Saturday, August 31, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

HURRICANE CAROL ANNIVERSARY MARKED BY OVERCAST SKIES, LIGHT FOG,
HIGH DEW POINTS AND WARMER TEMPS

Today marks the 59th anniversary of Hurricane Carol. A peak wind gust of
125 mph from the SE was measured on the summit.  The sea level pressure
bottomed out at 973.2 mb (28.741 inches), and 2.46 inches of rain was
recorded.  The windows and the building itself were noted to
have been “plastered with leaves” after the storm.

On the contrary, today’s weather is not so exciting. Grey skies persisted
throughout the day with early morning fog fading only slightly. 0.05 inch
of rain fell early this morning, and pockets of drizzle grazed the summit
in the early afternoon with a possibility of scattered thunderstorms
still lingering for later on today. Total rainfall after 7:00 EST only
amounted to a trace. Winds have been light out of the SW.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast cumulus/stratocumulus, fog with stratus drifting over
summit, overcast visible through breaks in fog
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 69F; Wind: S at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, increasing then decreasing
Visibility: 2 miles, fog all quads
Manual 24-hr precip: 0.05 inch
ASOS 24-hr precip: 0.04 inch
6-hr min. temp: 67F
BHO SA 1155 15 OVC 2F 109/70/69/1906/985/ STRA DRFTNG OVR SMT
OVC CU VSBL THRU F/ 8/8// 50006 MANUAL 70005 ASOS 70004 10070 20067

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus fractus, overcast cumulus/stratocumulus, few
breaks in overcast, thin fog
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 70F; Wind: SW at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, increasing then decreasing
Visibility: 10 miles, thin fog all quads
BHO SA 1455 E5 SCT 15 OVC 10-F 107/75/70/2208/985/ FEW BINOVC/ 8/8// 50002

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus fractus, broken cumulus,
overcast cumulus/stratocumulus
Temperature: 77F; Dew Point: 72F; Wind: SSW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, decreasing then decreasing more slowly
Visibility: 15 miles, light fog/rain
6-hr max. temp: 78F
6-hr precip.: Trace
BHO SA 1755 E5 SCT 40 BKN 110 OVC 15-F-R 105/77/72/2007/984/ 8/8// 56006
6000T 10078 20070

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..81     NORMAL…..77
MIN…..58     NORMAL…..60
MEAN….70     NORMAL…..68

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….-30  [-1.0 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..5   DEPARTURE………+3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………147   DEPARTURE……..-35
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..630   DEPARTURE……..+97
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……702   DIFFERENCE…….-72

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY…………….17 WSW AT  1:53 P.M. *
AERO…………………18 WSW AT  1:53 P.M.
ASOS…………………18 SW  AT 11:54 P.M.
DAVIS………………..18 WSW AT 11:42 A.M. RMY 23
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………14 SW  AT 11:53 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………14 SW  AT 11:59 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………..14 WSW AT 11:54 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………..8.3 NE
ASOS………………..8.7
DAVIS……………….7.4 NE [235 deg.] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.05   DEPARTURE………….-0.06
ASOS…………..0.04
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.72   DEPARTURE………….-1.19
ASOS…………..2.75
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….37.96   DEPARTURE………….+3.10
ASOS…………..N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

8/1  81/62/72/0/0.01/503/58          25 S   AERO 26 MPH S   RMY 27
8/2  81/62/72/0/0.23/518/60          26 W   AERO 26 MPH W   RMY 28
8/3  77/63/70/-2/T/276/32            22 WSW AERO 23 MPH WSW RMY 23
8/4  79/58/69/-3/T/645/75            25 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 26
8/5  75/54/65/-7/0.00/858/100        26 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 27
8/6  78/56/67/-5/0.00/846/99         17 ESE AERO 15 MPH S   RMY 16
8/7  80/59/70/-2/0.00/759/89         21 S   AERO 21 MPH S   RMY N/A
8/8  79/62/71/-1/0.08/153/18         25 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY N/A
8/9  73/70/72/0/2.21/000/00          37 S   AERO 39 MPH S   RMY 40
8/10 81/61/71/-1/0.00/795/94         30 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 31
8/11 78/58/68/-3/0.00/835/99         18 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY 21
8/12 81/62/72/+1/0.00/656/78         18 W   AERO 17 MPH WSW RMY 19
8/13 73/64/69/-2/0.02/193/23         16 SSE AERO 15 MPH SSE RMY N/A
8/14 73/57/65/-6/0.00/819/98         35 W   AERO 35 MPH W   RMY 35
8/15 75/53/64/-7/0.00/800/96         23 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 24
8/16 77/57/67/-4/0.00/740/89         20 W   AERO 19 MPH W   RMY 21
8/17 77/59/68/-3/0.00/770/93         18 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY N/A
8/18 80/62/71/0/T/231/28             16 SSW AERO 17 MPH SSW RMY 18
8/19 82/58/70/0/T/494/60             17 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY 20
8/20 85/64/75/+5/0.00/772/94         17 NW  AERO 18 MPH NW  RMY N/A
8/21 87/65/76/+6/0.00/802/98         18 WSW AERO 18 MPH WSW RMY 18
8/22 84/67/76/+6/0.00/432/53         22 SW  AERO 22 MPH SSW RMY N/A
8/23 78/63/70/0/0.00/610/75          25 NNW AERO 25 MPH NNW RMY 24
8/24 73/55/64/-6/0.00/786/97         23 NNE AERO 22 MPH NNE RMY N/A
8/25 82/57/70/+1/0.00/791/98         20 SW  AERO 21 MPH SW  RMY 21
8/26 80/64/72/+3/T/145/18            26 WSW AERO 26 MPH SW  RMY 28
8/27 78/66/72/+3/0.07/329/41         16 NE  AERO 15 MPH NE  RMY 16
8/28 81/62/73/+3/T/…/..            26 NE  AERO 24 MPH NE  RMY 27
8/29 64/58/61/-8/0.05/000/00         23 NNE AERO 23 MPH NNE RMY 23
8/30 81/58/70/+2/0.05/000/00         17 WSW AERO 18 MPH WSW RMY 21

8/31 morning low temp: 67F; the normal low is now 60F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 31
HIGH 94F IN 1953
LOW 42F IN 1976
PRECIP 2.46 INCHES IN 1954
PEAK GUST 125 MPH SE IN 1954 [CAROL – RECORD FOR MONTH]

RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 1
HIGH 93F IN 1969, 2010
LOW 47F IN 1975
PRECIP 1.60 INCHES IN 1927
PEAK GUST 59e MPH S IN 1945, SSW IN 1965

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Forrest Iwanik