Monday, February 15, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016  (PRESIDENTS’ DAY)
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

COLDEST VALENTINE’S DAY ON RECORD IN 131 YEARS,
NEW DAILY RECORD MINIMUM SET, DAILY LOW MAXIMUM TIED

A seriously cold mass of Arctic air brought about the coldest
Valentine’s Day on record yesterday, with a maximum temperature
of 10F, and a minimum of -14F. The daily temperature departure
was 30 degrees colder than normal.  This was the coldest
temperature observed on Blue Hill since -16F on 15 January 1957
and the coldest in February since -16F on 16 February 1943.

The minimum of -14F set a new daily record minimum temperature,
surpassing the old record of -8F set back in 1979. Yesterday’s
maximum temperature of 10F tied the daily record low maximum
temperature first set in 1979 as well. After a much warmer
than normal start to the month, temperatures for February
have nearly evened out for a normal temperature month.

This morning temperatures dipped to a low of -2F for a time,
and gradually raised through the morning. By the 1:00 PM EST
observation altostratus had completely overcast the sky with
hazy conditions. Visibility had fallen to 35 miles and temperatures
had risen to a maximum of 20F so far.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered thin cirrus, few stratocumulus distant
offshore E-ESE
Temperature: 2F; Dew Point: -20F; Wind: estimated WSW at 6 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.57 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 50 miles ESE-SW, thin fog
ESE-SW
6-hr Max temp: 2F
6-hr Min temp: -2F
24-hr precip: 0.00
24-hr snowfall: 0.0
Snow depth: 8 ins.
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT- 70 353/2/-20/E2506/057/ VSBY ESE-SW 50 MI
FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR E-ESE THN FG ESE-SW WND LGT/ 8/501 4/008
53013 10002 21002

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrostratus invading, few altocumulus
distant SSE-WNW
Temperature: 11F; Dew Point: -7F; Wind: estimated S at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.59 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 E250 BKN 50 360/11/-7/E1806/059/ FEW AC DSNT SSE-WNW
LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/036 51007

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altostratus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 3F; Wind: estimated SE at 6 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.53 ins. Hg, steady, then falling
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 20F
6-hr Min temp: 0F
BHO SA 1755 E100 BKN 140 OVC 35 339/20/3/E1306/053/ HAZY WND LGT
AND VRB/ 8/017 58021 10020 20000

SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..10   NORMAL…..37
MIN….-14   NORMAL…..19
MEAN….-2   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-30
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+10 [+0.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..67   DEPARTURE………+30
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….526   DEPARTURE………-11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3268   DEPARTURE……..-800
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4015   DIFFERENCE…….-747

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….33 WNW AT  12:48 A.M.
ASOS……………………40 WNW AT  12:48 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..37 NW  AT  12:48 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………29 WNW AT  12:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………28 WNW AT  12:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..26 NW  AT  12:49 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..15.3 WNW
ASOS…………………..15.1
DAVIS………………….13.7 NNW [326 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.11  DEPARTURE……+1.19
ASOS…………..3.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.88  DEPARTURE……+0.61
ASOS…………..7.09

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………21.3  DEPARTURE……+14.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..36.9  DEPARTURE…….-3.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34
2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/…/..          23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A
2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53
2/4   55/39/47/+21/…./0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
2/5   39/19/29/+3/…./12.5/000/00          37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35
2/6   35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/…/..            25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23
2/7   43/26/35/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..           35 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY N/A
2/8   36/16/26/-1/…./…/000/00           53 NE  AERO 55 NE  RMY 53
2/9   26/17/22/-5/…./…/000/00           21 N   AERO 22 N   RMY N/A
2/10  33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.0/…/..           23 W   AERO 23 W   RMY 21
2/11  26/7/17/-10/T/T/…/..                39 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 42
2/12  23/4/13/-14/0.00/0.0/…/..           31 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 21
2/13  21/-7/7/-21/0.00/0.0/…/..           41 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 43
2/14  10/-14/-2/-30/0.00/0.0/…/..         33 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY N/A

2/15   morning low temp. since midnight -2F; normal now 19F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

-NONE SO FAR-

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 15
HIGH 60F IN 1954
LOW -18F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.28 INCHES IN 1950
SNOWFALL 11.2 INCHES IN 1940
PEAK GUST 94e MPH WNW IN 1946

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 16
HIGH 62F IN 1954
LOW -16F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.91 INCHES IN 1958
SNOWFALL 18.6 INCHES IN 1958
PEAK GUST 78 MPH W IN 1967

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald