Thursday, February 9, 2017

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH HEAVY SNOW, HIGH WIND GUSTS AND FOG

Snow began falling right before 7am and continued to fall heavily until
after our 1pm observation. Winds were strong and out of the NE with a
peak gust of 52 MPH just after noon. With winds blowing and fog moving
in, visibility decreased from 20 miles at 7 AM to 1/8 mile at 10 AM.

Total snow measured so far today is 6.8 ins. with more on the way.
Temperatures decreased throughout the day because of the winter storm with
a low of 24F by 1pm and a high of 35F shortly after midnight.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light snow
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: NNE at 16G25 kts
Peak Wind:27 kts (31 MPH) NE at 6:43 AM
Sea-level pressure: 29.65 ins. Hg, falling unsteadily
Visibility: 20 miles, distant fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 35F
6-hr Min temp: 33F
24-hr precip: Trace
24-hr snowfall:Trace
BHO SA 1155 E17 OVC 20S- 039/34/29/0316G25/965/ DSNT FG ALQDS
PK WND 0527/43/ S-B55 NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/ 8/6//
50701 10035 20033

10 A.M.
Weather: Heavy snow and thick fog
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: NE at 19G37 kts
Peak Wind: 41 kts (47 MPH) NE at 9:34 AM
Sea-level pressure: 29.55 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 1/8 mile
3-hr precip: 0.31 ins.
3-hr snowfall: 2.4 ins.
BHO SA 1455 W2 X 1/8S+F 007/29/29/0519G37/955/ PK WND 0541/34
NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 2.4 INS/ 8//// 4/002 58032 MANUAL 6031/ ASOS
60036

1 P.M.
Weather: Heavy snow and thick fog, thundersnow began at 12:22 PM
Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: N at 20G29 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.45 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 1/8 mile
6-hr Max temp: 34F
6-hr Min temp: 24F
6-hr precip: 0.71 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 6.8 ins.
BHO SA 1755 W2 X 1/8S+F 972/24/24/0120G29/945/ PK WND 0135/07 TSB22
SNINCR 1/5 NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 6.8 INS/ 8//// 4/005 58035
MANUAL 6071/ ASOS 60074 10034 20024

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..49   NORMAL…..35
MIN…..35   NORMAL…..18
MEAN….37   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+39 [+4.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..28   DEPARTURE………+10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….271   DEPARTURE………-40
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3298   DEPARTURE……..-544
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2962   DIFFERENCE…….+336

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….25 W   AT  2:24 P.M.
ASOS……………………25 W   AT  2:24 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..26 WNW AT  2:24 P.M. RMY 31
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………21 W   AT  2:23 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………21 W   AT  2:21 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..20 WNW AT  2:22 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….10.1 NW
ASOS………………….10.0
DAVIS………………….8.7 NW [308 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…Trace  DEPARTURE……-0.13
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.57  DEPARTURE……-0.51
ASOS…………..0.64
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..6.07  DEPARTURE……+0.64
ASOS…………..6.51

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..Trace  DEPARTURE…….-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.1  DEPARTURE…….-2.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..21.9  DEPARTURE……-15.1

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   40/23/32/+6/0.03/0.4/…/..           43 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 47
2/2   38/25/32/+6/T/T/…/..                36 WNW AERO 37 WNW RMY 36
2/3   30/19/25/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..           28 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY 31
2/4   31/15/23/-3/0.00/0.0/…/..           31 WNW AERO 30 WNW RMY N/A
2/5   43/22/33/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..           38 SSW AERO 41 SSW RMY N/A
2/6   37/28/33/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..           41 WNW AERO 41 WNW RMY 43
2/7   37/30/34/+7/0.54/0.7/…/..           32 ENE AERO 31 ENE RMY 32
2/8   49/25/37/+10/T/0.0/…/..             25 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 31

2/9  Low temp since midnight is 24F; normal low is now 18F

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 9
HIGH 58F IN 1990
LOW -21F IN 1934 [LOWEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD] PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 14.0 INS. IN 2015
PEAK GUST 89 MPH NE IN 1969

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 10
HIGH 56F IN 1909
LOW -8F IN 1899
PRECIP 1.34 INS. IN 1909
SNOWFALL 12.1 INS. IN 1926
PEAK GUST 64 MPH W IN 2001

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle and Kaitlin Geagan