Monday, November 18, 2024

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

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0639E
SUNSET:  1619E

COLD FRONT PASSED THROUGH EARLY THIS MORNING WITH A BAND OF CLOUDS
AND SOME VERY LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS….

We finally got some rain to fall from the sky this morning, but it
only amounted to a scant trace as it only lasted several minutes and
was very light. A cold front passed through the area early this
morning, but the cooler air mass is well behind it as it’s yet another
mild day. Once the front pushed offshore, skies cleared and we’ve
had plenty of sunshine since.

The ample sunshine along with the last vestige of the mild air mass
has allowed temperatures to rise into the upper 50s to low 60s once
again today. This is of course still well above normal for the date.
The dew point has actually risen following the frontal passage with
values jumping from the mid 20s to the low 40s, but it’s expected to
drop later once the new air mass starts to filter into the region.

Winds have been fairly steady out of the northwest averaging at around
10mph for the day so far. Gusts were reaching over 20mph during the
morning hours, but has cut back to the upper teens as we pushed into
the afternoon hours. The peak gust for the day so far is 23mph, which
occurred at 8:21am this morning.

Visibility started the day around 70 miles, then dropped to around
50 miles after the front and showers came through. This is likely
due to the increased dew point.

With only a trace of rain early this morning, the dry streak continues
with severe drought impacting the area. The rainfall deficit for the
month has now reached 2.32 inches, and 2.71 inches for the year to
date.

A fairly significant brush fire has been started within the reservation
about 3/4 to 1 mile east of the Observatory and about a third of mile
north of Houghton’s pond. This fire is creating a rather dense smoke
plume. Another plume can been seen about 50-60 miles to the north from
another large brush fire in that area.

The maximum temperature for today is 61 degrees, which is 12 degrees
above the normal high of 49F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 43F degrees, which is 10 degrees above the normal low of 33F
degrees.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altostratus, broken cirrostratus, few stratocumulus
distant WNW-NNW, virga all quadrants
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 26F; Relative Humidity: 47%
Wind: NW @ 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1009.6 mb; 29.81 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 43F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 E150 BKN 220 BKN 70 096/44/26/3109/981/ FEW SC DSNT WNW-NNW
VIRGA ALQDS THN K LYR DSNT N-ENE/ 8/026 50001 10048 20043

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus/castellanus distant WNW-N-E-SSW,
few cirrostratus distant N-SE
Temperature: 52F; Dew Point: 35F; Relative Humidity: 52%
Wind: NW @ 7G14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1008.8 mb; 29.79 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 50 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: Trace
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 CLR 50 088/52/35/3207G14/979/ FEW AC/ACC DSNT WNW-N-E-SSW
FEW CS DSNT N-SE K LYR DSNT N-ENE HAZY/ 8/088 58008 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus all quadrants, smoke plumes
distant N and E
Temperature: 60F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 51%
Wind: NW @ 10G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1007.4 mb; 29.75 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 60F
6-hr Min temp: 44F
6-hr Precip: Trace
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 CLR 60 074/60/42/3210G18/975/ FEW SC ALQDS K PLUMES
DSNT N AND E/ 8/500 58014 6000/ 10060 20044

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SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….62  NORMAL…..50
MIN…….40  NORMAL…..33
MEAN……51  NORMAL…..41

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………….+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….+84 [+4.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………14  DEPARTURE…….-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..276  DEPARTURE…….-79
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….649  DEPARTURE……-218
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..716  DEPARTURE…….-67

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2024 THRU DEC 2024)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….5  DEPARTURE……..+5
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….768  DEPARTURE…….+91
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..715  DEPARTURE…….+53

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all on Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)………..26 NW   @   02:45 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….26 NW   @   02:45 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….28 NW   @   02:16 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….25 NW   @   01:10 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………24 NNW  @   02:16 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..26 NW   @   02:12 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..28 NW   @   04:54 A.M.
MERLIN…………………25 NW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………18 NW   @   02:11 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..19      @   02:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..19      @   02:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………19 NW   @   02:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………18 NW   @   02:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..18 NW   @   02:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..18 NW   @   02:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..12.1 NW  [290 total miles] VECTOR #1………………11.9
VECTOR #2………………12.4
DAVIS #1……………….12.2 NW
DAVIS #2……………….11.9 NNW
RMY #1…………………11.8 NW
RMY #2…………………12.2 NW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.13
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.08 DEPARTURE…..-2.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….43.88 DEPARTURE…..-2.71

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE…….0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2024-2025)…….0.0 DEPARTURE……-1.3

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 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

11/1   77/49/63/+16/0.00/0.0/347/56       36 WNW VEC1 36 WNW RMY 37
11/2   55/37/46/-1/0.00/0.0/228/37        21 N   VEC1 23 N   RMY 21
11/3   48/30/39/-7/0.00/0.0/595/97        20 NNW VEC1 21 NNW RMY 21
11/4   49/33/41/-5/0.00/0.0/061/10        20 SSE VEC1 21 SSE RMY 21
11/5   73/46/60/+15/0.00/0.0/505/83       35 SW  VEC1 35 SW  RMY 37
11/6   80/59/70/+25/0.00/0.0/558/92       39 WSW VEC1 39 WSW RMY 42
11/7   69/47/58/+13/0.00/0.0/519/86       37 WNW VEC1 35 WNW RMY 42
11/8   63/41/52/+7/0.00/0.0/572/95        42 WNW VEC1 42 WNW RMY 47
11/9   50/36/43/-1/0.00/0.0/599/100       40 NW  VEC1 42 NW  RMY 43
11/10  60/32/46/+2/T/0.0/388/65           29 WSW VEC1 29 SW  RMY 31
11/11  66/50/58/+15/0.08/0.0/457/77       40 SW  VEC1 42 SW  RMY 43
11/12  54/33/44/+1/0.00/0.0/545/92        48 NNW VEC1 50 NNW RMY 56
11/13  43/28/36/-7/0.00/0.0/584/99        32 N   VEC1 33 N   RMY 31
11/14  42/27/35/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..        22 NE  VEC1 22 NE  RMY 22
11/15  58/27/43/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..        28 NW  VEC1 28 NW  RMY 30
11/16  60/38/49/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..        33 NNW VEC1 35 NNW RMY 35
11/17  62/40/51/+10/0.00/0.0/…/..       26 NW  VEC1 26 NW  RMY 26

11/18 The low since midnight is 43F, the daily normal low is 33F.

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NOVEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

11/1 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 77F, OLD RECORD WAS 75F IN 2003.

11/6 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 80F, OLD RECORD WAS 74F IN 2022.

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

RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 18
HIGH 72 IN 1963
LOW 10 IN 1936
PRECIP 1.80 INS IN 1929
SNOWFALL 6.3 INS IN 1980
PEAK GUST 60 SW IN 1987

RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 19
HIGH 72 IN 1941
LOW 10 IN 1936
PRECIP 1.92 INCHES IN 1926
SNOWFALL 11.0 INS IN 1986
PEAK GUST 59e E IN 1945

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas