Saturday, February 28, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

A FEBRUARY FOR THE RECORD BOOKS COMES TO A CLOSE
UNDER CLEAR, COLD CONDITIONS…MULTIPLE NEW RECORDS SET

After another cold, clear start and an overnight
low of 5F, February 2015 is now just hours away from
ending and becoming one of the most historic months
here at Blue Hill Observatory in regard to the total
amount of records broken. Many of these new records
will receive intense scrutiny before coming official,
but now, unofficially, we can say February 2015 will
likely break records for:

-Greatest snow depth on record: 46 inches
-Two storms on the top 15 snow storm totals on record
-Greatest number of calendar days with measurable snow: 18 days
-Snowiest February and Month on record: 83.6 inches
-Snowiest January and February combined on record: 126.5 inches
-Snowiest December, January and February combined on record: 128.8 inches
-Top 5 longest duration of 20 inches or more snow depth: 26 days
(and still counting)
-February within top five coldest on record and within top ten
coldest months on record

..And likely more that we have yet to unearth. Stay
posted in the coming week for official figures and summaries.

Yesterday’s continued cold with a maximum of 25F and
low of 9F lowered the monthly average temperature to
11.8 degrees below normal so far this month. With another
below normal temperature day already in the works for
the last day of the month, February 2015
will likely end up in the top 10 coldest months on record
here at Blue Hill Observatory. Through the 27th, the 24-hour
corrected mean temperature for the month is 17.0 deg F.
The list follows below:

BHO Coldest Months, deg F (1885-2014)

1) 13.5 in Feb, 1934
2) 15.5 in Jan, 1920
3) 16.3 in Jan, 1888
4) 16.4 in Feb, 1885
5) 17.1 in Feb, 1923
6) 17.2 in Jan, 1912
17.2 in Jan, 1918
17.2 in Jan, 2004
9) 17.4 in Jan, 1893
17.4 in Dec, 1989

Snow for the season now totals 137.5 inches, placing
this season at Blue Hill firmly in second place
for the snowiest season on record. February 2015 is also
the snowiest February on record, as well as the
snowiest month on record. Tomorrow’s snow event will likely
brings us very close to first place all time.

See below:

BHO Greatest Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan, 2015
3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960
4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
5) 30.0 on 31 Mar – 1 Apr, 1997
6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013
7) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
8) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
9) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
10) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003
11) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001
12) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
13) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
14) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
3) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
4) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
5) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
6) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
7) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
8) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Snowiest February, inches (1885-2015):

1) 83.6 in 2015 (through Feb 28 at 10:00 AM EST)
2) 65.4 in 1969
3) 51.3 in 2003
4) 45.2 in 1967
5) 40.4 in 1920
6) 39.7 in 2013
7) 37.0 in 1893

BHO Snowiest January-February, inches (1886-2015):

1) 126.5 in 2015 (through Feb 28 at 10:00 AM EST)
2) 77.9 in 1948
3) 70.2 in 2005
4) 68.7 in 1904
5) 67.5 in 1920
6) 66.9 in 1994

BHO Greatest Snow Depth, inches (1895-2015):
1) 46 in February 2015
2) 43 in March 1969
3) 42 in January 1948
4) 41 in February 1969
5) 39 in February 1948
6) 38 in February 1920
7) 33 in February 1978
33 in January 1996
9) 31 in February 2003
31 in February 2011
11)30 in March 1960
30 in March 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant ESE-SSW
Temperature: 7F; Dew Point: -2F; Wind: WNW at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.70 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr max temp: 10F
6-hr min temp: 5F
24-hr precip: none
24-hr snowfall: none
Snow depth: 37 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 397/7/-2/3010/070/ FEW AC DSNT ESE-SSW/
8/030 4/037 53029 10010 20005

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant S
Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: estimated NNW at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.75 ins. Hg, rising, then steady
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 413/19/4/E3306/075/ FEW CI DSNT S WND LGT/
8/001 51016

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..25 NORMAL…..40
MIN……9 NORMAL…..22
MEAN….17 NORMAL…..31

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-14
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-312 [-11.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..48 DEPARTURE……….+14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………1313 DEPARTURE………+310
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4661 DEPARTURE………+127
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4540 DIFFERENCE……..+121

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………20 NW AT 11:42 P.M.*
ASOS…………………..19 NW AT 8:47 P.M.
DAVIS………………….18 NW AT 8:56 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..15 NW AT 11:45 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..15 NW AT 11:45 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….14 NW AT 11:46 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………9.0 NW
ASOS…………………9.8
DAVIS………………..7.8 NW [312 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….6.17 DEPARTURE…..+2.27
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.34 DEPARTURE…..+3.22
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings
on February 9-10th and 14-15th

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………83.6 DEPARTURE…..+70.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….137.5 DEPARTURE…..+91.0

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1 28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/582/97 29 WNW RMY N/A
2/2 29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00 44 NE RMY 46
2/3 21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/593/98 31 NW RMY N/A
2/4 36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/164/27 31 S RMY 33
2/5 34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/000/00 38 NW RMY 39
2/6 19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/392/64 28 NW RMY 27
2/7 25/14/20/-7/…./…/000/00 25 WSW RMY N/A
2/8 29/11/20/-7/…./…/000/00 30 NNE RMY 29
2/9 19/12/16/-11/…./…/000/00 29 N RMY 28
2/10 28/12/20/-7/…./…/081/13 29 N RMY 29
2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/000/00 30 N RMY 29
2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/000/00 31 NW RMY N/A
2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/630/100 35 NW RMY 35
2/14 26/1/14/-14/…./…/241/38 24 NW RMY N/A
2/15 18/-6/6/-22/…./…/000/00 53 NW RMY 59
2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/606/95 43 NW RMY N/A
2/17 21/5/13/-15/0.12/2.0/064/10 18 NW RMY 16
2/18 28/15/22/-7/…./…/039/06 17 W RMY N/A
2/19 26/6/16/-13/0.02/0.3/116/18 40 W RMY 43
2/20 15/0/8/-21/0.00/0.0/630/97 38 W RMY 40
2/21 32/3/18/-11/…./…/462/71 39 SSW RMY 42
2/22 39/27/33/+4/…./…/327/50 25 WSW RMY N/A
2/23 28/1/15/-15/0.00/0.0/…/.. 38 WNW RMY 44
2/24 18/-6/6/-24/…./…/…/.. 26 S RMY 27
2/25 32/11/22/-8/…./…/…/.. 35 W RMY 36
2/26 21/15/18/-12/0.04/0.6/…/.. 25 NE RMY 24
2/27 25/9/17/-14/0.00/0.0/…/.. 20 NW RMY N/A