Monday, January 5, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

STORMS CLEARS THE REGION, BRINGING GUSTY WESTERLY
WINDS AND LIQUID PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 1.15 INS
AND 2.5 OF SNOW

Last evening temperatures rose from a mid morning low
of 33F to 51F just after 8:00 PM EST. After midnight,
temperatures plummeted 11 degrees from 46F to 35F
by the 7:00 AM EST observation. Skies had cleared
revealing a bright full moon and stars.

By today’s 1:00 PM EST observation, a peak gust of
46 MPH from the W had been reached for the day at
11:47 AM EST with other instruments recording
gusts of 50 MPH or higher. Today’s midnight
to midnight maximum temperature will likely be
46F, which was reached at midnight this morning.

The corrected mean wind speed for December 2014 of
12.2 mph was the lowest on record for the month, and
the annual mean wind speed for 2014 of 12.3 mph was
the third lowest on record.

SOME OF THE DECEMBER 2014 PRELIMINARY STATS

TEMPERATURE:  Deg. F
Av. Max. 42.0
Av. Min. 29.3
MEAN     35.7 [+4.3] 24-hour corrected mean: 35.5
Max. temp: 63 deg. Dec.  1
Min. temp: 14 deg. Dec. 31
Total heating degree day units:   901 [-135] Total heating degree day units
for the season beginning July 1: 2060 [-245]

PRECIPITATION: Ins.
Total: 7.21 [+2.32] Greatest in 24 hours;
Snowfall:  2.3 [-11.1] Seasonal: 11.0 [-5.0]

WIND:
Av. uncorrected wind speed: 11.8 MPH
Av.   corrected wind speed: 12.2 MPH
Prevailing wind direction: W @ 14%

SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes:   5880/16999 or 35%
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 5688/16470 or 35%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus in all directions,
few altocumulus distant E-S
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: W at 17G26 kts
Peak Wind: 31 kts W @ 06:18 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr max temp: 41F
6-hr min temp: 34F
24-hr precip.: 0.17 ins
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 096/35/23/2817G26/981/ FEW SC ALQDS FEW AC
DSNT E-S PK WND 2831/18/ 8/530 53028 ASOS 70020 MANUAL 70017
10041 20034

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered cirrus,
virga in the vicinity of the station NW, showers distant
W-NNE
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: W at 21G29 kts,
Peak Wind: 34 kts WNW @ 09:34 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 250 SCT 70 137/34/28/2821G29/993/
VIRGA VCNY STN NW SHWRS DSNT W-NNE PK WND 2934/34/ 8/501 51041

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, showers distant WSW-N
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: W at 22G33 kts,
Peak Wind: 28 kts W @ 12:25 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, about the same
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr max temp: 35F
6-hr min temp: 31F
6-hr precip.: 0.00 ins
BHO SA 1755 55 SCT 70 136/31/7/2822G33/993/ SHWRS DSNT WSW-N
PK WND 2738/25/ 8/500 55001 10035 20031

SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..51   NORMAL…..34
MIN…..33   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….42   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….+16
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….+21 [+5.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..23  DEPARTURE……….-16
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….133  DEPARTURE……….-21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2193  DEPARTURE………-265
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2488  DIFFERENCE……..-295

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………30 SSW  AT   8:09 P.M.
ASOS…………………..32 SSW  AT   8:09 P.M.
DAVIS………………….31 SSW  AT   8:09 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..25 SSW  AT   7:51 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..24 SW   AT   7:51 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….23 SSW  AT   7:51 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….13.2 SW
ASOS………………….13.9
DAVIS…………………12.1 SW [224 degrees]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.17  DEPARTURE…..+0.03
ASOS…………..0.20
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.15  DEPARTURE…..+0.57
ASOS…………..1.17
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..1.15  DEPARTURE…..+0.57
ASOS…………..1.17

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….2.5  DEPARTURE……+0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..13.5  DEPARTURE……-6.7

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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

12/1  63/37/50/+13/0.01/0.0/391/70             28 WNW RMY 31
12/2  37/30/34/-2/0.10/T/000/00                26 E   RMY 29
12/3  49/34/42/+6/0.31/0.0/000/00              40 W   RMY 43
12/4  41/27/34/-1/0.00/0.0/505/91              29 WNW RMY N/A
12/5  42/23/33/-2/0.12/0.0/382/69              21 E   RMY 22
12/6  43/36/40/+5/0.99/0.0/000/00              25 NNW RMY N/A
12/7  36/18/27/-7/0.15/0.0/193/35              31 N   RMY 34
12/8  25/16/21/-13/0.01/0.1/000/00             24 N   RMY N/A
12/9  48/25/37/+3/3.23/0.0/000/00              48 ENE RMY 52
12/10 47/35/41/+8/0.42/0.0/000/00              35 NNE RMY 37
12/11 35/29/32/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00              27 SW  RMY 27
12/12 36/26/31/-2/0.00/0.0/230/42              23 WNW RMY 25
12/13 40/27/34/+2/0.00/0.0/191/35              28 NW  RMY 28
12/14 43/28/36/+4/0.00/0.0/377/69              20 NW  RMY 20
12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/535/98              17 NW  RMY 17
12/16 42/33/38/+7/T/T/011/02                   17 E   RMY N/A
12/17 45/37/41/+10/0.43/0.0/000/00             27 W   RMY N/A
12/18 41/32/37/+6/0.02/T/213/39                35 WNW RMY 38
12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/000/00               26 NW  RMY 29
12/20 32/24/28/-2/0.11/1.0/164/30              21 NNE RMY 23
12/21 31/29/30/+0/0.08/0.7/000/00              20 NNE RMY 22
12/22 42/29/36/+7/0.01/0.0/038/07              23 E   RMY N/A
12/23 44/39/42/+13/0.31/0.0/000/00             28 ENE RMY 30
12/24 61/40/51/+22/0.63/0.0/000/00             32 SSW RMY 41
12/25 61/41/51/+23/0.21/0.0/213/39             37 W   RMY 43
12/26 47/35/41/+13/0.00/0.0/540/99             24 WSW RMY 28
12/27 50/35/43/+15/0.00/0.0/519/95             21 SSW RMY N/A
12/28 49/35/42/+14/0.02/0.0/038/07             31 W   RMY 36
12/29 41/26/34/+7/0.00/0.0/470/86              23 WNW RMY 23
12/30 27/16/22/-5/0.00/0.0/470/86              22 NW  RMY N/A
12/31 28/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/400/73              23 W   RMY N/A

1/1   31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..              29 SSW RMY 30
1/2   37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..              35 WSW RMY 38
1/3   34/21/28/+2/…./…/…/..              25 SE  RMY 26
1/4   51/33/42/+16/…./…/000/00             30 SSW RMY N/A

1/5 morning low temp: 34F since midnight; normal low is now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2014:

-DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR DECEMBER 9 2014
Old record of 1.51 inches set in 1952,
replaced with new record of 3.23 inches.

-DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR DECEMBER 24 2014
Old record of 58F set in 1996,
replaced with new record of 61F.

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5
HIGH 61F IN 2007
LOW -9F IN 1981
PRECIP 0.98 INS. IN 1993
SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6
HIGH 66F IN 2007
LOW -14F IN 1896
PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald