Thursday, February 22, 2018

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WINDS SHIFT AND TEMPERATURES RETURN TO SEASONABLE
AFTER RECORD BREAKING WARMTH…EARLIEST TEMPERATURE
OF 70F OR MORE…NEW FEBRUARY RECORD FOR DAILY HIGH
MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F…

Temperatures are returning to more seasonable after
two of the warmest February days on record. We set
two records yesterday, one for high maximum and the
other for high minimum. Our high minimum of 50F is
the warmest high minimum for February on record,
surpassing the previous record of 49F in 1981. We
also set the record for high maximum temperature of
70F. This is the second warmest maximum temperature
in February on record, and the mean on Friday of 60F is
the warmest ever observed in February. 70F is
32 degrees above the daily normal of 38F and the
mean of 60F is 31 degrees above normal for the date.

Temperatures began to drop overnight after
winds shifted from the SSW-NNW. During the day
today they have shifted again from NNW-NE. This
caused temperatures to drop by 30 degrees since
yesterday afternoon. Temperatures have continued to
drop throughout the day with a high of 53F at
midnight and a low of 37F by 1:00 P.M.
Skies remained overcast altostratus today but we
still had excellent visibility, especially in the
morning. This was due to the low dew points and
relative humidity we observed today. We could
see 80 miles in the morning, but the relative
humidity rose in the afternoon bringing haze to
the region and limited visibility to 60 miles.
We have had a few fast moving rain showers pass
by the Observatory today. Ice pellets were
observed for a short period around 11:20 A.M.

BHO Warmest February Daily Maximum Temperature, deg F (1885-2018):
1) 71 on 24 Feb 2017
2) 70 on 21 Feb 2018
3) 68 on 24 Feb 1985
68 on 25 Feb 2017
68 on 20 Feb 2018
6) 67 on 26 Feb 1957
67 on 25 Feb 1976
67 on 23 Feb 2017
9) 66 on 20 Feb 1930
66 on 19 Feb 1981

BHO Warmest February Daily High Minimum Temperature, deg F (1885-2018):
1) 50 on 21 Feb 2018
2) 49 on 20 Feb 1981
3) 48 on 20 Feb 2018
4) 47 on 28 Feb 1910
47 on 23 Feb 1990
47 on 24 Feb 2017
7) 46 on 26 Feb 1957
8) 45 on 22 Feb 1954
45 on 05 Feb 1991
45 on 21 Feb 2002

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: N at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.61 ins. Hg, rising unsteadily
Visibility:  80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 51F
6-hr Min temp: 40F
24-hr precip:  0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E70 OVC 80 367/40/21/3507/061/ 8/02/ 52032
10051 20040

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few stratocumulus in all
directions
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: ENE at 13G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.64 ins. Hg, rising then, more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
3-hr precip: 0.00
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E75 OVC 80 375/39/24/0613G20/064/
FEW SC ALQDS/ 8/52/ 51008

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few stratocumulus in all
directions
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: ENE at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.63 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E70 OVC 60 372/37/24/0610/063/ FEW SC ALQDS
DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/52/ 58003 MANUAL 600// 10040 20037

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..70   NORMAL…..38
MIN…..50   NORMAL…..20
MEAN….60   NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………+31
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..+157 [+7.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..5   DEPARTURE………-31
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………634   DEPARTURE……..-159
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….3955   DEPARTURE……..-368
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..3758   DIFFERENCE…….+197

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….32 SW AT 9:06 A.M.
AERO……………………30 SW AT 9:05 A.M.
ASOS……………………33 SW AT 9:03 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..32 M  AT 9:06 A.M.** RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………25 SW AT 9:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………25 SW AT 9:09 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..23 M  AT 9:08 A.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….16.4 SSW
ASOS………………….16.7
DAVIS…………………15.2 **
** Davis direction malfunctioning

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.25  DEPARTURE……+0.29
ASOS…………..3.40
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.25  DEPARTURE……+1.94
ASOS…………..9.98

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….9.4  DEPARTURE……..-1.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..43.9  DEPARTURE……..+0.3

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1  45/27/36/+10/…./0.0/120/20      36 SSW AERO 35 SSW RMY N/A
2/2  34/08/21/-5/…./2.5/223/37       43 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY 46
2/3  25/04/15/-11/0.00/0.0/557/92      26 S   AERO 24 S   RMY 30
2/4  45/23/34/+8/…/T/000/00          31 SSE AERO 29 S   RMY 30
2/5  46/19/33/+7/0.00/0.0/464/76       47 WNW AERO 47 WNW RMY 44
2/6  31/17/24/+2/T/T/025/04            26 SSW AERO 23 SSW RMY 23
2/7  42/21/32/+5/0.62/1.1/000/00       45 SW  AERO 46 SW  RMY 47
2/8  30/20/25/-2/0.00/0.0/501/81       38 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY N/A
2/9  30/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/384/62       28 S   AERO 25 S   RMY N/A
2/10 51/28/40/+13/…./0.0/…/..      31 S   AERO 30 S   RMY 31
2/11 46/36/41/+14/…./0.0/000/00      24 SW  AERO 21 SW  RMY N/A
2/12 53/27/40/+13/…./0.0/…/..      33 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY N/A
2/13 31/21/26/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..       22 S   AERO 18 WNW RMY 21
2/14 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..       30 S   AERO 26 SSW RMY 29
2/15 47/35/41/+13/…./0.0/000/00      23 SSW AERO 20 SSW RMY N/A
2/16 50/31/41/+13/…./0.0/…/..      45 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 42
2/17 38/23/31/+3/…./…/…/..       33 SSW AERO 29 SSE RMY 33
2/18 42/29/35/+6/…./…/…/..       32 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY 34
2/19 48/30/39/+10/…./0.0/…/..      39 SSW AERO 37 SSW RMY 40
2/20 68/48/58/+29/…./0.0/…/..      32 SSW AERO 30 SSW RMY N/A
2/21 70/50/60/+31/0.00/0.0/…/..      32 SW  AERO 30 SW  RMY 33

2/22 Low temp since midnight is 37F; normal low is now 29F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2018

2/20/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 68F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 66F SET IN 1930
2/21/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 70F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 62F SET IN 1930
2/21/18: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 45F SET IN 2002

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 22
HIGH 63F IN 1997
LOW -1F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.38 INCHES IN 1900
SNOWFALL 8.0 INCHES IN 1893
PEAK GUST 74 MPH S IN 1974

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 23
HIGH 67F IN 2017
LOW -8F IN 1907
PRECIP 1.48 INCHES IN 1967
SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1967
PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1974

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan / Mike Iacono