Thursday, February 1, 2024

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

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0658E
SUNSET:  1658E

THE TEMPERATURE IS MILDER TODAY DESPITE CLOUDS CONTINUING TO
DOMINATE….

Happy 139th Birthday Blue Hill Observatory! On today’s date
in 1885, the first observation was taken here at BHO, and we
haven’t missed a day since!

Clouds continue to dominate the sky today, although there
has been enough thinning early this afternoon that a few
dim rays have been observed, however, so far it has not been
enough to really burn the sun card.

The temperature today has been rising through the 30s, and has
reached the 40F mark early this afternoon. All in all it doesn’t
feel too bad outside. This will allow for some melting of the
snow cover here on the summit, which still stood at 2 inches at
7am this morning, and is now down to 1 inch at 1pm.

The wind has been increasing a bit through the day with an
average speed so far of around 9mph. The peak gust so far,
which occurred just after 10am, is 25mph.

Visibility has been limited to around 20-30 miles all day due
to haziness.

The maximum temperature so far today is 40F degrees, which is
5 degrees above the normal high of 35F. The minimum temperature
so far since midnight is 30F degrees, this is 13 degrees above
the normal low of 17F.

January was very wet in terms of overall precipitation. The
month finished with 9.24″ being recorded. This ranks as the 5th
wettest January on record. Here is the rankings list as compiled
by our Chief Scientist, Mike Iacono.

BHO Highest January Precipitation, inches (1886-2024):

1) 11.61 in 1979
2) 10.97 in 1958
3) 9.85 in 1978
4) 9.56 in 1956
5) 9.24 in 2024
6) 8.49 in 1996
7) 8.47 in 1999
8) 8.41 in 1936

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PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2024

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 36.4 [+1.7] Avg. Min. 24.0 [+5.7] Mean      30.2 [+3.7] 24-hour corrected mean: 29.8
Max. for month: 57F on the 13th
Min. for month: 10F on the 20th and 21st

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:   1070 [-123] Total for the season:  2965 [-438] Total for last season: 2823

COOLING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units:    000 [ 000] Total for the season:   000 [ 000] Total for last season:  000

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 9.24 [+4.74] Greatest in 24 hrs: 2.88 on the 9th-10th

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 20.6 [+2.0] Greatest in 24 hrs: 13.2 on the 6th-7th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.2 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   11.7 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   Northwest [18%] Peak gust and direction:  70 SSE on the 10th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 5880 of a possible 17130, or 34%
Astronomical total minutes: 6056 of a possible 17652, or 34%

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 28F; Relative Humidity: 88%
Wind: SW @ 6 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1017.4 mb; 30.04 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 2 inches
BHO SA 1155 E16 OVC 30 174/31/28/2206/004/ HAZY WND LGT/ 8/6// 4/002
53003 10031 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 79%
Wind: SW @ 9G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1016.9 mb; 30.03 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 25 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 E16 OVC 25 169/34/29/2209G16/003/ HAZY/ 8/6// 58005

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus/altostratus, overcast cirrostratus,
few breaks in overcast distant E-S, few stratus fractus all quadrants
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 31F; Relative Humidity: 72%
Wind: SW @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1014.8 mb; 29.97 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 20 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 1 inch
BHO SA 1755 E120 BKN 200 OVC 20 148/39/31/2308/997/ FEW BINOVC DSNT
E-S FEW STFRA ALQDS SUN DMLY VSBL HAZY/ 8/778 4/001 58021 10040 20031

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SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….32   NORMAL…..35
MIN…….23   NORMAL…..17
MEAN……28   NORMAL…..26

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….+119 [+3.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………37  DEPARTURE……..-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….1070  DEPARTURE……-123
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………2965  DEPARTURE……-438
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….2823  DEPARTURE……+142

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)……….E14 SW   @  11:57 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….13 SW   @  11:52 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….12 WSW  @  08:23 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….13 S    @  02:08 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………13 WSW  @  02:52 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..14 SSW  @  02:07 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..13 SW   @  11:52 P.M.
MERLIN…………………13 SW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……14      @  11:52 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL……………….9 SW   @  11:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..10      @  11:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..10      @  02:14 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE…………….9 S    @  02:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE…………….9 WSW  @  11:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..10 SW   @  11:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..10 SW   @  02:14 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………10      @  11:40 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….4.5 SW [107 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..5.3
VECTOR #2……………..5.3
DAVIS #1………………4.4 SW
DAVIS #2………………4.8 SW
RMY #1………………..5.3 SW
RMY #2………………..5.3 SW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………5.5

