Thursday, February 23, 2023

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

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0629E
SUNSET:  1726E

MIXED BAG OF WINTRY PRECIP OVERNIGHT, BECOMING LIGHT SNOW AND
CONTINUING THROUGH THE DAY….

Mother Nature threw the kitchen sink at us overnight with
snow, sleet, and freezing rain being observed for several
hours. Precipitation started as snow during the evening hours
last night before mixing with sleet, and eventually freezing
rain. 0.5″ of snow and sleet accumulated by midnight.

Freezing rain and sleet were the dominant precipitation
types during the wee hours of the morning with snow mixing
back in between 4-5am. Up to 1/8″ of an inch of ice accrual
was observed this morning. Snow and sleet then became the
dominate types by 6am. Another 0.7″ of snow and sleet was
measured at 7am, bringing the total to 1.2″.

Precipitation gradually transitioned to all snow just after
9am, and it’s been snowing here on the hill ever since. Most
of the snow falling now is due to ocean effect. At any rate,
another 1.8″ of snow has fallen between 7am and 1pm, bringing
the storm total to 3.0″ so far. This is so far the 2nd biggest
snow event of the season! Storm total liquid through 1pm is
0.95″, so there is a good chance we’ll exceed 1.00″ for the
event, by far the biggest event of the month to date.

Temperatures have been at or below freezing all day, only the
5th day of the month to do so.

The wind has been gusty today. It was blowing from the east
and east-northeast this morning, but has backed to the north-
northeast early this afternoon. The average speed for the day
has been around 8mph. The peak gust so far is 29mph, occurring
just before 9am this morning.

Visibility has been limited all day of course, generally
holding under a half mile.

The high so far today is 32F, which is 7 degrees below the
normal maximum of 39F. The low since midnight is 28F, which
is 7 degrees above the normal low of 21F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 200ft, light snow and sleet
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 32F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: ENE @ 13G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1013.6 mb; 29.93 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 1/4 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
24-hr Precip:  0.66 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 1.2 ins.
Snow Depth: 1 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W2 1/4S-IP-F 136/32/32/0713G20/993/ ZR-E25 IP-E40B50
S-B40 GLZ ACC 1/8 IN NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.2 INS/ 8//// 4/001 55008
6036/ 70066 10032 20031

10 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 300ft, light snow
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 31F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: ENE @ 13G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1014.4mb; 29.96 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 1/2 mile, fog
3-hr Precip:  0.17 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.8 ins.
BHO SA 1455 X W3 1/2S-F 144/31/31/0613G21/996/ NEW SNW PST 3 HRS
0.8 INS/ 8//// 53008 6017/

1 P.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 300ft, light snow
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: NNE @ 10G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1015.0 mb; 29.97 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 1/4 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
6-hr Precip:  0.29 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 1.8 ins.
Snow Depth: 3 ins.
BHO SA 1755 X W3 1/4S-F 150/29/29/0310G16/997/ NEW SNW PST 6 HRS
1.8 INS/ 8//// 4/003 51006 6029/ 10032 20028

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SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….42   NORMAL…..38
MIN…….30   NORMAL…..21
MEAN……36   NORMAL…..30

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….+163 [+7.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………29  DEPARTURE……..-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..659  DEPARTURE……-163
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3482  DEPARTURE……-743
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3861  DEPARTURE……-379

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
420C, Contacting, Merlin and Richards are all Main Tower.

420C (Official)…………33 WNW @ 12:58 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….35 WNW @ 12:58 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….36     @ 12:52 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….33 WNW @ 12:41 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………33 WNW @ 12:32 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..36 WNW @ 12:41 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..35 WNW @ 12:33 A.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……35     @ 12:58 A.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………26 WNW @ 12:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..22     @ 12:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..25     @ 12:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………23 WNW @ 12:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………25 WNW @  1:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..21 WNW @ 12:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..25 WNW @ 12:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………22     @ 12:49 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…… 9.3 W [224 total miles] VECTOR #1……………. 9.4
VECTOR #2…………….10.0
DAVIS #1…………….. 9.5 WNW
DAVIS #2…………….. 9.8 WNW
RMY #1………………. 9.0 WNW
RMY #2………………. 9.9 WNW
RICHARDS (C5C)……….. 9.8

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.66 DEPARTURE…..+0.50
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.95 DEPARTURE…..-2.11
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……………7.74 DEPARTURE…..+0.18

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..1.2 DEPARTURE……+0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..2.8 DEPARTURE…..-11.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……17.7 DEPARTURE…..-30.5

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

2/1   30/18/24/-2/T/T/552/92              17 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 20
2/2   38/19/29/+3/0.00/0.0/518/86         25 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/3   28/-11/9/-17/T/T/557/92             56 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 64
2/4   14/-14/0/-26/0.00/0.0/473/78        45 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/5   49/14/32/+5/0.00/0.0/359/59         38 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 43
2/6   47/30/39/+12/0.00/0.0/025/04        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/7   31/22/27/0/0.01/0.1/461/75          29 SSW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 33
2/8   46/31/39/+12/0.00/0.0/413/67        30 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 34
2/9   49/33/41/+14/T/0.0/149/24           31 SSE  VEC1 N/A    RMY 32
2/10  60/31/46/+19/0.00/0.0/603/97        43 W    VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/11  43/31/37/+10/0.00/0.0/625/100       41 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 46
2/12  48/28/38/+10/0.00/0.0/339/54        22 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 24
2/13  42/33/38/+10/0.00/0.0/069/11        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 36
2/14  50/34/42/+14/0.00/0.0/475/75        30 NW   VEC1 33 NW  RMY 35
2/15  56/35/46/+18/0.00/0.0/279/44        39 SSW  VEC1 44 SSW RMY 49
2/16  61/50/56/+28/T/0.0/108/17           29 W    VEC1 31 W   RMY 34
2/17  56/23/40/+11/0.06/0.1/000/00        44 NNW  VEC1 46 NNW RMY 46
2/18  39/19/29/0/0.00/0.0/643/100         41 NW   VEC1 42 NNW RMY 47
2/19  44/30/37/+8/0.00/0.0/129/20         32 S    VEC1 35 S   RMY 36
2/20  59/41/50/+21/0.00/0.0/208/32        35 W    VEC1 36 W   RMY 40
2/21  41/31/36/+7/0.22/1.4/000/00         26 W    VEC1 27 W   RMY 27
2/22  42/30/36/+6/0.23/0.5/…/..         33 WNW  VEC1 35 WNW RMY 36

2/23  The low since midnight is 28F, the daily normal low is 21F

DAILY RECORDS

02/03/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -11F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -7F SET IN 1955

02/04/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -4F SET IN 1886 AND 1908

02/10/2023: NEW RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 56F SET IN 1909

02/16/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 41F SET IN 1976. THIS ALSO
TIES THE WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY SET
IN 2018

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 23
HIGH 67F IN 2017, 2022
LOW -8F IN 1907
PRECIP 1.48 INCHES IN 1967
SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1967
PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1974

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 24
HIGH 71F IN 2017 [RECORD HIGH FOR MONTH] LOW -11F IN 1894
PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1969
SNOWFALL 27.4 INCHES IN 1969 [HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY AMOUNT ON RECORD] PEAK GUST 63 MPH NE IN 1998

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas