Friday, January 6, 2017

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SNOWFALL ENDS LATE MORNING TOTALING 1.7 INS.

Light snow began early this morning and ended around 10:00AM, totaling
1.7 inches of snow and 0.05 inches of liquid precip.  Fog accompanied
the snow and limited visibility to 3-10 miles in the morning.  Drier
air moving in behind the low pressure system improved visibility to 40
miles by 1:00PM.  Skies also cleared from overcast to partly sunny, and
light morning winds had increased slightly by early afternoon.

It appears 2016 will go down as the 2nd warmest year on record here at the
Observatory.  A list of our ten warmest years, along with preliminary
statistics for December, are below.

BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY WARMEST ANNUAL TEMPERATURE 1885-2016 (deg F)
1) 51.7 in 2012
2) 51.2 in 2016
3) 51.0 in 2010
4) 50.9 in 1999
5) 50.8 in 1998
6) 50.6 in 2006
7) 50.5 in 1953
8) 50.4 in 2011
9) 50.3 in 1990, 1991

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR DECEMBER 2016

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 39.5 [+0.4] Avg. Min. 25.3 [+1.7] Mean      32.4 [+1.1] 24-hour corrected mean: 32.1
Max. for month: 56F on 27th
Min. for month:  1F on 16th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 1002 [-41] Total for the season: 2032 [-273] Total for last season: 1656

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 2.83 [-2.06] Greatest in 24 hrs: 0.87 in. on 29th-30th

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 7.8 [-5.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: 4.3 in. on 17th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 13.4
Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.7
Prevailing wind direction: W at 19%
Peak gust and direction: 51 SW on 27th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 8604 mins. of possible 16470 mins. or 52%
Astronomical total minutes: 8881 mins. of possible 16991 mins. or 52%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, fog, overcast stratus
Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: estimated S at 2 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, falling then rising
Visibility: 1 1/2 miles
6-hr Max temp: 26F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
24-hr precip: 0.01 in.
24-hr snowfall: 0.2 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E17 OVC 1 1/2S-F 158/24/22/E1802/000/ NEW SNW PST 24 HRS
0.2 INS WND LGT/ 8/6// 53050 MANUAL 70001 ASOS 70001 10026 20023

10 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, few cumulus fractus in all directions, broken stratus,
overcast altostratus
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: NW at 4 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 10 miles, distant fog in all directions
BHO SA 1455 E28 BKN 79 OVC 10S- 171/25/23/3204/003/ FEW CUFRA ALQDS
PCPN VRY LGT DSNT FG ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 1.5 INS WND LGT/ 8/72/
4/002 53013 MANUAL 6004/ ASOS 60004

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrus
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hr Max temp: 29F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
BHO SA 1755 25 SCT E250 BKN 40 162/28/22/3107/001/ 8/102 4/002 58009
MANUAL 6004/ ASOS 60004 10029 20023

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..30   NORMAL…..34
MIN…..23   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….27   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+41 [+8.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..38   DEPARTURE……….-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….152   DEPARTURE………-41
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2184   DEPARTURE……..-313
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1848   DIFFERENCE…….+336

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….37 W   AT 11:22 A.M.
ASOS……………………38 W   AT 11:21 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..38 W   AT  9:30 A.M. RMY 38
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………26 W   AT 10:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………28 W   AT 10:06 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..27 WSW AT 10:06 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….13.1 W
ASOS………………….13.1
DAVIS…………………12.0 W [255 deg.] *Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.01  DEPARTURE……-0.13
ASOS…………..0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.35  DEPARTURE……+0.63
ASOS…………..1.41
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..1.35  DEPARTURE……+0.63
ASOS…………..1.41

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.2  DEPARTURE…….-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.2  DEPARTURE…….-2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………8.0  DEPARTURE……-10.8

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-JANUARY 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

12/1  55/39/47/+10/0.20/0.0/385/69          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 36
12/2  48/34/41/+5/0.00/0.0/535/96           32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
13/3  44/31/38/+2/0.00/0.0/445/80           37 WNW AERO 39 WNW RMY 40
12/4  39/27/33/-2/0.00/0.0/355/64           25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A
12/5  36/27/32/-3/0.13/0.4/000/00           26 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 29
12/6  42/30/36/+1/0.00/0.0/392/71           22 W   AERO 21 W   RMY N/A
12/7  39/34/37/+3/0.10/0.0/000/00           21 E   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A
12/8  40/29/35/+1/0.00/0.0/033/06           30 W   AERO 31 W   RMY 33
12/9  35/21/28/-6/0.00/0.0/549/100          35 W   AERO 36 WNW RMY 34
12/10 27/17/22/-11/0.00/0.0/544/99          26 WNW AERO 27 WNW RMY 29
12/11 33/16/25/-8/0.06/0.4/411/75           17 SSW AERO 15 SW  RMY N/A
12/12 41/27/34/+1/0.35/0.9/038/07           29 ESE AERO 29 SE  RMY 30
12/13 41/30/36/+4/0.00/0.0/427/78           25 WSW AERO 25 W   RMY 27
12/14 40/26/33/+1/0.00/0.0/530/97           30 WNW AERO 31 WNW RMY N/A
12/15 29/13/21/-11/T/T/420/77               50 W   AERO 62 W   RMY 56
12/16 18/01/10/-21/0.00/0.0/485/89          39 WNW AERO 51 WNW RMY N/A
12/17 36/18/27/-4/0.60/4.3/000/00           25 SSW AERO 28 SSW RMY N/A
12/18 55/30/43/+12/0.05/0.0/000/00          47 WSW AERO 53 S   RMY 53
12/19 30/17/24/-6/0.00/0.0/273/50           26 WNW*AERO 28 NW  RMY 26
12/20 32/13/23/-7/0.00/0.0/359/66           28 SSE AERO 29 SSW RMY N/A
12/21 40/25/33/+3/0.00/0.0/354/65           28 SSE AERO 28 SSW RMY 30
12/22 38/29/34/+5/T/T/033/06                28 SSE AERO 29 S   RMY 30
12/23 44/29/37/+8/0.00/0.0/512/94           25 WNW AERO 25 WNW RMY N/A
12/24 41/34/38/+9/0.39/0.0/033/06           30 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY 30
12/25 43/25/34/+6/0.00/0.0/545/100          35 NW  AERO 37 NW  RMY 36
12/26 46/20/33/+5/0.02/0.0/425/78           39 S   AERO 40 S   RMY N/A
12/27 56/35/46/+18/T/0.0/169/31             51 SW  AERO 55 SW  RMY N/A
12/28 40/29/35/+7/0.00/0.0/207/38           31 W   AERO 32 W   RMY 26
12/29 40/28/34/+7/0.87/1.8/000/00           38 NW  AERO 44 NW  RMY 42 TSTM
12/30 37/26/32/+5/T/T/323/59                46 W   AERO 55 WSW RMY 50
12/31 43/23/32/+5/0.06/0.0/099/18           46 SSW AERO 51 SSW RMY 50

1/1   41/29/35/+8/0.09/0.0/…/..           35 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 34
1/2   38/29/34/+7/…./0.0/…/..           21 E   AERO 20 E   RMY N/A
1/3   42/37/40/+14/…./0.0/000/00          39 ENE AERO 41 ENE RMY 34
1/4   44/30/37/+11/…./T/…/..            41 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY 45
1/5   30/23/27/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           37 W   AERO 39 W   RMY 38

1/6 Low temp since midnight is 23F; normal low is now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2016
None.

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2017
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6
HIGH 66F IN 2007
LOW -14F IN 1896
PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 7
HIGH 60F IN 1930
LOW -7F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1977
SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1977
PEAK GUST 74 MPH NW IN 1968

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle