Monday, February 24, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

DOUBLE-DIGIT TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES THE PAST FOUR DAYS
+10,+12,+13,+13 PLACES FEBRUARY SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL…
TOTAL SNOW DEPTH HAS GONE FROM 19 INCHES LAST WEEK TO 7 INCHES…
ANOTHER ARCTIC AIR MASS ARRIVES TODAY TO FINISH OUT THE MONTH

The month of February which has been below normal in
temperature for most of the month, has turned back to slightly
above normal (+0.3 degree) after the past two days averaged
unseasonably mild by +13 degrees. Additionally, minimum
temperatures had not fallen below 32F since February 20.
The total snow depth has steadily melted down to 7 inches
from 19 last week but did not change from yesterday to today.
A new Arctic air mass was blowing in on gusty W-WNW winds
today, and dew points were dropping through the teens.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus/altocumulus castellanus/lenticularis,
scattered dense cirrus/cirrus, few stratocumulus distant E-SE and
along horizon distant W-NW, altocumulus castellanus and few
lenticularis NE-SE, dense cirrus NE-SE
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, increasing
Visibility: 50 miles, except 30 miles E-SE and 60 miles W-NW,
light distant haze
6-hr min temp: 30F
6-hr max temp: 40F
Snow depth: 7 inches
BHO SA 1155 200 SCT 220 SCT 250 SCT 50 086/30/12/2908/978/ FEW SC DSNT E-SE
AND DSNT W-NW ALG HRZN AC/ACC/FEW ACSL E-SE DNS CI NE-SE SKY CLRG
PAST HR AC/CI LYRS NNE-SE-SSE RCDNG VSBY E-S 30 W-NW 60 LGT DSNT HZ
WND 27V33/ 8/582 4/007 51009 10040 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, cumulus, stratocumulus generated by cumulus,
few cirrus E-S
Temperature: 32F Dew Point: 15F; Wind: WNW at 15G23 kts
Wind: Direction variability W-NNW
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze
BHO SA 1455 CLR 45 084/32/15/3015G23/978/ CU/SCCG FRMG FEW CI E-S
DSNT HZ WND 26V33/ 8/401 58002

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered variable to broken stratocumulus generated by
cumulus and cumulus, snow virga all quadrants
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: W at 14G26 kts,
Wind: Peak wind from W at 26 kts at 12:46 p.m.,
Wind: Direction variable WSW to NW
Sea-level pressure: 29.74 Hg, decreasing, then more quickly
Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze
6-hr max. temp: 34F
6-hr min. temp: 29F
BHO SA 1755 E55 BKN 50 071/32/12/2814G26/974/ SCT V BKN SNW VIRGA
ALQDS DSNT HZ WND 25V31 PK WND 2826/46/ 8/5// 58013 10034 20029

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..50    NORMAL…..39
MIN…..36    NORMAL…..21
MEAN….43    NORMAL…..30

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+11 [+0.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..22  DEPARTURE………-13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….851  DEPARTURE………-12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4368  DEPARTURE………-26
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3975  DIFFERENCE…….+393

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………25  SW  AT  12:53 A.M. *
AERO…………………..27  SW  AT  12:48 A.M.
ASOS…………………..28  SW  AT  12:44 A.M.
DAVIS………………….27  SW  AT  12:47 A.M.  RMY 29
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21  SW  AT  12:59 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..21  SW  AT  12:59 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….20  SW  AT  12:31 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………  9.0 SW
ASOS…………………..9.0
DAVIS………………….8.2 SW [230 deg.] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00   DEPARTURE………….-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.39   DEPARTURE………….+2.13
ASOS…………..5.55
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..10.01  DEPARTURE………….+2.40
ASOS…………..10.46

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…………..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………32.0  DEPARTURE………….+20.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..80.8  DEPARTURE………….+36.2

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2014 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

2/1  45/30/38/+12/0.00/0.0/402/67         24 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY 25
2/2  53/33/43/+17/0.00/0.0/181/30         22 S   AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21
2/3  36/22/29/+3/0.32/2.8/000/00          22 NNE AERO 18 MPH NNE RMY 21
2/4  33/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/377/62           20 NW  AERO 16 MPH NW  RMY 17
2/5  31/21/26/0/1.32/10.7/000/00          32 ENE AERO 30 MPH ENE RMY 30
2/6  26/15/21/-5/0.02/0.4/398/65          22 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 22
2/7  29/13/21/-6/0.00/0.0/615/100         25 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 27
2/8  28/12/20/-7/0.00/0.0/612/99          24 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 23
2/9  28/19/24/-3/0.05/1.0/112/18          21 N   AERO 17 MPH N   RMY 19
2/10 27/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/617/99          28 NW  AERO 28 MPH NW  RMY 30
2/11 24/8/16/-11/0.00/0.0/625/100         22 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY 25
2/12 25/2/14/-13/0.00/0.0/509/81          25 NNW AERO 23 MPH NW  RMY 21
2/13 33/19/26/-2/1.67/5.0/000/00          46 NE  AERO 51 MPH NE  RMY 51
2/14 34/27/31/+3/0.39/0.4/348/55          48 W   AERO 51 MPH WNW RMY 49
2/15 34/27/31/+3/0.68/7.2/025/04          35 NW  AERO 35 MPH NW  RMY 48
2/16 30/18/24/-4/0.03/0.4/549/86          45 NW  AERO 46 MPH NW  RMY N/A
2/17 27/9/18/-10/0.00/0.0/635/99          38 NW  AERO 38 MPH NW  RMY 41
2/18 32/12/22/-7/0.32/4.0/000/00          27 ESE AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 28
2/19 35/20/28/-1/0.25/0.1/…/..          21 W   AERO 20 MPH ESE RMY 26
2/20 48/30/39/+10/…./…/…/..         26 WNW AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 26
2/21 49/33/41/+12/…./0.0/…/..         32 S   AERO 35 MPH S   RMY 35
2/22 50/33/42/+13/0.00/0.0/…/..         38 SSW AERO 39 MPH SSW RMY 42
2/23 50/36/43/+13/0.00/0.0/…/..         25 SW  AERO 27 MPH SW  RMY 29

2/24 morning low temp: 30F; the normal low is now 21F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2014
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 24
HIGH 68F IN 1985 [RECORD FOR MONTH] LOW -11F IN 1894
PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1969
SNOWFALL 27.4 INCHES IN 1969 [HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY AMOUNT ON RECORD] PEAK GUST 75 MPH S IN 1965

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 25
HIGH 67F IN 1976
LOW -10F IN 1894
PRECIP 2.40 INCHES IN 1981
SNOWFALL 13.6 INCHES IN 1966
PEAK GUST 75 MPH S IN 1965

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling