Monday, December 23, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

GLOOMY DAY TODAY WITH STEADY RAIN AND TEMPERATURES HOVERING ABOVE FREEZING

Light rain began falling at the summit shortly after 7:00 this morning, and
it intensified into a steady, light to moderate rain for the rest of the day.
A total of 0.28 inches of rainfall has been measured since 7:00 AM.  The
temperature has been very steady all day, staying between 33 and 35 degrees
since midnight.  A low temperature for the morning of 32.4F was recorded
between 7:00 and 8:00.  The precipitation type has stayed as all rain, with
no freezing rain observed, as the temperature never quite made it down to
the freezing mark.  The morning began with a very dense fog, with the
visibility down to zero at times.  It has not changed much during the day,
contributing to the overall gloomy feel of today’s weather.  Today will
likely be the 9th day of this month to have no sunshine observed.

The barely above freezing temperatures of today are in sharp contrast to
the record warmth of yesterday.  A new daily record high temperature of
63F was set before 11:00 yesterday morning, breaking the old record of 62F
set in 1994.  The temperature fell 23 degrees between 11AM and 1PM as a
front moved south through the region.  This is the first time a record high
temperature has been broken since June 21, 2012.  There have been a few
ties and also several high minimum temperature records broken, but this is
the first time a high maximum temperature record has been broken since then.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured by dense fog, stratus fractus drifting above and
below the summit
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: NNE at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, dense fog
6-hr. min temp: 33F
24-hr precip: 0.01 inches
BHO SA 1155 W2 X 1/16F 182/33/33/0305/007/ STFRA DRFTNG OVR AND BLO SMT
WND LGT/ 8//// 51017 MANUAL 70001 10035 20033

10 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured by moderate rain and dense fog
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: NNE at 3 kts,
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 1/8 mile, moderate rain and dense fog
3-hr precip: 0.10 inches
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/8RF 188/33/33/0303/009/ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8//// 50006
MANUAL 60010 ASOS 60009

1 P.M.
Weather: Sky obscured by light rain and dense fog
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: N at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, light rain and dense fog
6-hr max temp: 34F
6-hr precip: 0.28 inches
BHO SA 1755 W2 X 1/16R-F 158/33/33/3507/000/ 8//// 56030
MANUAL 60028 ASOS 60026 10034 20032

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..63    NORMAL…..37
MIN…..35    NORMAL…..22
MEAN….49    NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………+20
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………-19 [-1.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..16  DEPARTURE……..-20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….726  DEPARTURE……..+17
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1950  DEPARTURE……..-21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1709  DIFFERENCE……+241

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………37 SW  AT  10:39 A.M.
AERO…………………..41 SW  AT  10:39 A.M.
ASOS…………………..40 SW  AT  10:41 A.M.
DAVIS………………….40 SW  AT  10:40 A.M. RMY 41
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..31 SW  AT  10:41 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..30 SW  AT  10:42 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….29 SSW AT  10:02 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………15.6 SSW
ASOS…………………15.2
DAVIS………………..14.4 S [177 degrees]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.01  DEPARTURE………….-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.26  DEPARTURE………….-0.29
ASOS…………..3.27
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….49.86  DEPARTURE………….-2.22
ASOS…………..N/A**
** ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….0.0     DEPARTURE………….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………15.0     DEPARTURE………….+6.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………..15.2     DEPARTURE………….+3.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
RMY:  RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized

12/1  45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00           22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23
12/2  38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00             15 NW  AERO 15 MPH NW  RMY 16
12/3  45/32/39/+3/0.00/0.0/284/51         18 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY 20
12/4  43/29/36/+1/0.00/0.0/389/70         21 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21
12/5  53/38/46/+11/0.02/0.0/000/00        36 S   AERO 40 MPH S   RMY 39
12/6  55/33/44/+9/0.38/T/000/00           25 SSW AERO 28 MPH SSW RMY N/A
12/7  40/26/33/-1/0.12/T/287/52           23 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/8  30/22/26/-8/T/T/039/07              25 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/9  41/25/33/-1/0.35/0.6/000/00         28 E   AERO 28 MPH E   RMY 24
12/10 33/21/27/-6/0.14/2.1/000/00         28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 28
12/11 28/19/24/-9/0.00/0.0/345/63         27 SW  AERO 28 MPH SW  RMY 27
12/12 23/14/19/-14/0.00/0.0/542/99        28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 30
12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/405/74        31 W   AERO 32 MPH W   RMY 33
12/14 28/9/19/-13/0.45/4.8/000/00         30 E   AERO 26 MPH E   RMY N/A
12/15 36/21/29/-3/0.98/2.0/000/00         48 NE  AERO 50 MPH NE  RMY 51
12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/529/97        36 W   AERO 37 MPH W   RMY N/A
12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/104/19         28 N   AERO 30 MPH N   RMY 28
12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/436/80         29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 29
12/19 42/22/32/+2/0.00/0.0/425/78         38 SW  AERO 44 MPH SW  RMY 42
12/20 52/34/43/+13/0.00/0.0/…/..        26 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 29
12/21 58/42/50/+20/0.00/0.0/…/..        28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30
12/22 63/35/49/+20/…./0.0/…/..        37 SW  AERO 41 MPH SW  RMY 41

12/23 morning low temp: 33F; the normal low is now 21F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013
12/22- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F;
surpasses previous record of 62F set in 1994

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 23
HIGH 62 IN 1990
LOW -1 IN 1989
PRECIP 1.70 INS. IN 1947
SNOWFALL 11.9 INS. IN 1947
PEAK GUST 67 SSE IN 2004

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 24
HIGH 58 IN 1996
LOW -6 IN 1943
PRECIP 2.21 INS. IN 1994
SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1961
PEAK GUST 79e MPH SE IN 1941

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien