Sunday, February 7, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SOUTHWEST WINDS BRING MILDER TEMPERATURE EARLY TODAY
TEMPERATURES REACH 40F BY NOON AFTER MAX. 35F SATURDAY
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL 12.5 INCHES ON FRIDAY…
SNOW DEPTH ON GROUND DROPS 2 INCHES TO 10 INCHES

Southwest winds which began yesterday and continued
through last night have imported warmer air. The
morning low 26F this was well over the 17F recorded
for Saturday morning. Bright sunshine and light winds
today have allowed the temperature to rise to 40F
during the noon hour. A much more rapid melt of the
snow stuck to trees began occurring.

The rain and snow storm that began on Thursday evening
ended late Friday afternoon after bringing a storm total
of 12.5 inches of snow to the summit.  The total liquid
precipitation for the storm was 1.70 inches, though this
included some rain early on Friday.  Much of the heavy
and wet snow remained on the trees throughout the area
including on the summit, which provided an unusually
white scene across eastern Massachusetts from the top
of Great Blue Hill on Saturday morning. There was only
a little melting during Saturday as temperatures rose
only to 35 degrees.

Two people died from injuries which they suffered from
falling tree limbs during the heavy buildup of snow on
trees and wires Friday in nearby Canton.

The snowfall on Friday, February 5 of 12.5 inches was
not a record for the date which remains intact at 16 inches.

The month of January finished significantly warmer than
normal at 4.3 degrees F above normal. The average minimum
temperature of 22.3F was more than 5 degrees above normal.
January was drier than normal as well, with precipitation
0.58 inches less than normal, and snowfall 2.8 inches less
than normal.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2016

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 37.2 [+3.4] Avg. Min. 22.3 [+5.2] Mean      29.8 [+4.3] 24-hour Corrected Mean: 29.5
Max. for month: 58 on 10th
Min. for month:  4 on  5th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units: 1086 [-140] Total for the season: 2742 [-789] Total for last season: 3531

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.77 [-0.58] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.55 ins. on the 10th
Snowfall: 14.3 [-2.8] Greatest in 24 hrs: 7.1 ins. on the 23rd

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 13.7
Avg. corrected wind speed: 14.0
Prevailing wind direction: NW @ 19%
Peak gust and direction: 55 WNW on the 19th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 8964 out of 17130 poss. or 149.4 hours or 52%
Astronomical total minutes:   9243 out of 17638 poss. or 154.1 hours or 52%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, patches of altocumulus and altocumulus lenticularis to the
ESE-SSW
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: WSW at 10 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly
but lower than 3 hours ago
Visibility: 15 miles, thin fog and hazy inversion present
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 26F
24-hr precip: zero
Snow depth: 10 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 12 214/26/22/2510/016/ PTCHS AC/ACSL ESE-SSW
THN FG/HAZY ALQDS INVSN PRSNT/ 8/040 4/010 55003 10028 20026

10 A.M.
Weather Thin scattered cirrus, clouds E-SSW
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: SW at 3 kts, estimated
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, rising slightly, then more slowly
Visibility: 15 miles,  thin smoke layer SW-NW-NE, hazy all quadrants
BHO SA 1455 250 -SCT 15 216/34/25/E2203/017/ THN SCT LYR E-S-SW
THN K LYR SE-NW-NE HAZY WND LGT/ 8/001 51002

1 P.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus vicinity, cirrostratus layer extending ESE-SW,
advancing
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: NNNE at 3 kts (estimated),
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly
Visibility: 25 miles, visibility NE 20 miles, hazy all quadrants
6-hr Max temp: 42F
6-hr Min temp: 26F
BHO SA 1755 300 -SCT 25 209/42/24/E0203/015/ 300 CI VC STN CS
LYR XTDNG ESE-SW ADVCNG FRM S HAZY WND LGT/ 8/005 55007
10042 20026

SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..35   NORMAL…..35
MIN…..17   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….26   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………..0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+83 [+13.6 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..39   DEPARTURE………..0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….151   DEPARTURE………-83
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2893   DEPARTURE……..-872
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3637   DIFFERENCE…….-744

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….25 SSW AT  3:49 P.M.
ASOS……………………24 SSW AT  3:49 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..22 SSW AT  3:49 P.M. RMY 23
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………17 SSW AT  7:06 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………17 SSW AT  7:06 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..17 SSW AT  3:51 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….12.1 SSW
ASOS………………….12.7
DAVIS…………………11.2 WSW [250 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.13
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.50  DEPARTURE……+1.69
ASOS…………..2.55
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.27  DEPARTURE……+1.11
ASOS…………..6.49

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………12.5  DEPARTURE…….+9.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..28.1  DEPARTURE…….-8.0

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

1/1   37/29/33/+6/0.00/0.0/005/01           29 W               RMY 29
1/2   37/27/32/+5/0.00/0.0/461/84           31 W               RMY N/A
1/3   41/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/501/91           28 W               RMY 29
1/4   30/10/20/-6/T/T/000/00                29 NNW             RMY 29
1/5   23/4/14/-12/0.00/0.0/552/100          28 NNW             RMY N/A
1/6   43/17/30/+4/0.00/0.0/553/100          24 SW              RMY 24
1/7   43/25/34/+8/0.00/0.0/493/89  *        21 SW              RMY N/A
1/8   40/28/34/+8/0.00/0.0/000/00           28 E   AERO 25 ENE RMY 25
1/9   39/36/38/+12/T/0.0/000/00             21 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A
1/10  58/38/48/+23/1.55/0.0/000/00          53 SSE AERO 55 SSE RMY 53
1/11  48/21/35/+10/0.00/0.0/559/100         43 W   AERO 45 WSW RMY N/A
1/12  35/19/27/+2/0.18/2.2/359/64           30 SE  AERO N/A    RMY N/A
1/13  30/17/24/-1/0.02/0.2/551/98           50 W   AERO 58 W   RMY 54
1/14  28/17/23/-2/T/T/389/69                26 W   AERO N/A    RMY 25
1/15  40/23/32/+7/0.00/0.0/102/18           26 ESE AERO 25 ESE RMY 23
1/16  41/32/37/+12/1.03/T/000/00            32 NNW AERO 32 NNW RMY 28
1/17  33/26/30/+5/0.09/1.7/125/22           29 WNW AERO 28 WNW RMY N/A
1/18  26/15/21/-4/0.16/2.9/467/82  *        50 W   AERO 50 W   RMY 47
1/19  22/13/18/-7/0.00/0.0/194/34           55 WNW AERO 59 W   RMY 55
1/20  30/15/23/-2/0.00/0.0/471/82           46 WNW AERO 47 WNW RMY 45
1/21  30/15/23/-2/0.00/0.0/559/97           38 WNW AERO 38 NW  RMY 35
1/22  28/14/21/-4/0.00/0.0/399/69           32 NW  AERO 32 NW  RMY N/A
1/23  30/18/24/-1/0.74/7.1/000/00           54 NE  AERO 56 NE  RMY 50
1/24  33/14/24/-1/T/T/466/80                34 N   AERO 37 N   RMY 29
1/25  37/20/29/+4/0.00/0.0/444/76           22 NW  AERO 22 NW  RMY N/A
1/26  49/27/38/+13/0.00/0.0/064/11          44 SSW AERO 47 SSW RMY 43
1/27  43/27/35/+10/0.00/0.0/182/31          38 WNW AERO 40 SSW RMY 37
1/28  41/23/32/+7/0.00/0.0/537/91           29 SSW AERO 29 SSW RMY 29
1/29  39/32/36/+11/0.00/0.0/012/02          25 NW  AERO 24 NW  RMY 28
1/30  42/26/33/+8/0.00/0.0/482/81  *        39 SW  AERO 43 SW  RMY 38
1/31  56/36/46/+20/0.00/0.0/316/53  *       37 S   AERO 38 S   RMY 36

* Sunshine corrected on 7th, 18th, 30th, 31st

2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34
2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/…/..          23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A
2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53
2/4   55/39/47/+21/…./0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
2/5   39/19/29/+3/…./12.5/000/00          37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35
2/6   35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/…/..            25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23

2/7   morning low temp. since midnight 26F; normal now 18F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2016

**1/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 58F, BREAKS
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 54F SET BACK IN 2000**

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 7
HIGH 51F IN 1951,1953
LOW -8F IN 1910
PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1983
SNOWFALL 17.1 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 87e MPH SSE IN 1951

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 8
HIGH 60F IN 1933
LOW -9F IN 1934
PRECIP 2.50 INS. IN 1945
SNOWFALL 16.1 INS. IN 2013
PEAK GUST 63e MPH NE IN 1945, 2013

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling, today’s observer and
by Mike Iacono, Saturday observer.