Saturday, January 13, 2018

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

HEAVY RAIN, RECORD WARMTH, GUSTY WINDS, AND RAPIDLY DECREASING
TEMPERATURES…

2.28 ins. of rain fell at Great Blue Hill from yesterday afternoon into
this morning. This puts us at 2.26 ins. above normal so far for precipitation
in the month of January. All of the snow on the hill has melted due to the
warm temperatures, and so far, we have received 9.7 ins. more snow than normal
this January.

Temperatures continued to rise slightly yesterday evening, when a maximum of
60F was reached, and they stayed at or just below this temperature early this
morning. Three daily records have been broken so far due to these warm
temperatures. Yesterday’s minimum temperature of 45F broke the previous daily
record high minimum of 42F, set in 2017. The maximum broke the previous daily
high maximum record of 59F, also set last year. The high so far today of 60F
has beaten January 13th’s high maximum record, which was previously 57F, set
in 1890 and 1932.

Winds have been very gusty out of the south for the past 2 days. Yesterday,
a peak gust of 53 MPH out of the S at 3:03 P.M. was measured, and there was
an average wind speed of 27 MPH. The peak gust for today was even higher at
58 MPH out of the S, measured at 7:13 A.M. EST.

A wind shift from the SSW to W, which occurred right around 10:00 A.M., caused
temperatures to dramatically decrease by almost 25F in just 3 hours. A minimum
of 31F was measured by the 1:00 P.M. observation. Since 10:00 A.M., pressure
has been rising rapidly. Dew points fell into the mid 20s as the overcast
skies cleared, and visibility drastically improved from 20 to 80 miles as the
fog moved out of the area. Winds have calmed down slightly, but gusts over
35 mph were still occurring early this afternoon. Temperatures are expected to
continue to fall as the evening goes on.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratus fractus, overcast stratus
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 57F; Wind: S at 32G43 kts,
Peak Wind: 43 kts (50 MPH) S at 6:55 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.36 ins. Hg, falling, then less quickly
Visibility: 20 miles, distant fog
6-hr Max temp: 60F
6-hr Min temp: 57F
24-hr precip: 2.28 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.00 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 007 SCT E012 OVC 20 944/57/57/1932G43/936/
DSNT FG ALQDS PK WND 1943/55/ 8/7// 56042 MANUAL 70228
ASOS 70241 10060 20057

10 A.M.
Weather: Light drizzle, overcast stratus
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 52F; Wind: SSW at 22G38 kts,
Peak Wind: 38kts (44 MPH) SSW at 9:45 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.49 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 20 miles, distant fog
3-hr precip: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E018 OVC 20L- 986/55/52/2122G38/949/ DSNT FG
ALQDS PK WND 2138/45/ 86// 53042 MANUAL 600//

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few distant stratocumulus NE-SSW and W-NE
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: W at 19G30 kts,
Peak Wind: 33 kts (38 MPH) W at 12:36 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, rising, then less quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 57F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 CLR 80 054/32/24/2819G30/969/ FEW SC DSNT
NE-SSW AND W-NE PK WND 2833/36 PRESRR/ 8/500 51068 MANUAL
600// 10057 20031

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..60 NORMAL…..34
MIN…..45 NORMAL…..17
MEAN….53 NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..+28
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-62 [-5.4 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….12 DEPARTURE………-28
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………531 DEPARTURE………+63
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….2653 DEPARTURE……..-120
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..2446 DIFFERENCE…….+207

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….53 S AT 3:03 P.M.
AERO……………………56 S AT 2:25 P.M.
ASOS……………………57 S AT 2:30 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..54 N/A* AT 2:29 P.M. RMY 55
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………41 S AT 3:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………40 S AT 3:08 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..39 N/A* AT 3:08 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….27.4 S
ASOS………………….26.8
DAVIS…………………N/A*
*Davis anemometer malfunctioning

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….2.28 DEPARTURE……+2.13
ASOS…………..2.41
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.96 DEPARTURE……+2.26
ASOS…………..4.39
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..3.96 DEPARTURE……+2.26
ASOS…………..4.39

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0 DEPARTURE……..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………16.5 DEPARTURE……..+9.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..25.8 DEPARTURE……..+3.0

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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

1/01 11/-5/3/-24/0.00/0.0/…/.. 30 NW AERO 30 NW RMY 31
1/02 15/-2/7/-20/0.00/0.0/…/.. 26 W AERO 25 W RMY 26
1/03 28/11/20/-6/0.00/0.0/…/.. 23 WSW AERO 20 WSW RMY N/A
1/04 28/18/23/-3/1.66/16.5/000/00 54 NNW AERO 60 NNW RMY 64
1/05 18/2/10/-16/0.00/0.0/…/.. 53 W AERO 53 W RMY 57
1/06 10/-2/4/-22/0.00/0.0/…/.. 43 WSW AERO 47 WSW RMY 47
1/07 14/-8/3/-23/0.00/0.0/…/.. 37 WNW AERO 35 WNW RMY N/A
1/08 33/14/24/-2/T/T/…/.. 40 S AERO 40 S RMY 42
1/09 40/25/33/+7/T/T/…/.. 37 W AERO 35 W RMY 33
1/10 36/20/28/+3/0.00/0.0/…/.. 30 W AERO 30 W RMY N/A
1/11 50/32/41/+16/0.00/0.0/…/.. 33 S AERO 32 S RMY 34
1/12 60/45/53/+28/…./0.0/…/.. 56 S AERO 56 S RMY 55

1/13 Low temp since midnight is 31F; normal low is now 17F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2018

01/04/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 16.5 INS.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 8.6 INS. SET IN 1923 AND
TIED IN 1942

01/07/18: DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -8F,
PREVIOUS RECORD OF -7F WAS SET IN 1896

01/12/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 45F,
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 42F WAS SET IN 2017

DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 59F WAS SET IN 2017

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 13
HIGH 57F IN 1890,1932
LOW -10F IN 1912,1914
PRECIP 1.54 INS. IN 1979
SNOWFALL 12.6 INS. IN 1964
PEAK GUST 74 MPH NE IN 1964

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 14
HIGH 65F IN 1995
LOW -12F IN 1914
PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 2008
SNOWFALL 10.3 INS. IN 2008
PEAK GUST 68 MPH WNW IN 1976, S IN 2005

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Lizzy Suzedell