Saturday, August 22, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SHOWERS YESTERDAY TOTAL 0.31 INCHES OF RAIN
CLOUDY AND COOLER BUT STILL HUMID TODAY

Intermittent showers and downpours brought a total of 0.31 inches of rain
to the summit yesterday, leaving us just slightly below average now for the
month.  Warm, humid weather continued as well, and yesterday was our 10th
straight day of above normal temperatures, with August running about three
degrees above average so far.

Drier weather has returned today, but the humidity of recent days remains,
with dew points in the mid-upper 60s leading to humidity values of 80-90%.
Cloud cover and a northeast wind have held the air temperature to a high of
only 73F so far, after another warm morning low of 67F.  Some very light
drizzle began to fall at just about the time of the 2PM EDT observation.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus
(higher level), overcast cirrus, few stratus fractus below summit ENE-S,
break in overcast N
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 67F; Wind: estimated NNW at 2 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 40 miles, except 20 miles E-ESE, distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 69F
6-hr Min temp: 67F
24-hr precip: 0.27 ins.
BHO SA 1155 20 SCT 70 SCT E100 BKN 250 OVC 40 193/69/67/E3402/010/
FEW STFRA BLO SMT ENE-S BINOVC N VSBY E-ESE 20 DSNT HZ WND LGT/
8/551 52011 ASOS 70026 MANUAL 70027 10069 20067

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus
Temperature: 71F; Dew Point 67F; Wind: NE at 6 kts,
Wind: Direction variable N-E
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze
BHO SA 1455 E10 OVC 30 199/71/67/0406/012/ DSNT HZ WND 36V06/ 8/5// 51006

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus
Temperature: 71F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: ENE at 8 kts,
Wind: Direction variable NNE-E
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 45 miles, except 25 miles N-NE and E-ESE, and 15 miles ENE,
distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 73F
6-hr Min temp: 69F
BHO SA 1755 45 198/71/66/0608/011/ VSBY N-NE AND E-ESE 25 ENE 15
DSNT HZ WND 03V10/ 8/5// 58001 10073 20069

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..82   NORMAL…..79
MIN…..69   NORMAL…..61
MEAN….76   NORMAL…..70

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+66  [+2.9 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..11   DEPARTURE……….+5
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….198   DEPARTURE………+60
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………592   DEPARTURE……..+103
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….429   DIFFERENCE…….+163

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….21  S    AT   3:25 P.M. *
ASOS……………………23  SSW  AT   2:28 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..22  SW   AT   2:28 P.M. RMY 23
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………15  SSW  AT   2:28 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………16  S    AT   4:51 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..15  S    AT   3:28 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..7.9  S
ASOS…………………..8.3
DAVIS………………….7.5 S [181 deg.] * Last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…..0.27  DEPARTURE…..+0.14
ASOS……………0.26
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………..2.71  DEPARTURE…..-0.17
ASOS…………..2.71
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..30.07  DEPARTURE…..-3.80
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings

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

8/1  88/68/78/+6/0.06/729/84               28 WNW RMY N/A
8/2  86/62/74/+2/0.00/865/100              24 SW  RMY N/A
8/3  89/68/79/+7/0.00/690/80               31 S   RMY N/A
8/4  86/66/76/+4/0.31/422/49               45 W   RMY 50  TSTM
8/5  84/64/74/+2/0.00/765/89               28 WNW RMY 27
8/6  80/59/70/-2/0.00/685/80               22 W   RMY 21
8/7  78/61/70/-2/0.00/845/99               20 ESE RMY 18
8/8  77/58/68/-4/0.00/741/87               18 E   RMY N/A
8/9  72/59/66/-6/T/458/54                  27 NNE RMY 26
8/10 84/58/71/0/0.00/…/..                28 S   RMY N/A
8/11 70/63/67/-4/0.52/000/00               32 SSE RMY 35
8/12 83/65/74/+3/0.00/766/91               22 W   RMY 20
8/13 83/62/73/+2/0.00/832/99               18 WNW RMY 18
8/14 86/63/75/+4/0.00/837/100              21 S   RMY 23
8/15 91/66/79/+8/…./…/..               38 W   RMY 41  TSTM
8/16 87/65/76/+5/…./…/..               16 W   RMY N/A
8/17 90/70/80/+9/0.00/…/..               17 W   RMY 18
8/18 92/70/91/+10/0.27/…/..              31 W   RMY 32  TSTM
8/19 87/69/78/+8/0.00/…/..               23 S   RMY 24
8/20 85/70/78/+8/0.00/…/..               22 ESE RMY 22
8/21 82/69/76/+6/0.31/…/..               21 S   RMY 23

8/22 low since midnight is 67F; normal low is now 61F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2015
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 22
HIGH 90F IN 1939
LOW 42F IN 1894
PRECIP 2.28 INCHES IN 1935
PEAK GUST 44 MPH SSW IN 1987

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 23
HIGH 88F IN 1918, 1947, 1949, 1996
LOW 45F IN 1923
PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2010
PEAK GUST 60e MPH NW IN 1940

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien