…..18
MEAN……37   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+51 [+6.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………28  DEPARTURE…….-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..257  DEPARTURE…….-51
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3223  DEPARTURE……-488
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3144  DEPARTURE…….+79

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)……….E16 S    @  08:34 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….16 SE   @  07:14 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….16 S    @  08:28 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….15 SSE  @  07:45 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………19 S    @  08:28 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..16 S    @  09:44 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..16 S    @  08:28 P.M.
MERLIN…………………17 S
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……19      @  08:40 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………13 SSE  @  08:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..13      @  08:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..13      @  08:34 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………13 SSE  @  08:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………13 SE   @  07:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..12 SSE  @  08:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..13 S    @  08:34 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………13      @  08:04 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….5.6 W [135 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..6.2
VECTOR #2……………..6.4
DAVIS #1………………6.0 SSE
DAVIS #2………………5.9 SE
RMY #1………………..6.2 SSW
RMY #2………………..6.5 SW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………6.8

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.12
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.03 DEPARTURE…..-1.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)……..9.27 DEPARTURE…..+3.69

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………TRACE DEPARTURE……-5.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)……20.9 DEPARTURE…..-18.3

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
PEAK GUST: F420C (Official)
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY:  R.M. Young #1 wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

2/1   40/30/35/+9/0.00/0.0/012/02         25 SW  VEC1 24 SW  RMY 26
2/2   39/31/35/+9/0.03/T/000/00           23 N   VEC1 24 N   RMY 25
2/3   35/26/31/+5/0.00/0.0/338/56         26 N   VEC1 26 NNW RMY 28
2/4   39/20/30/+4/0.00/0.0/607/100        28 NNW VEC1 28 NNW RMY 27
2/5   39/22/31/+4/0.00/0.0/597/98         29 N   VEC1 29 N   RMY 30
2/6   35/26/31/+4/0.00/0.0/251/41         26 N   VEC1 26 N   RMY 26
2/7   39/26/33/+6/0.00/0.0/436/71         21 NE  VEC1 21 NE  RMY 24
2/8   44/29/37/+10/0.00/0.0/…/..        16 S   VEC1 16 S   RMY 16

2/9 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 18F

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FEBRUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE…

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 9
HIGH 58F IN 1990
LOW -21F IN 1934 [LOWEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD] PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 16.9 INS. IN 2017
PEAK GUST 89 MPH NE IN 1969

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 10
HIGH 56F IN 1909
LOW -8F IN 1899
PRECIP 1.34 INS. IN 1909
SNOWFALL 12.1 INS. IN 1926
PEAK GUST 64 MPH W IN 2001

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly