Saturday, December 9, 2023

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

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0701E
SUNSET:  1612E

SEASONABLY WARM AND INCREASINGLY CLOUDY DAY…

Today has been rather nice so far, with filtered sunshine this
morning giving way to increasing cloud cover as the day has
progressed. Southerly winds and warm air advection have resulted
in seasonably warm temperatures as well.

Temperatures have been on the rise, beginning the morning in the
upper 30s and rising to the low 50s by the afternoon. This is well
above average for this time of year! The dew point has been climbing
as well, beginning in the mid 30s and reaching the low 40s by the
afternoon.

It was a bit breezy this morning, and our average speed thus far of
12mph reflects that. The peak gust so far is 26mph, occurring at 10:30am.
Since about 11am, however, the winds have slowed down noticeably.
As previously mentioned, the prevailing direction has been from the South.

Visibility has not been the best today, beginning the morning at only
20 miles due to thin fog. Since then, it has improved to only 30-40 miles,
held back by haziness, likely due to the moist air mass moving in.

The maximum temperature so far today is 51F degrees, which is 9 degrees
above the normal high of 42F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 33F degrees, which is 6 degrees above the normal low of 27F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, thin scattered cirrus
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 36F; Relative Humidity: 97%
Wind: SSE @ 13G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1025.7 mb; 30.29 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 20 miles, thin fog all quadrants
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 33F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 75 SCT 250 -SCT 20 257/37/36/1613G18/029/ THN F ALQDS/
8/051 50000 10037 20033

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus offshore distant SSE-SSW,
few altocumulus distant SSW-NW-NNE, few cirrostratus distant SE-SW-NW
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 39F; Relative Humidity: 72%
Wind: S @ 13G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1026.4 mb; 30.31 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 E250 -BKN 40 264/46/39/1813G19/031/ FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT SSE-SSW
FEW AC DSNT SSW-NW-NNE FEW CS DSNT SE-SW-NW HAZY/ 8/555 51007

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, few breaks in overcast all quadrants,
higher clouds visible all quadrants
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 72%
Wind: S @ 6 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1024.3 mb; 30.25 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 51F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E25 OVC 30 243/50/42/1706/025/ FEW BINOVC ALQDS
HIER CLDS VSBL ALQDS HAZY WND LGT/ 8/5// 56021 10051 20037

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SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….42   NORMAL…..42
MIN…….24   NORMAL…..27
MEAN……33   NORMAL…..35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……….-2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….+7 [+0.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………32  DEPARTURE……..+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..226  DEPARTURE……..-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1313  DEPARTURE……-125
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1156  DEPARTURE……+157

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

F420C (Official)……….E20 S    @  11:34 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….18 S    @  11:16 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….19 SSE  @  10:37 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….17 SSE  @  09:35 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………22 S    @  08:41 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..18 SSE  @  10:37 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..19 S    @  11:45 P.M.
MERLIN…………………19 SSE
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……17      @  10:21 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………15 SSE  @  10:34 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..14      @  09:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..15      @  11:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………14 SSE  @  09:37 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………17 S    @  08:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..13 SSE  @  10:37 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..15 S    @  10:34 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………14      @  10:37 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….6.8 NW [162 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..7.4
VECTOR #2……………..7.9
DAVIS #1………………7.0 WSW
DAVIS #2………………7.0 W
RMY #1………………..7.3 W
RMY #2………………..7.9 W
RICHARDS (C5C)…………7.8

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.18
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.88 DEPARTURE…..-0.55
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..52.25 DEPARTURE…..+2.35

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.3 DEPARTURE……-1.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)…….0.3 DEPARTURE……-4.4

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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

12/1  51/38/45/+8/0.04/0.0/213/38         29 SW  VEC1 28 SW  RMY 29
12/2  48/43/46/+9/T/0.0/000/00            18 SSW VEC1 19 SSW RMY 19
12/3  44/41/43/+7/0.76/0.0/000/00         31 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 33
12/4  49/37/43/+7/0.07/0.0/155/28         23 W   VEC1 22 W   RMY 23
12/5  38/28/33/-3/0.00/0.0/144/26         23 NNW VEC1 24 NW  RMY 24
12/6  34/22/28/-7/0.01/0.3/100/18         21 N   VEC1 21 N   RMY 20
12/7  28/17/56/-12/0.00/0.0/…/..        18 NNW VEC1 18 NW  RMY 19
12/8  42/24/33/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..         20 S   VEC1 18 S   RMY 18

12/9 The low since midnight is 33F, the daily normal low is 27F

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DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE…

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 9
HIGH 68 IN 1966
LOW -14 IN 1902
PRECIP 3.23 INS. IN 2014
SNOWFALL 10.8 INS. IN 2005
PEAK GUST 66 SE IN 1973

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 10
HIGH 62 IN 1946
LOW -6 IN 1902
PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1907
SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1905
PEAK GUST 66e SW IN 1940

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Joshua Polen