Saturday, May 23, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

NEAR RECORD COLD FOR LATE MAY AT 40 DEGREES
VERY DRY AIR MASS WITH DEW POINTS IN THE 20’S
FOREST FIRE STARTS ABOUT 2 MILES NORTHEAST

The low temperature of 40F this morning was just
2 degrees short of the record low temperature for
this date of 38F set in 1976.

The air mass is very dry today with W-NW winds
which are occasionally gusty to 25 to 30 MPH.

A forest fire broke out by mid-morning in woodlands
about 2 miles NE of the summit and smoke was seen
drifting E to ESE.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus/stratocumulus distant ESE and
mostly distant SSW-WSW
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: NW at 13G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.31 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 49F
6-hr Min temp: 40F
24-hr precip: 0.00
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 264/45/21/3213G20/031/ FEW CU/SC DSNT ESE
AND MSTLY DSNT SSW-WSW/ 8/800 51032 10049 20040

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, SKC, forest fire 2 miles NE, smoke drifting to
the E-ESE
Temperature: 52F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: WNW at 15G21kts,
Wind: Gust to 25 kts past hour
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 269/52/22/2915G21/032/ SKC FOREST FIRE
2 MI NE K PLUME DRFTNG ESE TO E VSBY OCNL LWRG ENE WND GUST
25 KTS PST HR/ 51005

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, SKC, forest fire 2 miles NE, thin smoke
drifting NE-ESE
Temperature: 59F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: WNW at 135G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.32.80 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze
6-Hr Max temp: 60F
6-Hr Min temp: 45F
BHO SA 1745 CLR 70 268/59/21/2913G19/032/ SKC FOREST FIRE
2 MI NE THN K DRFTG NE-ESE/ 58001 10060 20045

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..73   NORMAL…..68
MIN…..49   NORMAL…..49
MEAN….55   NORMAL…..59

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+98 [+4.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………4  DEPARTURE………..-3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….117  DEPARTURE……….-98
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..6388  DEPARTURE………+138
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……6313  DIFFERENCE………+75

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..0   DEPARTURE……….-1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….16   DEPARTURE……….+5
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………16   DEPARTURE……….+3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….13   DIFFERENCE………+3

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………32   WNW AT   8:31 P.M. *
ASOS…………………..39   W   AT   4:01 P.M.
DAVIS………………….36   WNW AT   8:30 P.M. RMY 36
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..26   W   AT   4:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29   W   AT   4:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….25   WSW AT   2:16 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….
ASOS………………….13.5
DAVIS…………………12.2  W [270 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………..0.63  DEPARTURE…..-2.12
ASOS……………0.63
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..18.55  DEPARTURE…..-2.62
ASOS…………….N/A ***
*** ASOS annual totals not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M………..0.0  DEPARTURE……0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………..0.0  DEPARTURE……0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..150.8  DEPARTURE….+88.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MAY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/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

5/1  52/37/45/-8/0.00/0.0/354/42               21 NE  RMY 20
5/2  63/35/49/-4/0.00/0.0/668/79               20 S   RMY 20
5/3  74/44/59/+6/0.00/0.0/509/60               22 S   RMY 22
5/4  83/47/65/+11/0.00/0.0/783/92              39 SSW RMY 45
5/5  77/56/67/+13/0.03/0.0/222/26              29 SW  RMY N/A
5/6  74/54/64/+10/0.00/0.0/574/67              24 SSW RMY 25
5/7  84/52/68/+13/0.00/0.0/824/96              29 S   RMY 32
5/8  74/44/59/+4/0.00/0.0/809/94               27 NNE RMY 26
5/9  77/44/61/+6/0.00/0.0/509/59               30 S   RMY 32
5/10 88/60/74/+19/0.00/0.0/692/80              28 SSW RMY 30
5/11 84/48/66/+10/0.00/0.0/529/61              30 NE  RMY 31
5/12 84/47/66/+10/0.24/0.0/287/33              33 WNW RMY 37
5/13 67/47/57/+1/0.00/0.0/820/94               31 WNW RMY N/A
5/14 70/44/57/+0/0.00/0.0/…/..               22 NW  RMY 22
5/15 73/51/62/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..               20 WSW RMY 21
5/16 68/53/61/+4/T/0.0/…/..                  23 S   RMY 24
5/17 79/50/65/+8/T/0.0/…/..                  21 NE  RMY N/A
5/18 62/48/55/-3/…./0.0/…/..               25 NE  RMY N/A
5/19 63/50/57/-1/0.36/0.0/…/..               24 S   RMY 26
5/20 66/46/56/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..               32 WNW RMY 37
5/21 66/43/55/-4/…./0.0/…/..               24 S   RMY 24
5/22 73/49/61/+2/T/0.0/…/..                  32 NW  RMY 36

5/23 low since midnight is 40F; normal low is now 50F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MAY 2015

NONE SO FAR.

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

RECORDS FOR MAY 23
HIGH 92F IN 1964,1992
LOW 38F IN 1976
PRECIP 0.97 INS IN 1979
PEAK GUST 49e MPH W IN 1945

RECORDS FOR MAY 24
HIGH 92F IN 1964
LOW 35F IN 1956
PRECIP 2.13 INS IN 1951
PEAK GUST 54 MPH NNE IN 2005

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling