Thursday, December 7, 2023
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0700E
SUNSET: 1612E
CLOUDY AND COLD HERE ON THE SUMMIT OF BLUE HILL TODAY…
After a few peeks of sun early this morning, the skies have become
overcast for the balance of the day to this point. We had the
coldest temperatures of the young winter season this morning as
the low was in the upper teens.
The temperature is having a hard time recovering as readings have
only reached the mid-upper 20s early this afternoon. The dew point
is holding in the mid teens for the most part, so it’s definitely
a polar (borderline arctic) air mass in place today. These readings
are well below normal for the date, as our normal high should be
in the low-mid 40s.
The wind thankfully has been on the light side today with an
average speed of around 7mph. The highest gust so far today is
around 18mph, occurring just after 2am this morning.
Visibility was somewhat limited by haziness (trapped pollution
under the inversion) to only around 40 miles all morning, but has
finally improved to around 60 miles early this afternoon.
The maximum temperature so far today is 27F degrees, this is 16
degrees below the normal high of 43F. The minimum temperature since
midnight is 17F degrees, which is 10 degrees below the normal low
of 27F.
————————————————————–
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus offshore distant NNE-ESE
and distant SSE-SSW
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 13F; Relative Humidity: 83%
Wind: NNW @ 6 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1016.3 mb; 30.01 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hr Max temp: 22F
6-hr Min temp: 17F
24-hr Precip: 0.01 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.2 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 40 163/17/13/3306/001/ FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT NNE-ESE
AND DSNT SSE-SSW WND LGT TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.2 INS/ 8/502 53004
70001 10022 20017
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, broken cirrus,
few stratocumulus distant NNE-SE-SSW and distant W
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 15F; Relative Humidity: 73%
Wind: WNW @ 5 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1016.4 mb; 30.01 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 120 SCT E180 BKN 250 BKN 40 164/23/15/3005/001/ FEW SC DSNT
NNE-SE-SSW AND DSNT W THN K LYR ALQDS HAZY WND LGT/ 8/558 50001
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altocumulus, few breaks in overcast distant N-E-SSW,
higher clouds visible distant N-E-SSE, virga all quadrants
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 14F; Relative Humidity: 58%
Wind: W @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1013.9 mb; 29.94 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 27F
6-hr Min temp: 17F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E130 OVC 60 139/27/14/2808/994/ FEW BINOVC DSNT N-E-SSW
HIER CLDS VSBL DSNT N-E-SSE VIRGA ALQDS/ 8/05/ 56025 10027 20017
————————————————————–
SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….34 NORMAL…..43
MIN…….22 NORMAL…..28
MEAN……28 NORMAL…..35
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+21 [+3.3 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………37 DEPARTURE……..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..152 DEPARTURE…….-22
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1239 DEPARTURE……-138
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1120 DEPARTURE……+119
PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated
F420C (Official)……….E21 N @ 02:14 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….21 N @ 02:01 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….21 N @ 12:44 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….19 NNW @ 01:59 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………18 NNE @ 12:44 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..20 NNW @ 01:38 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..21 NNW @ 01:41 P.M.
MERLIN…………………18 N
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……19 @ 01:32 P.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………12 NNW @ 11:58 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..13 @ 02:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..13 @ 01:41 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………13 N @ 02:02 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………13 NNW @ 01:41 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..13 N @ 02:02 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..13 N @ 02:55 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………13 @ 02:02 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….8.2 N [197 total miles]
VECTOR #1……………..8.6
VECTOR #2……………..8.7
DAVIS #1………………8.4 N
DAVIS #2………………8.1 NNE
RMY #1………………..8.4 N
RMY #2………………..8.6 N
RICHARDS (C5C)…………9.0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.01 DEPARTURE…..-0.17
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.88 DEPARTURE…..-0.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..52.25 DEPARTURE…..+2.71
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.2 DEPARTURE……-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.3 DEPARTURE……-1.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)…….0.3 DEPARTURE……-3.7
————————————————————–
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
PEAK GUST: F420C (Official)
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY: R.M. Young #1 wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M: Missing data
12/1 51/38/45/+8/0.04/0.0/213/38 29 SW VEC1 28 SW RMY 29
12/2 48/43/46/+9/T/0.0/000/00 18 SSW VEC1 19 SSW RMY 19
12/3 44/41/43/+7/0.76/0.0/000/00 31 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 33
12/4 49/37/43/+7/0.07/0.0/155/28 23 W VEC1 22 W RMY 23
12/5 38/28/33/-3/0.00/0.0/144/26 23 NNW VEC1 24 NW RMY 24
12/6 34/22/28/-7/0.01/0.3/100/18 21 N VEC1 21 N RMY 20
12/7 The low since midnight is 17F, the daily normal low is 27F
————————————————————–
DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE
NONE…
————————————————————–
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 7
HIGH 74 IN 1998
LOW 6 IN 1906
PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1953
SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 2003
PEAK GUST 76e SE IN 1976
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 8
HIGH 62 IN 1966
LOW -4 IN 1906
PRECIP 1.54 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 2.5 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 78e W IN 1979
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