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..9.24 DEPARTURE…..+4.74
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)……..9.24 DEPARTURE…..+4.74

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….20.6 DEPARTURE……+2.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)……20.9 DEPARTURE…..-12.8

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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

1/1   37/25/31/+2/0.00/0.0/296/54         15 N   VEC1 14 N   RMY 15
1/2   39/19/29/+1/0.00/0.0/550/100        17 WNW VEC1 17 WNW RMY 17
1/3   42/25/34/+6/0.00/0.0/347/63         20 WNW VEC1 21 WNW RMY 21
1/4   42/21/32/+4/T/T/237/43              37 NNW VEC1 36 NNW RMY 39
1/5   32/17/25/-3/0.00/0.0/542/98         40 NW  VEC1 39 NW  RMY 39
1/6   34/24/29/+1/0.11/0.2/022/04         36 E   VEC1 36 E   RMY 36
1/7   33/21/27/0/0.84/13.0/000/00         38 ENE VEC1 37 ENE RMY 42
1/8   32/21/27/0/0.00/0.0/406/73          28 NW  VEC1 28 NW  RMY 31
1/9   40/23/32/+5/0.98/T/000/00           46 SE  VEC1 49 SE  RMY 46
1/10  53/41/47/+20/1.90/0.0/201/36        70 SSE VEC1 69 SSE RMY 75
1/11  43/35/39/+12/0.00/0.0/162/29        45 WNW VEC1 43 WNW RMY 47
1/12  47/33/40/+13/0.00/0.0/533/95        29 SE  VEC1 28 ESE RMY 28
1/13  57/36/47/+21/1.72/0.0/146/26        47 ESE VEC1 51 ESE RMY 49
1/14  39/22/31/+5/0.02/0.4/328/58         53 WNW VEC1 52 WNW RMY 54
1/15  31/17/24/-2/T/T/475/84              30 WNW VEC1 29 WNW RMY 30
1/16  34/19/27/+1/0.61/3.2/000/00         36 NW  VEC1 33 NW* RMY 31*
1/17  25/13/19/-7/0.00/0.0/529/93         29 NW  VEC1 28 W*  RMY 27*
1/18  26/13/20/-6/0.00/0.0/069/12         30 WSW VEC1 30 WSW RMY 29
1/19  27/16/22/-4/T/T/000/00              31 NW  VEC1 30 NW  RMY 34
1/20  20/10/15/-11/0.05/0.7/172/30        30 NW  VEC1 30 NW  RMY 31
1/21  25/10/18/-8/0.00/0.0/513/89         30 NW  VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32
1/22  37/13/25/-1/0.00/0.0/416/72         35 SW  VEC1 35 SW  RMY 36
1/23  38/30/34/+8/0.07/0.5/006/01         30 WSW VEC1 30 WSW RMY 31
1/24  39/29/34/+8/0.40/0.7/000/00         26 S   VEC1 26 S   RMY 26
1/25  50/38/44/+18/0.18/0.0/088/15        35 SW  VEC1 34 SSW RMY 36
1/26  40/35/38/+12/0.69/0.0/000/00        23 ESE VEC1 23 ESE RMY 23
1/27  36/33/35/+9/0.06/0.0/000/00         20 NNE VEC1 20 NNE RMY 19
1/28  35/31/33/+7/0.70/0.6/000/00         33 NNE VEC1 33 NNE RMY 35
1/29  34/29/32/+6/0.13/0.9/018/03         38 N   VEC1 38 N   RMY 39
1/30  30/21/26/+/0.06/0.4/000/00          26 ENE VEC1 26 ENE RMY 28
1/31  32/23/28/+2/0.00/0.0/000/00         14 SW  VEC1 13 SW  RMY 14

2/1 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 17F

* Reading impacted by icing

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JANUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

1/13: RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 1.72 INS,
BEATS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.54 INS SET IN 1979

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 1
HIGH 65F IN 1989
LOW -9F IN 1920
PRECIP 1.86 INS. IN 2021
SNOWFALL 12.7 INS. IN 2021
PEAK GUST 66e MPH SSW IN 1951

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2
HIGH 55F IN 1951, 1973
LOW -12F IN 1961
PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1999
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. IN 2015
PEAK GUST 92 MPH SW IN 1970

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas