Thursday, December 15, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

COLD DAY WITH WINDS CONSISTENTLY GUSTING OVER 40 MPH

An arctic cold front has brought very cold temperatures, with temps.
expected to fall for the rest of the day to near record-low levels.
The max. temp. of 25F occurred at the 7:00AM observation which is
just 1F above the normal minimum temperature.

Winds continue to gust out of the west reaching 48 MPH just after
11:00AM.  The National Weather Service has issued a high wind
advisory for the area from this afternoon through early tomorrow
morning as winds are expected to increase to 50-60 MPH.

As of 1:00PM, no precipitation was measured, but distant virga was
observed throughout the day.

7 A.M.
Weather: Few cumulus SE-ENE, scattered altocumulus, virga W-NNE
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: W at 17G30 kts,
Peak Wind: 30 kts (35 MPH) W at 6:53AM
Sea-level pressure: 29.65 ins. Hg, falling, then less quickly
Visibility: 30 miles
6-hr Max temp: 29F
6-hr Min temp: 25F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
BHO SA 1155 74 SCT 30 041/25/05/2717G30/965/ FEW CU SE-ENE VIRGA W-NNE
PK WND 2730/53/ 8/130 56021 10029 20025

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 3F; Wind: W at 27G36 kts,
Peak Wind: 36 kts (41 MPH) W at 9:46AM
Sea-level pressure: 29.68 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 54 SCT 70 050/23/03/2727G36/968/ PK WND 2736/46/ 8/100 50009

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, virga SW-NNW
Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 1F; Wind: WNW at 21G36 kts,
Peak Wind: 38 kts (44 MPH) WNW at 12:42PM
Sea-level pressure: 29.67 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 40 miles SW-NNW
6-hr Max temp: 25F
6-hr Min temp: 20F
BHO SA 1755 54 SCT 70 046/22/01/2921G36/967/ VSBY SW-NNW 40 VIRGA SW-NNW
PK WND 2938/42/ 8/100 55004 10025 20020

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..40   NORMAL…..40
MIN…..26   NORMAL…..24
MEAN….33   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-2 [-0.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..32   DEPARTURE……….-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….433   DEPARTURE……….+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1463   DEPARTURE……..-230
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1281   DIFFERENCE…….+182

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….30 WNW AT 12:13 P.M.
ASOS……………………31 WNW AT 12:14 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..29 WSW AT 12:13 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………22 W   AT  3:38 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………23 W   AT 12:30 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..20 W   AT 12:14 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….11.7 W
ASOS………………….11.5
DAVIS…………………10.1 WSW [240 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.84  DEPARTURE……-1.46
ASOS…………..0.93
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….37.81  DEPARTURE…..-13.02
ASOS………….38.36

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.7  DEPARTURE…….-3.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………1.7  DEPARTURE…….-5.8

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

12/1  55/39/47/+10/0.20/0.0/385/69          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 36
12/2  48/34/41/+5/0.00/0.0/535/96           32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
13/3  44/31/38/+2/0.00/0.0/…/..           37 WNW AERO 39 WNW RMY 40
12/4  39/27/33/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A
12/5  36/27/32/-3/0.13/0.4/…/..           26 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 29
12/6  42/30/36/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           22 W   AERO 21 W   RMY N/A
12/7  39/34/37/+3/0.10/0.0/…/..           21 E   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A
12/8  40/29/35/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           30 W   AERO 31 W   RMY 33
12/9  35/21/28/-6/0.00/0.0/…/..           35 W   AERO 36 WNW RMY 34
12/10 27/17/22/-11/0.00/0.0/…/..          26 WNW AERO 27 WNW RMY 29
12/11 33/16/25/-8/0.06/0.4/…/..           17 SSW AERO 15 SW  RMY N/A
12/12 41/27/34/+1/0.35/0.9/…/..           29 ESE AERO 29 SE  RMY 30
12/13 41/30/36/+4/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 WSW AERO 25 W   RMY 27
12/14 40/26/33/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           30 WNW AERO 31 WNW RMY N/A

12/15 Low temp since midnight is 24F; normal low is now 24F

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 15
HIGH 64 IN 1975
LOW 4 IN 1900, 1905, 1933
PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1981
SNOW 7.5 INS. IN 1951
PEAK GUST 65 MPH NW IN 1991

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 16
HIGH 61 IN 1971
LOW -2 IN 1930
PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1960
SNOW 8.5 INS. IN 2007
WIND 73 MPH SSE IN 1982

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle