Saturday, July 5, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

HURRICANE ARTHUR PASSES OFFSHORE OVERNIGHT…TOTAL
RAINFALL 2.74 INCHES…STRONGER WINDS BEHIND STORM…

Dissipating Hurricane Arthur moved northeastward during
Friday and Friday night along the US east coast, and it
gradually became a post-tropical system during the day
today.  Copious rainfall occurred over New England with
2-4 inches falling in many areas with higher amounts
being measured in some spots.  The storm total due to
Arthur on the summit was 2.74 inches from Friday through
Saturday morning, with the last of the rain ending just
after sunrise today.  All of this rain fell in about 24
hours, and the roughly 2.5 inches that fell during the
calendar day on July 4th will likely be a new daily
rainfall record for the date, once the final value has
been tabulated.  The previous record for the date was
1.78 inches in 1950.  This heavy one-day rain event
completely offset the two-inch rainfall deficit that
had accumulated during June.

Wind has been of little consequence with gusts in the
range of 28-33 mph from the N being measured on Friday
evening. Higher gusts are occurring today as the storm
departs, and these are in the range of 36-42 mph
generally from the NW.

Once the rain ended as Arthur moved toward Nova Scotia,
much cooler and drier air rapidly moved into New England.
The dew point dropped from the low 60s early today to
the low 40s by early afternoon.  Visibility has been
excellent today near 75 miles.

THE PRELIMINARY JUNE 2014 STATS

[Departures are relative to the 1981-2010 averages]

TEMPERATURE: Deg. F
Avg. Max. 77.2 [+2.2] Avg. Min. 56.8 [-0.3] Mean      67.0 [+0.9] 24-hr. corrected mean: 66.8
Max. temp: 87F on the 30th
Min. temp: 47F on the 1 st
Total heating degree day units: 28 [-46] Total seasonal heating units:   6422 [46 more than average] [Season starts 7/1] Total cooling degree day units: 96 [-9] Total cooling degree units for season: 109 [-20] [Season starts January 1, 2014]

PRECIPITATION: Inches
Total: 2.21 [-2.10] Greatest in 24 hours: 0.91 (5th)

WIND
Av. speed (uncorrected): 10.1 mph
Av. speed (corrected):   10.6 mph
Prevailing direction:     SSW 12%

SUNSHINE
Total astronomical minutes: 18356 of possible 27362 or 67%  (Corrected)
Total Campbell Stokes card minutes: 17552 of possible 26376 or 67%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, thin
broken cirrus, few stratus fractus ENE-SE, few stratocumulus
castellanus NE-ESE and distant SW, few altocumulus lenticularis
NNW-NE, rain shower NE-SE moving SE
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 52F; Wind: NW 15G20 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 65 miles, 75 miles W-NW, 25 miles NE-ESE, obscured
by rain showers
6-hr max temp: 59F
6-hr min temp: 55F
6-hr precip: N/A
24-hr precip: 2.74 inches
BHO SA 1155 35 SCT 65 SCT 100 SCT 200 -BKN 65 132/57/52/3015G20/992/
FEW STFRA ENE-SE FEW SCCAS NE-ESE AND DSNT SE FEW ACSL NNE-NE RW
NE-SE MVNG SE VSBY W-NW 75 NE-ESE 25/ 8/571 56024 60/// 70274 10059
20055

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, few stratocumulus castellanus,
distant ESE-SE
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: NW at 21G26 kts,
Wind Speed: Peak gust 28 kts, NW 9:07 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, steady, rising
Visibility: 75 miles
BHO SA 1455 100 SCT 75 158/69/44/3221G26/000/ FEW SCCAS DSNT ESE-SE
PK WND 3228/07/ 8/570 51026

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, few cumulus
fractus all quadrants
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 46F; Wind: WNW at 13G20 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 27 kts NW at 12:04 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins.  Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr max temp: 75F
6-hr min temp: 57F
BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 100 SCT 75 163/75/46/2913G20/001/ FEW CUFRA ALQDS
PK WND 3127/04/ 8/130 50005 10075 20057

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..72    NORMAL…..80
MIN…..61    NORMAL…..62
MEAN….67    NORMAL…..71

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+20 [+4.8 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..2   DEPARTURE……….-4
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….42   DEPARTURE………+18
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..151   DEPARTURE……….-2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……200   DIFFERENCE……..-49

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………28  N   AT  8:13 P.M.  *
ASOS…………………..33  N   AT  8:15 P.M.
DAVIS………………….31  N   AT  8:07 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21  N   AT  8:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..21  N   AT 10:55 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….19  N   AT  8:16 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………10.5  N
ASOS…………………10.8
DAVIS…………………8.7  NNW [339 deg] * Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….2.74  DEPARTURE……….+2.64
ASOS…………..2.75
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.80  DEPARTURE……….+2.37
ASOS…………..2.80
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….27.35  DEPARTURE……….-0.05
ASOS………….27.66

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JUNE 2014 – JULY 2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

6/1  72/47/60/-2/0.00/887/98              21 NNW RMY 21
6/2  81/52/67/+5//0.00/879/97             22 SSW RMY 23
6/3  81/57/69/+7/0.00/889/98              25 SSE RMY 28
6/4  64/52/58/-5/0.11/000/00              16 SE  RMY N/A
6/5  60/55/58/-5/0.91/000/00              21 NNW RMY 24
6/6  73/54/64/+1/0.00/655/72              22 WNW RMY 23
6/7  82/56/69/+5/0.00/893/98              21 W   RMY 22
6/8  84/63/74/+10/0.00/702/77             18 SW  RMY N/A
6/9  77/61/69/+5/0.13/046/05              21 WSW RMY 22
6/10 80/56/68/+3/0.10/183/20              29 ENE RMY 33
6/11 69/55/62/-3/T/439/48                 21 ENE RMY 20
6/12 70/56/63/-2/0.00/101/11              21 ESE RMY N/A
6/13 67/58/63/-2/0.34/000/00              25 E   RMY N/A
6/14 73/58/66/0/0.05/238/26               23 WNW RMY 24
6/15 78/53/66/0/0.00/879/96               25 NNW RMY 27
6/16 79/56/68/+2/0.00/834/91              23 S   RMY N/A
6/17 81/58/70/+3/0.28/752/82              25 S   RMY 24  TSTM
6/18 83/65/74/+7/T/715/78                 35 W   RMY 38
6/19 81/61/71/+4/0.00/559/61              24 NW  RMY 25
6/20 75/55/65/-3/0.00/889/97              24 NW  RMY 27
6/21 75/52/64/-4/0.00/770/84              17 NNW RMY 19
6/22 75/54/65/-3/0.00/734/80              17 N   RMY 19
6/23 80/57/69/+1/0.00/862/94              22 SSW RMY 24
6/24 81/57/69/0/0.00/688/75               29 S   RMY 33
6/25 86/62/74/+5/0.00/761/83              28 SSW RMY 31
6/26 80/57/69/0/0.29/495/54               26 NE  RMY 27
6/27 74/56/65/-4/0.00/889/97              25 NNE RMY 24
6/28 83/60/72/+2/0.00/889/97              17 WSW RMY 18
6/29 85/60/73/+3/0.00/860/94              23 S   RMY N/A
6/30 87/61/74/+4/0.00/868/95              25 SSW RMY 26

7/1  85/66/76/+6/0.00/…/..              31 SSW RMY 36
7/2  89/69/79/+9/0.00/…/..              33 SSW RMY 38
7/3  91/68/80/+9/…./…/..              29 W   RMY 30  TSTM
7/4  72/61/67/-4/…./…/..              28 N   RMY N/A TSTM

7/5 morning low of 55F, norm now 62F

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

RECORDS FOR JULY 5
HIGH 98F IN 1911
LOW 48F IN 1920, 1927 & 1979
PRECIP 1.45 INS IN 1922
PEAK GUST 44e N IN 1944

RECORDS FOR JULY 6
HIGH 99F IN 2010
LOW 47F IN 1979
PRECIP 1.43 INCHES IN 2005
PEAK GUST 56e MPH NNW IN 1942, 56 MPH WNW IN 1999

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono