Saturday, February 29, 2020

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOL WITH A WESTERLY WIND
AND SOME DISTANT AFTERNOON SNOW SHOWERS….

Today we observed a decent visibility, being
about 70 miles on average. Wind shifted from
west to northwest as the day went on, gusting
to 28 mph around noontime. Pressure has been
on a steady decline, and clouds have increased
since this morning. Distant virga was seen at
the 1 P.M. observation to the south and west,
but no precipitation has reached the Observatory
as of yet.

If there is no snow for the rest of the day,
This month will be tied for the 2nd Lowest
February Snowfall:

BHO Lowest February Snowfall, inches (1885-2020):

1) 0.4 in 1937
2) 0.6 in 1984
0.6 in 2020
4) 1.0 in 1925
1.0 in 1998
6) 1.5 in 1941
7) 1.8 in 1912
1.8 in 1954

Provided by: Mike Iacono, BHO Chief Scientist

The high so far today is 35F degrees, this is 5 degrees
below the normal of 40F. The low since midnight is 21F,
a degree below the normal daily minimum of 22F.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrostratus, few cumulus offshore
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 11F; Relative Humidity: 59%
Wind: W at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.77 ins. Hg: rising unsteadily
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 27F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E220 BKN 70 087/23/11/2607/977/ FEW CU OFFSHR/
8/108 53009 10027 20021

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus and cirrostratus
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 8F; Relative Humidity: 38%
Wind: W at 24G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.76 ins. Hg: falling steadily
Visibility: 65 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 60 SCT 220 SCT 65 084/31/8/2609G17/976/ 8/108 58003

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few distant cumulus,
virga SW-NNW
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 8F; Relative Humidity: 38%
Wind: WNW at 10G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.73 ins. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr Max temp: 35F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E65 OVC 65 074/31/8/3010G19/973/ FEW DSNT CU ALQDS
VIRGA SW-NNW/ 8/110 58010 10035 20023

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..36   NORMAL…..40
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..22
MEAN….31   NORMAL…..31

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………..0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………+162 [+5.6 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………34  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..873  DEPARTURE……-164
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4102  DEPARTURE……-466
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4485  DEPARTURE……-383

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..38 SW  AT  7:54 A.M.
AERO…………………….38 SW  AT  7:54 A.M.
ASOS…………………….39 SW  AT  7:59 A.M.
DAVIS……………………42 SW  AT  7:58 A.M. RMY 36
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….29 SW  AT  7:58 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….28 SW  AT  7:59 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………29 WSW AT  7:55 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..15.6 WSW
ASOS…………………..15.4
DAVIS………………….16.0 WSW [257 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.17
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.20  DEPARTURE……-0.87
ASOS…………..3.37
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..4.66  DEPARTURE……-3.76
ASOS…………..4.91

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.6  DEPARTURE……-13.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..24.8  DEPARTURE……-22.2

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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
M:    Missing data

02/01  38/30/34/+8/0.01/T/…./..          14 WSW AERO 14 WSW RMY N/A
02/02  40/30/35/+9/0.00/0.0/…./..        18 W   AERO 18 WNW RMY 18
02/03  44/27/36/+10/0.00/0.0/…./..       28 W   AERO 28 W   RMY 28
02/04  44/33/39/+13/0.00/0.0/…./..       19 E   AERO 16 E   RMY 18
02/05  41/30/36/+10/0.00/0.0/…./..       20 NNW AERO 19 NNW RMY N/A
02/06  31/30/34/+8/0.00/0.0/…./..        29 E   AERO 28 E   RMY 27
02/07  53/25/39/+12/…./0.1/…./..       71 WSW AERO 71 SSW RMY 73
02/08  33/20/27/0/T/T/…./..              46 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 44
02/09  33/15/24/-3/T/T/…./..             30 SSE AERO 29 SSE RMY N/A
02/10  42/33/38/+11/…./0.0/…./..       39 SSW AERO 39 SSW RMY 39
02/11  40/36/38/+11/…./0.0/…./..       24 W   AERO 23 W   RMY N/A
02/12  41/30/36/+9/0.00/0.0/…./..        37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY N/A
02/13  35/31/34/+6/.00/0.0/…./..         29 SSW AERO 29 SSW RMY N/A
02/14  33/8/21/-7/0.00/0.0/…./..         32 WNW AERO 32 NW  RMY 34
02/15  27/4/16/-12/0.00/0.0/…./..        31 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY N/A
02/16  40/23/32/+4/0.00/0.0/…./..        38 SW  AERO 38 SW  RMY N/A
02/17  44/28/36/+8/0.00/0.0/…./..        25 WNW AERO 24 WNW RMY 24
02/18  37/27/32/+3/0.31/T/…./..          26 SE  AERO 26 SE  RMY N/A
02/19  42/25/34/+5/0.00/0.0/…./..        45 W   AERO 46 W   RMY 44
02/20  31/18/25/-4/0.00/0.0/…./..        32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
02/21  30/11/21/-8/0.00/0.0/…./..        24 NNW AERO 21 N   RMY N/A
02/22  44/23/34/+5/0.00/0.0/…./..        26 W   AERO 24 W   RMY 27
02/23  53/30/42/+12/0.00/0.0/…./..       21 SW  AERO 22 WSW RMY 23
02/24  60/32/46/+16/0.00/0.0/…./..       29 S   AERO 29 SSW RMY 31
02/25  53/40/47/+17/…./0.0/…./..       17 NE  AERO 18 ENE RMY 17
02/26  45/39/42/+12/…/0.0/…./..        23 ENE AERO 24 E   RMY N/A
02/27  49/27/38/+7/0.00/0.0/…./..        51 W   AERO 53 W   RMY 52
02/28  36/25/31/0/0.00/0.0/…/…         38 SW  AERO 38 SW  RMY 36

02/29 The low since midnight is 21F, daily normal minimum is 22F

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 29
HIGH 63F IN 2016
LOW 4F IN 1992
PRECIP 0.64 INCHES IN 1968
SNOWFALL 3.5 INCHES IN 1968
PEAK GUST 60 MPH NE IN 1968

RECORDS FOR MARCH 1
HIGH 62 IN 1972
LOW -3 IN 1886
PRECIP 1.65 INS. IN 1900
SNOWFALL 9.4 INS. IN 1949
PEAK GUST 78 WSW IN 1966

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner and Ann Murphy