Saturday, February 8, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ANOTHER COOL DAY WITH INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON

The temperature fell to 12F shortly after 7:00 this morning, making this
the coldest morning of the month so far.  Temperatures have remained
cooler than average, rising to 27F by 1:00 P.M.  The average high for
today’s date is 35F.  The sky was mostly clear this morning, and there has
been plenty of sunshine all day.  High cirrus clouds have increased in
coverage during the day, occasionally filtering the Sun.  Winds have been
steady at 10-15mph from the west, which has kept the air very dry and made
it feel a bit colder than it actually is.  Dew points have hovered very
close to 0F for most of the day.  The visibility has been fairly good, up
to 65 miles at 1:00 P.M.

Today and tomorrow mark the one year anniversary of the major snowstorm
of February 8-9 last year.  The storm brought 26.6 inches of snow over two
days, with wind gusts up to 63mph and 2.84 inches of total liquid
precipitation.  While we fell just short of blizzard criteria, the storm
ended up as the fifth biggest snowstorm in the Observatory’s history, though
it would be moved down to sixth by another major storm later that winter.

For a discussion and summary for the month of January 2014,
visit bluehill.org.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus and altostratus E-SW, few altocumulus
NW-NNW, few cirrus E-SE
Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: 1F; Wind: W at 14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.28 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze
6-hr min temp: 13F
Snow depth: 10 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 50 253/13/1/2814/028/ FEW AC AND AS E-SW FEW AC NW-NNW
FEW CI E-SE DSNT HZ/ 8/071 4/010 52009 10019 20013

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, altostratus E-SW, thin smoke layer above horizon
W-WNW
Temperature: 19F Dew Point: 3F; Wind: W at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising slightly then steady
Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 60 257/19/3/2811/029/ AS E-SW THN K LYR ABV HRZN W-NNW
LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/011 51004

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few altocumulus S-SW, cirrostratus increasing in
coverage E-SW
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 3F; Wind: W at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.19 ins. Hg, steady then falling
Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max. temp: 27F
6-hr min. temp: 13F
BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 65 223/27/3/2806/019/ FEW AC S-SW CS E-SW LGT DSNT HZ/
8/076 58034 10027 20013

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..29    NORMAL…..35
MIN…..13    NORMAL…..18
MEAN….21    NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+21 [+2.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..44  DEPARTURE……….+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….251  DEPARTURE………-22
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3768  DEPARTURE………-35
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3411  DIFFERENCE…….+357

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………25  W  AT   1:51 P.M. *
AERO…………………..23  W  AT   1:47 P.M. *
ASOS…………………..26  W  AT   1:50 P.M.
DAVIS………………….26  W  AT  12:56 P.M. RMY 27
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..20  W  AT  12:59 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..21  W  AT  12:58 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….20  W  AT  12:58 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………  12.9  W
ASOS…………………..13.9
DAVIS………………….11.3  W [262 deg.] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M… 0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……… 1.66  DEPARTURE………….+0.71
ASOS…………..1.73
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.28  DEPARTURE………….+0.98
ASOS…………..6.64

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…………..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………13.9  DEPARTURE………….+10.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..62.7  DEPARTURE………….+26.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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

2/1  45/30/38/+12/0.00/0.0/402/67         24 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY 25
2/2  53/33/43/+17/0.00/0.0/181/30         22 S   AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21
2/3  36/22/29/+3/0.32/2.8/000/00          22 NNE AERO 18 MPH NNE RMY 21
2/4  33/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/…/..           20 NW  AERO 16 MPH NW  RMY 17
2/5  31/21/26/0/…./…/000/00           32 ENE AERO 30 MPH ENE RMY 30
2/6  26/15/21/-5/…./…/…/..          22 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 22
2/7  29/13/21/-6/0.00/0.0/…/..          25 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 27

2/8 morning low temp: 12F; the normal low is now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2014
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 8
HIGH 60F IN 1933
LOW -9F IN 1934
PRECIP 2.50 INS. IN 1945
SNOWFALL 16.1 INS. IN 2013
PEAK GUST 63e MPH NE IN 1945, 2013

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 9
HIGH 58F IN 1990
LOW -21F IN 1934 [LOWEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD] PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1969
PEAK GUST 89 MPH NE IN 1969

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien