Sunday, August 31, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE CAROL IN 1954 TODAY
HUMIDITY INCREASES RAPIDLY OVERNIGHT INTO TODAY
LOW CLOUDINESS SHUTS OUT SUNSHINE BY NOON
TEMPERATURES APPROACHING 80 DEGREES F
VISIBILITY DROPS TO 20 MILES IN INCREASING HAZE

On this date in 1954 Hurricane Carol passed across southern
New England, and peak wind gusts reached 125 mph here at the
summit of Blue Hill. The total precipitation during the storm
was 2.46 inches in about 15 hours.

Today, after many days of unusually dry air for August
the humidity has increased rapidly with dew points rising
through the 60’s to near 70F by early afternoon.
Despite low clouds and little sunshine the temperature has
crept up to near 80F. Hazy conditions have lowered the
visibility down to 20 miles by late morning.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather:  Scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus,
overcast dense cirrostratus, altocumulus layer invading,
few stratus fractus E-S
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: SSW at 13G18 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog/hazy
6-hr max temp: 70F
6-hr min temp: 64F
24-hr precip: 0.00
BHO SA 1155 130 SCT E150 BKN 200 OVC 25 193/70/66/2113G18/010/ FEW STFRA
E-S AC LYRS INVADING FEW ACSL SUN DMLY VSB THN F HAZY/ 8/657 58004
10070 20064

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast variable to broken stratocumulus, break in the
overcast, high altocumulus visible
Temperature: 78F; Dew Point: 69F; Wind: SW at 14G20 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.08 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 20 miles, haze increasing
BHO SA 1455 E18 OVC 20 186/78/69/2314G20/008/ 18 OVC V BKN HIER AC CLDS VSB
HZ INCRSNG/ 8/5// 58007

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, numerous bright spots in the
overcast, occasional small break
Temperature: 79F; Dew Point: N/A; Wind: SW at 16 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, falling
Visibility: 18 miles
6-hr max. temp: 80F
6-hr min. temp: 70F
BHO SA 1755 E18 OVC 18 174/79/XX/2316/004/ NMRS BRGHT SPTS IOVC OCNL
SML BINOVC HAZY VSBY WNW 20/ 8/5// 56012 10080 20070

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..77    NORMAL…..77
MIN…..55    NORMAL…..60
MEAN….66    NORMAL…..68

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-38 [-1.5 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..1   DEPARTURE………..-3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………134   DEPARTURE……….-48
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..471   DEPARTURE……….-62
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……631   DIFFERENCE……..-160

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………23 S   AT  6:58 P.M.
ASOS…………………..27 S   AT  6:50 P.M.
DAVIS………………….26 SSW AT  6:58 P.M. RMY 28
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..19 SSW AT  9:11 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..20 SSW AT  9:11 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….19 S   AT  4:07 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..12.1 S
ASOS…………………..11.8
DAVIS………………….10.9 S [190 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……….-0.11
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR AUGUST………….1.48  DEPARTURE……….-2.44
ASOS…………..1.43
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….31.11  DEPARTURE……….-3.80
ASOS………….31.36

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 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

8/1  86/63/75/+3/0.00/598/69              25 S   RMY 29
8/2  68/59/64/-8/0.11/009/01              21 ESE RMY 22
8/3  71/60/66/-6/0.01/104/12              12 SE  RMY 12
8/4  83/64/74/+2/0.00/550/64              20 S   RMY 21
8/5  87/66/77/+5/0.00/798/93              17 S   RMY 19
8/6  79/64/72/0/0.07/462/54               23 WNW RMY 25
8/7  79/58/69/-3/T/589/69                 22 NW  RMY 24 TSTM
8/8  82/55/69/-3/0.00/817/96              20 WNW RMY 20
8/9  82/60/71/-1/0.00/730/86              16 WNW RMY 17
8/10 84/63/74/+3/0.00/770/91              15 W   RMY N/A
8/11 85/63/74/+3/0.00/667/79              25 S   RMY 29
8/12 81/64/73/+2/0.00/387/46              25 SSE RMY N/A
8/13 69/61/65/-6/1.09/000/00              35 ESE RMY 37
8/14 73/57/65/-6/0.00/828/99              27 W   RMY 29
8/15 74/56/65/-6/0.09/459/55              23 W   RMY 23 TSTM
8/16 76/56/66/-5/0.00/640/77              24 SW  RMY 27
8/17 78/60/69/-2/0.01/555/67              21 WNW RMY 23
8/18 77/56/67/-4/0.00/776/94              23 WNW RMY 25
8/19 78/54/66/-4/0.00/816/99              17 WNW RMY 17
8/20 78/58/68/-2/0.00/813/99              15 NE  RMY 15
8/21 76/58/67/-3/T/434/53                 16 ENE RMY 17
8/22 71/60/66/-4/0.07/057/07              17 NE  RMY 19
8/23 71/58/65/-5/0.00/618/76              22 ENE RMY 25
8/24 78/58/68/-2/0.00/811/100             16 ENE RMY N/A
8/25 85/63/74/+5/0.00/808/100             16 NW  RMY 17
8/26 89/62/70/+7/0.00/…/..              20 SSW RMY 23
8/27 89/64/77/+8/0.03/…/..              23 SW  RMY 25
8/28 80/59/70/+1/0.00/…/..              25 NW  RMY 28
8/29 73/54/64/-5/0.00/…/..              18 E   RMY 21
8/30 77/55/66/-2/0.00/…/..              23 S   RMY 28

8/31 morning low temp: 63F since midnight; normal low now 60F

morning low temp: 55F; normal low now 60F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2014:
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 30
HIGH 94F IN 1953
LOW 39F IN 1965
PRECIP 2.75 INCHES IN 1936
PEAK GUST 43 MPH NW IN 1965

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 31
HIGH 94F IN 1953
LOW 42F IN 1976
PRECIP 2.46 INCHES IN 1954
PEAK GUST 125 MPH SE IN 1954 [CAROL – RECORD FOR MONTH]

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling