Monday, December 25, 2023
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0712E
SUNSET: 1617E
EARLY MORNING CLOUDS SLOWLY DISSIPATE, QUITE MILD WITH LIGHT WIND….
Skies started the day on the cloudy side with patchy ground fog
all around the hill. However the clouds and fog slowly dissipated
as the morning wore on. Skies are clear for the most part early
this afternoon with only a few lingering low and mid level clouds
that continued to be stuck under a stubborn inversion.
Temperatures have warmed into the low to mid 50s early this
afternoon, which is a good 15 degrees or so above normal for the
date. The dew point has been sitting in the lower 40s, which is
rather high for this time of year as well.
The wind has been quite light, even going calm at times once again
today. The average speed so far for the day is only around 6mph.
The direction has been rather variable. The peak gust to this point
has only been around 15mph, which occurred just after 1am this
morning.
Visibility has been gradually improving, however it continues to
be limited to the west-northwest through northwest, where the fog
has had the hardest time burning off. The prevailing view has
improved from around 25 miles early this morning to 50 miles early
this afternoon, however to the aforementioned quadrants, it’s still
only around 30 miles early this afternoon.
The maximum temperature so far today is 53F degrees, this is 15
degrees above the normal high of 38F. The minimum temperature since
midnight is 42F degrees, this is 20 degrees above the normal low
of 22F.
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Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus/altostratus,
few breaks in overcast distant ENE-SSE
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 99%
Wind: SE @ 6 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1032.0 mb; 30.48 in. Hg: rising unsteadily
Visibility: 25 miles, patchy ground fog
6-hr Max temp: 43F
6-hr Min temp: 42F
24-hr Precip: 0.02 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 40 SCT 60 OVC 25 320/42/42/1306/048/ FEW BINOVC DSNT ENE-SSE
PTCHY GF ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/57/ 52012 6001/ 70002 10043 20042
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, stratus layer distant SW-NW-NNE, few stratus fractus
distant ESE-SSE, few altocumulus all quadrants
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 84%
Wind: SE @ 4 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1032.5 mb; 30.49 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 40 miles, 25 miles WSW-NW-N, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 CLR 40 325/47/42/1304/049/ ST LYR DSNT SW-NW-NNE FEW STFRA
DSNT ESE-SSE FEW AC ALQDS VSBY 25 WSW-NW-N HAZY WND LGT/ 8/750 50005
1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus all quadrants, few altocumulus
all quadrants
Temperature: 51F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 71%
Wind: NNE @ 5 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1030.7 mb; 30.44 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 50 miles, 30 miles WNW-NW, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 53F
6-hr Min temp: 42F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 307/51/42/0305/044/ FEW SC ALQDS FEW AC ALQDS VSBY 30
WNW-NW HAZY WND LGT/ 8/550 58018 10053 20042
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SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2023
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….46 NORMAL…..38
MIN…….35 NORMAL…..23
MEAN……41 NORMAL…..30
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……….+11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+114 [+4.6 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………24 DEPARTURE…….-11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..642 DEPARTURE……-115
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1729 DEPARTURE……-232
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1699 DEPARTURE…….+30
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 SE @ 11:33 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….16 SE @ 11:33 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….16 SSE @ 12:36 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….M
DAVIS #2 ………………16 S @ 04:15 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..16 SSE @ 12:38 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..16 SSE @ 12:36 A.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……15 @ 12:38 A.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………11 SSE @ 12:34 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..13 @ 12:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..12 @ 12:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………M
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………12 S @ 06:16 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..12 SSE @ 12:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..13 S @ 03:12 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………13 @ 12:52 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….6.0 SSE [145 total miles]
VECTOR #1……………..6.7
VECTOR #2……………..7.1
DAVIS #1………………M
DAVIS #2………………6.2 SE
RMY #1………………..6.5 SE
RMY #2………………..7.2 SE
RICHARDS (C5C)…………7.2
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.02 DEPARTURE…..-0.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..6.46 DEPARTURE…..+2.20
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..57.83 DEPARTURE…..+5.10
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.3 DEPARTURE……-8.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)…….0.3 DEPARTURE…..-11.2
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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 51/38/45/+8/0.04/0.0/213/38 29 SW VEC1 28 SW RMY 29
12/2 48/43/46/+9/T/0.0/000/00 18 SSW VEC1 19 SSW RMY 19
12/3 44/41/43/+7/0.76/0.0/000/00 31 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 33
12/4 49/37/43/+7/0.07/0.0/155/28 23 W VEC1 22 W RMY 23
12/5 38/28/33/-3/0.00/0.0/144/26 23 NNW VEC1 24 NW RMY 24
12/6 34/22/28/-7/0.01/0.3/100/18 21 N VEC1 21 N RMY 20
12/7 28/17/56/-12/0.00/0.0/121/22 18 NNW VEC1 18 NW RMY 19
12/8 42/24/33/-2/0.00/0.0/530/96 20 S VEC1 18 S RMY 18
12/9 52/33/43/+9/0.00/0.0/264/48 24 S VEC1 24 S RMY 24
12/10 60/43/52/+18/0.66/0.0/033/06 55 SSW VEC1 54 SSW RMY 53
12/11 61/33/47/+13/1.96/0.0/038/07 69 SSW VEC1 69 SSW RMY 71
12/12 42/29/36/+2/0.00/0.0/543/99 33 WNW VEC1 32 WNW RMY 34
12/13 43/28/36/+3/0.00/0.0/470/86 36 WNW VEC1 34 WNW RMY 36
12/14 34/22/28/-5/0.00/0.0/520/95 31 SW VEC1 31 SW RMY 32
12/15 53/30/42/+9/0.00/0.0/541/99 31 WNW VEC1 30 WNW RMY 28
12/16 50/36/43/+11/0.00/0.0/530/97 21 ESE VEC1 22 ESE RMY 22
12/17 55/37/46/+14/0.47/0.0/098/18 40 SSE VEC1 41 SSE RMY 41
12/18 61/42/52/+20/2.47/0.0/000/00 90 SSE VEC1 95 SSE RMY 101
12/19 46/30/38/+6/0.00/0.0/332/61 28 NW VEC1 28 NW RMY 26
12/20 41/26/34/+3/0.00/0.0/540/99 26 NNW VEC1 27 NNW RMY 28
12/21 34/20/27/-4/0.00/0.0/534/98 29 NNW VEC1 30 NNW RMY 28
12/22 34/16/25/-6/0.00/0.0/…/.. 18 NNW VEC1 18 NNW RMY 19
12/23 42/26/34/+3/0.00/0.0/…/.. 18 SSW VEC1 18 SSW RMY 16
12/24 46/35/41/+11/0.01/0.0/…/.. 16 SE VEC1 16 SE RMY 16
12/25 The low since midnight is 42F, the daily normal low is 22F
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DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE
12/18: RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 61F;
BEATS OLD RECORD OF 59F SET IN 1928
12/18: RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 2.47 INS;
BEATS OLD RECORD OF 1.44 INS SET IN 1915
12/18: RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 90 MPH;
BEATS OLD RECORD OF 76e MPH SET IN 1978
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DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 25
HIGH 64 IN 2015
LOW -11 IN 1980
PRECIP 2.15 INS. IN 2020
SNOWFALL 8.5 INS. IN 2002
PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1971
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 26
HIGH 58 IN 1973,1982
LOW -12 IN 1980
PRECIP 3.64 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 17.5 INS. IN 1909
PEAK GUST 84 MPH SSE IN 1957
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
