Friday, January 3, 2025

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

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2025
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0713E
SUNSET:  1624E

PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND CONTINUED WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY….

We have remained partly to mostly cloudy throughout the day.
While the skies seem to remain constant in cloud cover, it
has been a very active day with the wind conditions, as we
continue to deal with high wind in our area.

Temperatures have not recovered much today, despite the partly
sunny skies. We have only warmed up by 5F since sunrise, and
this is mostly because of cold air advection and high winds.
Dew points also have remained in the upper teens, giving us very
dry (and cold) air today.

The wind has been active once again today, though just slightly
less than yesterday. We finished yesterday with an average of
23.6 mph and today so far we are averaging around 20.7 mph, with
a mostly westerly flow. The wind has picked up in intensity in the
past couple hours, with wind gusts in the 40 mph range at times.
The peak gust so far is 48mph which occurred at 10:35am.

Visibility has slowly improved from 40 miles this morning to around
60 miles by the early afternoon.

The maximum temperature for today is 35F degrees, which is 1 degree
below the normal high of 36F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 30F degrees, which is 10 degrees above the normal low of 20F.
————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR DECEMBER 2024

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 40.4 [+0.2] Avg. Min. 25.5 [+0.6] Mean      33.0 [+0.5] 24-hour corrected mean: 32.9
Max. for month: 62F on the 11th
Min. for month:  4F on the 23rd

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:    989 [-017] Total for the season:  1932 [-278] Total for last season: 1895

COOLING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units:      0 [ 000] Total for the season:   768 [+091] Total for last season:  715

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 7.58 [+2.19] Greatest in 24 hrs: 3.43 on the 11th-12th

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 12.6 [ 0.0] Greatest in 24 hrs: 9.4 on the 20th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.4 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   11.9 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   West [13%] Peak gust and direction:  65 SSW on the 11th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 9264 of a possible 16470, or 56%
Astronomical total minutes: 9558 of a possible 16999 or 56%

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 17F; Relative Humidity: 57%
Wind: W @ 16G25 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1007.6 mb; 29.75 in. Hg: rising, then steady
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip:  Trace
24-hr Snowfall: Trace
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 E60 BKN 40 076/30/17/2816G25/975/ 8/500 51007
10031 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 20F; Relative Humidity: 63%
Wind: W @ 18G26 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1007.5 mb; 29.75 in. Hg: rising, then
falling
Visibility: 50 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 E55 BKN 130 BKN 50 075/32/20/2818G26/975 8/550 58001

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 19F; Relative Humidity: 54%
Wind: WNW @ 19G26 kts, peak wind WNW 44mph at 11:19 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1005.0mb; 29.68 in. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 35F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E50 BKN 60 050/34/19/2919G26/968/ PK WND 2738/19/
8/500 57025 10035 20030

————————————————————–

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2025

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….42  NORMAL…..36
MIN…….31  NORMAL…..21
MEAN……37  NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………….+9
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+22 [+1O.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………23  DEPARTURE…….-14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………23  DEPARTURE…….-14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1955  DEPARTURE……-291
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1929  DEPARTURE…….+26

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

F420C (Official)………..60 W    @   11:59 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….60 WNW  @   11:22 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….59 W    @   11:22 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….58 W    @   11:22 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………56 W    @   11:22 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..63 WNW  @   11:22 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..62 W    @   11:22 A.M.
MERLIN…………………54 WNW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………40 WNW  @   01:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..38      @   01:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..41      @   11:23 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………40 W    @   01:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………41 WNW  @   11:23 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..36 WNW  @   01:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..40 WNW  @   11:23 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..23.6 W  [566 total miles] VECTOR #1………………22.3
VECTOR #2………………22.7
DAVIS #1……………….23.9 W
DAVIS #2……………….23.1 WNW
RMY #1…………………21.0 W
RMY #2…………………22.1 W
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.16
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.55 DEPARTURE…..+0.24
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2025)……..0.55 DEPARTURE…..+0.24

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………TRACE DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………TRACE DEPARTURE……-1.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2024-2025)……12.6 DEPARTURE……-3.6

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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

12/1   37/23/30/-7/0.00/0.0/452/81        21 WSW VEC1 21 WSW RMY 21
12/2   38/22/30/-7/0.00/0.0/551/99        18 W   VEC1 18 W   RMY 18
12/3   36/20/28/-8/0.00/0.0/411/74        21 NW  VEC1 21 WNW RMY 21
12/4   39/22/31/-5/0.13/T/394/71          30 S   VEC1 31 S   RMY 33
12/5   37/31/34/-2/0.40/3.0/072/13        43 WNW VEC1 43 WNW RMY 47
12/6   31/23/27/-8/0.00/0.0/514/93        39 NW  VEC1 39 W   RMY 42
12/7   37/22/30/-5/T/T/408/74             25 S   VEC1 25 S   RMY 26
12/8   47/28/38/+3/0.02/T/198/36          37 SSW VEC1 37 SSW RMY 40
12/9   47/34/41/+7/0.41/0.0/187/34        28 ENE VEC1 28 E   RMY 29
12/10  42/31/37/+3/0.15/0.0/000/00        31 NE  VEC1 32 NE  RMY 34
12/11  62/36/49/+15/3.38/0.0/000/00       65 SSW VEC1 67 SSW RMY 70 TSTM
12/12  53/25/39/+5/0.05/0.0/460/84        51 WNW VEC1 49 WNW RMY 51
12/13  31/19/25/-8/0.00/0.0/514/94        30 WNW VEC1 30 W   RMY 30
12/14  33/17/25/-8/0.00/0.0/546/100       20 NW  VEC1 19 NNW RMY 20
12/15  34/17/26/-7/0.00/0.0/377/69        17 N   VEC1 17 N   RMY 16
12/16  45/29/37/+5/T/0.0/005/01           35 SSE VEC1 35 SSE RMY 35
12/17  59/41/50/+18/0.25/0.0/360/66       48 SSW VEC1 50 SSW RMY 50
12/18  50/36/43/+11/0.57/0.0/507/93       21 S   VEC1 21 S   RMY 21
12/19  44/30/37/+5/0.13/0.0/425/78        31 NW  VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32
12/20  32/24/28/-3/1.17/9.4/000/00        28 NNE VEC1 29 N   RMY 29
12/21  26/12/19/-12/0.00/0.0/262/48       38 NW  VEC1 38 NW  RMY 41
12/22  17/6/12/-19/0.00/0.0/544/100       33 NW  VEC1 33 NW  RMY 35
12/23  26/4/15/-16/0.00/0.0/420/77        21 S   VEC1 21 SSW RMY 20
12/24  31/19/25/-5/0.02/0.2/082/15        29 WSW VEC1 29 WSW RMY 30
12/25  31/20/26/-4/0.00/0.0/540/99        18 NNW VEC1 19 NNW RMY 21
12/26  38/23/31/+1/0.00/0.0/240/44        15 N   VEC1 15 N   RMY 15
12/27  42/21/32/+2/0.00/0.0/480/88        20 SSW VEC1 20 SSW RMY 21
12/28  45/31/38/+9/0.18/0.0/000/00        21 SW  VEC1 21 SSW RMY 21
12/29  53/44/49/+20/0.05/0.0/000/00       32 S   VEC1 33 S   RMY 31
12/30  56/42/49/+20/0.67/0.0/126/23       40 S   VEC1 43 S   RMY 45
12/31  53/37/45/+16/0.00/0.0/483/88       29 E   VEC1 29 E   RMY 28
————————————————————–

DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

12/11 NEW PRECIPITATION RECORD OF 3.38″; OLD RECORD 2.36″ IN 1992

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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

1/1    47/36/42/+13/0.55/0.0/…/..       44 W   VEC1 45 W   RMY 44
1/2    42/31/37/+9/0.00/T/…/..          60 W   VEC1 60 WNW RMY 63

1/3 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 20F.

————————————————————–

JANUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE.

————————————————————–

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 3
HIGH 64F IN 2000
LOW -4F IN 1904
PRECIP 1.93 INS. IN 1999
SNOW 11.3 INS. 1996
PEAK GUST 92 MPH S IN 1960

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4
HIGH 60F IN 2000
LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981
PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982
SNOW 16.5 INS. IN 2018
PEAK GUST 84 MPH S IN 1982

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly