Friday, June 9, 2023
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0407E
SUNSET: 1920E
MORE CLOUDS THAN SUN AGAIN TODAY; SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON….
Clouds have dominated the sky today with only a few breaks of sun
here and there since early this morning. However, any sun has been
self destructive thanks to a cool pool of air aloft in association
with an upper level low stuck over the region. Showers and thunder-
storms have thus developed early this afternoon with 0.06″ of rain
having fallen here at the Observatory through 1pm. A rumble of
thunder was heard as well just before noon-time, with another
thunderstorm rolling through at the time of this writing.
Temperatures have remained below average today, with the high so
far close to 10F degrees below the expected value for this date
with highs only getting to the mid 60s once again.
The wind was rather light and variable all morning, with speeds
generally under 5mph. But the wind has turned onshore early this
afternoon and picked up some speed with values of 10-15mph and
gusts getting close to 20mph. The average speed for the day so
far is only around 6mph.
Visibility improved markedly from early this morning to late
this morning, going from only 15 miles below the inversion
(40 miles above the inversion) to around 60 miles late this
morning. Visibility is still very good between the scattered
rain showers, but of course significantly lower where the showers
and storms are located.
The high temperature so far today is 64F, this is 9 degrees
below the normal maximum of 73F. The low since midnight is 49F,
this is 7 degrees below the normal minimum of 56F.
Today is the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Worcester Tornado.
Below is a summary written by our Chief Scientist, Mike Iacono.
70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT WORCESTER TORNADO ON JUNE 9TH 1953
It was a warm, humid, and partly cloudy day at the Observatory
with a high temperature of 80F and a dew point in the middle 60’s.
The prevailing wind direction from the SSW gusted to 35-40 mph
during the afternoon as severe thunderstorms formed inland. By
late afternoon a massive tornado, later classified as having
reached a peak intensity of F4, formed in central Massachusetts
and devastated areas of Worcester County as it traveled nearly 50
miles toward the ENE over 78 minutes.
The storm caused a total of 94 fatalities, injured 1288 people,
and resulted in nearly $600 million in damages (in 2023 dollars).
At the Observatory, a total of 0.65 inches of rain was measured
along with thunder and distant lightning. Many pieces of paper,
roof shingles, and other small debris also rained down on Great
Blue Hill in the hours following the strongest and most
devastating tornado to occur in New England in recorded history.
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Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, few stratocumulus
distant W-N-NE
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 51F; Relative Humidity: 87%
Wind: N @ 3 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1007.9 mb; 29.76 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 55F
6-hr Min temp: 49F
24-hr Precip: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E85 BKN 220 BKN 40 079/55/51/3603/976/ FEW SC DSNT
W-N-NE PTCHY GF ALQDS THN F ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/558 51012 70000
10055 20049
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken cumulus, broken altocumulus, virga distant S-SW
Temperature: 61F; Dew Point: 51F; Relative Humidity: 69%
Wind: ESE @ 4 kts, wind light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 1007.9 mb; 29.76 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 E30 BKN 80 BKN 60 079/61/51/1204/976/ VIRGA DSNT S-SW
WND L/V/ 8/270 50000
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cumulus fractus, broken cumulus, broken altocumulus,
few cumulonimbus all quadrants, virga all quadrants
Temperature: 59F; Dew Point: 55F; Relative Humidity: 88%
Wind: E @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1006.8 mb; 29.73 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 50 miles, 7 miles ENE, 30 miles SW-WNW
6-hr Max temp: 64F
6-hr Min temp: 55F
6-hr Precip: 0.06 inches
BHO SA 1755 E30 BKN 45 BKN 75 BKN 50 068/59/55/1008/973/
FEW CB ALQDS VIRGA ALQDS RW-B21E35 VSBY 7 ENE 30 SW-WNW/
8/360 58011 6006/ 10064 20055
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SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2023
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….64 NORMAL…..73
MIN…….51 NORMAL…..55
MEAN……58 NORMAL…..64
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………..-33 [-4.3 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….7 DEPARTURE……..+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………64 DEPARTURE…….+31
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………5260 DEPARTURE……-917
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….5589 DEPARTURE……-329
COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2023 THRU DEC 2023)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0 DEPARTURE……..-2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………14 DEPARTURE……..-3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………..45 DEPARTURE……..+1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE………73 DEPARTURE…….-28
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)……….E13 WNW @ 01:05 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….13 WNW @ 01:05 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….14 WNW @ 01:03 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….13 WNW @ 01:05 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………13 WNW @ 01:03 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..14 SW @ 05:45 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..14 WNW @ 01:03 A.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……14 @ 01:05 A.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………10 WNW @ 01:08 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE………….. 9 @ 01:06 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..11 @ 01:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………10 W @ 12:42 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………11 WNW @ 01:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE…………….. 9 NW @ 12:42 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..11 WNW @ 01:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………10 @ 01:06 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……….4.9 WNW [117 total miles]
VECTOR #1………………..5.3
VECTOR #2………………..5.6
DAVIS #1…………………4.9 W
DAVIS #2…………………5.1 WNW
RMY #1…………………..5.2 WNW
RMY #2…………………..5.5 WNW
RICHARDS (C5C)……………5.8
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.16
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.94 DEPARTURE…..-0.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..21.69 DEPARTURE…..-2.20
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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JUNE CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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
6/1 88/56/72/+10/0.00/859/95 21 WSW VEC1 21 WSW RMY 21
6/2 91/53/72/+10/0.53/634/70 37 ENE VEC1 39 ENE RMY 37 TSTM
6/3 53/43/48/-14/0.16/000/00 36 NE VEC1 38 NE RMY 36
6/4 52/43/48/-15/0.17/009/01 30 N VEC1 32 N RMY 29
6/5 58/47/53/-10/0.08/027/03 22 N VEC1 24 N RMY 23
6/6 72/50/61/-2/T/…/.. 31 NNW VEC1 31 NNW RMY 26 TSTM
6/7 65/50/58/-6/0.00/…/.. 28 NW VEC1 29 NW RMY 29
6/8 64/51/58/-6/T/…/.. 13 WNW VEC1 13 WNW RMY 14
6/9 The low since midnight is 49F, the daily normal low is 56F
DAILY RECORDS
06/02/2023: TIED RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 91F,
ALSO SET IN 1895
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR JUNE 9
HIGH 94F IN 2008
LOW 40F IN 1980
PRECIP 2.08 INCHES IN 1931
PEAK GUST 67 MPH NW IN 1973
RECORDS FOR JUNE 10
HIGH 98F IN 2008
LOW 42F IN 1913, 1920
PRECIP 2.51 INCHES IN 1931
PEAK GUST 60e MPH NW IN 1941
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
