Thursday, January 14, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WEDNESDAY WINDS AVERAGE 21.0 MPH, GUSTS TO 50 MPH-PLUS,
SNOW SHOWERS THIS MORNING BRING A TRACE OF NEW SNOW

Gusty westerly winds yesterday brought numerous gusts
throughout the day in the 40-60 MPH range with a 24-hr
average speed of 21.0 MPH. Blown and drifted snow thanks
to yesterday’s winds have reduced the meager amount of snow
on the summit from 2 to 1 inch of average snow depth atop
Great Blue Hill.

Overnight, temperatures dipped to a seasonable low of
17F, with lighter winds. A quick round of snow showers
this morning brought a trace of new snow and liquid
equivalent. By today’s 1:00 PM EST observation skies
were partly cloudy with thin fog and hazy visibility.
Temperatures were still stuck below freezing reaching
a maximum so far of 28F.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, showers distant S-NNE
Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: WSW at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.90 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 10 miles, 5 miles Sw, 20 miles E-SSE, showers distant
6-hr Max temp: 19F
6-hr Min temp: 17F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 1 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E50 OVC 10 125/19/8/2409/990/ VSBY SW 5 MI E-SSE 20 MI
SHWRS DSNT S-NNE/ 8/6// 53003 10019 20017

10 A.M.
Weather: Snow showers end 8:55 AM EST, showers distant E-SSW,
scattered stratus, scattered altocumulus, few cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: WSW at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.89 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 15 miles, showers distant, thin fog
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
3-hr precip: Trace
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 100 SCT 15 123/20/13/2509/989/ SW-E1355 SHWRS DSNT
E-SSW FEW CU ALQDS THN FG ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS TRACE/ 8/630 58002
MANUAL 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: estimated W at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, thin fog in all directions, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 17F
BHO SA 1755 30 SCT 180 SCT 40 102/28/13/E2706/983/ THN FG ALQDS HAZY
WND LGT/ 8/501 56021 MANUAL 6000/ 10028 20017

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..30   NORMAL…..34
MIN…..17   NORMAL…..17
MEAN….24   NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+67 [+5.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..41   DEPARTURE……….+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….442   DEPARTURE………-66
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2098   DEPARTURE……..-714
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2602   DIFFERENCE…….-504

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….50  W   AT  12:29 P.M.
ASOS……………………54  W   AT   9:43 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..49  N   AT   9:40 A.M. RMY 54
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………40  W   AT  10:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………39  W   AT  10:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..35  W   AT  10:06 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION……………21.0 WNW
ASOS……………………19.2
DAVIS…………………..17.6 WNW [299 Deg.] *last of several occurrences…

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……….1.75  DEPARTURE……-0.10
ASOS…………..1.87
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..1.75  DEPARTURE……-0.10
ASOS…………..1.87

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….2.6  DEPARTURE…….-4.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………3.9  DEPARTURE……-19.4

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

1/1   37/29/33/+6/0.00/0.0/…/..           29 W               RMY 29
1/2   37/27/32/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..           31 W               RMY N/A
1/3   41/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..           28 W               RMY 29
1/4   30/10/20/-6/T/T/000/00                29 NNW             RMY 29
1/5   23/4/14/-12/0.00/0.0/…/..           28 NNW             RMY N/A
1/6   43/17/30/+4/0.00/0.0/…/..           24 SW              RMY 24
1/7   43/25/34/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..           21 SW              RMY N/A
1/8   40/28/34/+8/T/0.0/…/..              28 E   AERO 25 ENE RMY 25
1/9   39/36/38/+12/T/0.0/…/..             21 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A
1/10  58/38/48/+23/1.55/0.0/000/00          53 SSE AERO 55 SSE RMY 53
1/11  48/21/35/+10/0.00/0.0/…/..          43 W   AERO 45 WSW RMY N/A
1/12  35/19/27/+2/…./…/…/..           30 SE  AERO N/A    RMY N/A
1/13  30/17/24/-1/…./…/…/..           50 W   AERO 58 W   RMY 54

1/14  low since midnight is 17F; normal low is now 17F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2016

**1/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 58F, BREAKS
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 54F SET BACK IN 2000**

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 14
HIGH 65F IN 1995
LOW -12F IN 1914
PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 2008
SNOWFALL 10.3 INS. IN 2008
PEAK GUST 68 MPH WNW IN 1976, S IN 2005

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 15
HIGH 64F IN 1995
LOW -16F IN 1957 [RECORD FOR MONTH] PRECIP 2.63 INS. IN 1958
SNOWFALL 8.8 INS. IN 1983
PEAK GUST 69e MPH SE IN 1940

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald