Saturday, July 22, 2023

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

SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0427E
SUNSET:  1914E

EARLY MORNING FOG UNCOVERS A BEAUTIFUL, WARM SUMMER
AFTERNOON AT BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY TODAY…

Today started with fog and mostly cloudy skies then rebounded
to a pleasant afternoon with scattered clouds and sunshine.
The temperatures remained just below normal and dew points
were still in the mid and upper 60’s. The warm weather was
helpful in drying out the saturated hill, as last night’s
storms produced 1.99″ of rain! Although it was not a daily
record (2.09″ in 1938), it was still an impressive amount
which puts us over 7″ of rain for the month to date.

We had some higher than usual wind gusts last night when the
storms came through the area. Today, however, wind speeds have
returned to their normal low values. Our average speed so far
is about 5 MPH with a gust recorded around 15 MPH early this
afternoon. Wind has generally come from the WNW today.

Early morning fog burned off quickly this morning by the first
morning observation and led to visibility from 30-50 miles for
most of the day.

The maximum temperature so far today is 78F, this is 4 degrees
below the normal high of 82F. The minimum temperature today is
64F which is the normal low.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Thin fog, broken stratus fractus all quadrants
Temperature: 66F; Dew Point: 65F; Relative Humidity: 94%
Wind: NW @ 4 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1011.7 mb; 29.88 in. Hg: rising unsteadily
Visibility: 30 miles, 8 miles N
6-hr Max temp: 66F
6-hr Min temp: 64F
24-hr Precip: 1.99 inches
BHO SA 1155 E2 BKN 30 084/66/65/3104/978/ THN F ALQDS VSBY 8 N
WND LGT/ 8/700 52013 70199 10066 20064

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered statocumulus, scattered altocumulus
Temperature: 73F; Dew Point: 67F; Relative Humidity: 82%
Wind: NNW @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1009.6 mb; 29.81 in. Hg: rising, then more
slowly
Visibility: 50 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 20 SCT 80 SCT 50 088/73/67/3307/979/ 8/580 51004

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus-fractus all quadrants
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 64F; Relative Humidity: 69%
Wind: WNW @ 3 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1008.6mb; 29.78 in. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 50 miles
6-hr Max temp: 75F
6-hr Min temp: 66F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 50 086/75/64/3003/978/ FEW CUFRA ALQDS WND LGT/
8/200 57002 10078 20066

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SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….79   NORMAL…..82
MIN…….62   NORMAL…..64
MEAN……71   NORMAL…..73

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……….-2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+46 [+2.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….0  DEPARTURE……..-5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……………0  DEPARTURE……..-5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……….0  DEPARTURE………0

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2023 THRU DEC 2023)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….6  DEPARTURE……..-3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..204  DEPARTURE…….+40
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….332  DEPARTURE…….+29
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..361  DEPARTURE…….-29

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)……….E30 NW    @  08:03 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….31 NW    @  08:04 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….36 NNW   @  08:03 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….30 NW    @  08:03 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………32 NNW   @  08:04 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..32 NW    @  08:04 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..36 NNW   @  08:03 P.M.
MERLIN…………………30 NW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……31       @  08:04 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………28 NW  @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..24     @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..26     @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………25 NW  @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………25 NNW @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..25 NW  @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..25 NNW @  08:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………25     @  08:05 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL………..8.1 S [195 total miles] VECTOR #1…………………8.5
VECTOR #2…………………9.1
DAVIS #1………………….8.0 SSE
DAVIS #2………………….8.8 SSE
RMY #1……………………8.3 S
RMY #2……………………9.2 S
RICHARDS (C5C)…………….8.7

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..1.99 DEPARTURE…..+1.88
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..7.09 DEPARTURE…..+4.76
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..32.27 DEPARTURE…..+2.71

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JULY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

7/1   80/61/71/0/0.00/567/62              17 SSE  VEC1 16 SSE RMY 17
7/2   74/63/69/-2/0.34/027/03             35 S    VEC1 35 S   RMY 35
7/3   79/63/72/-1/0.40/265/29             18 NNW  VEC1 18 NNW RMY 17 TSTM
7/4   71/65/68/-4/0.81/000/00             17 NE   VEC1 18 NE  RMY 17 TSTM
7/5   88/66/77/+5/0.00/720/79             17 S    VEC1 16 SE  RMY 15
7/6   92/69/81/+9/0.00/683/75             23 SSW  VEC1 22 SSW RMY 23
7/7   87/70/78/+6/0.00/763/84             23 SW   VEC1 22 SW  RMY 23
7/8   84/70/77/+5/0.00/463/51             20 W    VEC1 20 W   RMY 19
7/9   81/69/75/+2/T/200/22                17 ESE  VEC1 18 E   RMY 17
7/10  71/66/69/-4/0.68/000/00             22 ESE  VEC1 21 ESE RMY 22
7/11  85/62/74/+1/0.00/796/88             24 WNW  VEC1 25 WNW RMY 25
7/12  91/70/81/+8/0.00/713/79             21 WSW  VEC1 22 SSW RMY 20
7/13  88/67/78/+5/0.13/695/77             35 SSW  VEC1 35 SSW RMY 38 TSTM
7/14  78/65/72/-1/0.18/342/38             29 SSW  VEC1 32 SSW RMY 32 TSTM
7/15  86/70/78/+5/T/548/61                28 SSW  VEC1 30 SSW RMY 29 TSTM
7/16  76/71/74/+1/2.56/000/00             40 S    VEC1 41 SSW RMY 48 TSTM
7/17  86/71/79/+6/0.00/699/78             21 WSW  VEC1 21 W   RMY 23
7/18  84/70/77/+4/0.00/402/45             28 SSW  VEC1 28 SSW RMY 27
7/19  83/68/76/+3/0.00/…/..             23 W    VEC1 23 W   RMY 22
7/20  82/64/73/+0/0.00/…/..             17 NNE  VEC1 17 SE  RMY 18
7/21  79/62/71/-2/1.99/…/..             30 NW   VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32 TSTM

7/22 The low since midnight is 64F, which is equal to the daily
normal low.

DAILY RECORDS

07/16/2023: NEW RECORD DAILY PRECIPITATION OF 2.56 INCHES;
SURPASSES THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 0.98 INCHES IN 2014

07/16/2023: RECORD HIGH DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 71F;
TIES THE RECORD OF 71F SET IN 1901, 1958, 1968, AND 2013

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

RECORDS FOR JULY 22
HIGH 99F IN 1926, 2011
LOW 52F IN 1890
PRECIP 1.73 INS IN 1887
PEAK GUST 55 MPH IN 1983

RECORDS FOR JULY 23
HIGH 99F IN 1952
LOW 51F IN 1923,1977
PRECIP 1.82 INS IN 1953
PEAK GUST 54e MPH S IN 1946

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly