Thursday, January 30, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

VERY COLD START TO THE DAY AGAIN WITH LOW 10F
GRADUAL MODERATION IN TEMPERATURE TO BEGIN SOON
DESPITE THE COLD WEATHER JANUARY IS ONLY SLIGHTLY
COLDER THAN THE 30-YEAR NORMAL

It appears that this morning’s minimum temperature of 10F
will be the end, at least for awhile, of the really cold
weather. We’ll have to see what February brings.

Snow for the month of January totals 33.1 inches, nearly
double our historic average. Below is a list of the snowiest
January’s

BHO Snowiest January’s, inches (1886-2014)

1) 56.3 in 1948
2) 48.2 in 2011
3) 48.0 in 1904
4) 47.6 in 1996
5) 46.0 in 1966
6) 44.8 in 2005
7) 44.5 in 1923
8) 38.3 in 1987
9) 35.6 in 1978
10) 33.1 in 2014

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, layer of dense cirrus/cirrostratus along horizon
to the NE-S
Temperature: 11F; Dew Point: -4F; Wind: WSW at 11kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.38 ins. Hg, rising then more rapidly
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze
6-hr. min temp: 10F
24-hr. precip: trace
24-hr. snowfall: trace
Total snow depth on ground: 1 inch
BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 288/11/-4/2511/038/ DNS CS/CI LYR DSNT ALG
HRZN NE-S DSNT HZ/ 8/008 4/001 53022 10014 20010

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, dense cirrus/cirrostratus layer distant SE-SSE
Temperature: 19F Dew Point: 0F; Wind: WNW at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.43 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, thin smoke layer W-N-E, distant haze
in all quadrants
BHO SA 1455 CLR 35 304/19/0/2906/043/ CI/CS LYR DSNT
ALG HRZN SE-SSE THN K LYR W-N-E DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/008 51016

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, cirrus distant SE-SSE
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: SW at 8 kts,
Wind: Direction variable S-WSW
Sea-level pressure: 30.37 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly
Visibility: 45 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max. temp: 27F
6-hr min. temp: 11F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 45 283/27/4/2208/037/ CI DSNT SE-SSE THN K
NNE-ENE DSNT HZ ALQDS WND 17V24/ 8/001 58021 10027 20011

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..24    NORMAL…..34
MIN…..11    NORMAL…..17
MEAN….18    NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-10 [-0.5 DEGREE/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..47  DEPARTURE……….+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………1159  DEPARTURE………+12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3436  DEPARTURE………-16
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……3086  DIFFERENCE…….+350

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………28 W   AT  2:20 P.M.
AERO…………………..23 W   AT  3:46 P.M.
ASOS…………………..27 W   AT  2:21 P.M.
DAVIS………………….25 WSW AT  2:20 P.M. RMY 27
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21 WSW AT  3:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..20 W   AT  8:12 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….19 WSW AT  3:46 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………… 8.8 W
ASOS………………….8.5
DAVIS…………………7.8 W [270 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…Trace  DEPARTURE………….-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….4.62  DEPARTURE………….+0.54
ASOS…………..4.94
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..4.62  DEPARTURE………….+0.54
ASOS…………..4.94

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..Trace  DEPARTURE…………..-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………33.1  DEPARTURE………….+17.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..48.8  DEPARTURE………….+16.7

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
RMY:  RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized

1/1  26/16/21/-6/0.00/0.0/505/92          25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 27
1/2  24/00/12/-15/0.97/10.9/000/00        39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39
1/3  12/-3/05/-21/0.38/4.7/270/49         36 N   AERO 39 MPH N   RMY 34
1/4  25/-4/11/-15/0.00/0.0/545/99         35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38
1/5  42/23/33/+7/0.08/0.0/259/47          30 SE  AERO 32 MPH SE  RMY 42
1/6  57/25/41/+15/0.29/0.0/006/01         41 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 48
1/7  25/06/16/-10/0.00/0.0/555/100        44 WNW AERO 46 MPH WNW RMY 42
1/8  21/3/12/-14/0.00/0.0/550/99          28 WSW AERO 29 MPH WSW RMY N/A
1/9  28/13/21/-5/0.00/0.0/540/97          23 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY 27
1/10 37/17/27/+2/0.05/0.3/000/00          17 SSW AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY N/A
1/11 57/37/47/+22/0.67/0.0/000/00         50 S   AERO 59 MPH S   RMY 59
1/12 51/32/42/+17/0.04/0.0/292/52         41 W   AERO 44 MPH W   RMY 42
1/13 50/30/40/+15/0.00/0.0/473/84         33 S   AERO 36 MPH S   RMY 37
1/14 49/41/45/+20/0.83/0.0/000/00         35 S   AERO 37 MPH S   RMY 32
1/15 46/33/40/+15/0.00/0.0/374/66         24 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY N/A
1/16 40/34/37/+12/0.00/0.0/000/00         14 ENE AERO 13 MPH ENE RMY 14
1/17 44/33/39/+14/0.00/0.0/541/95         21 SW  AERO 21 MPH SW  RMY 22
1/18 37/30/34/+9/0.82/4.2/000/00          18 E   AERO 17 MPH E   RMY 18
1/19 32/27/30/+5/0.03/0.5/304/53          28 SW  AERO 35 MPH SW  RMY 34
1/20 39/23/31/+6/0.00/0.0/023/04          38 W   AERO 41 MPH W   RMY 42
1/21 23/8/16/-9/0.30/9.0/006/01           29 WNW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 32
1/22 15/3/9/-16/0.12/3.1/237/41           36 N   AERO 35 MPH N   RMY 34
1/23 20/-1/10/-15/0.00/0.0/418/72         30 W   AERO 29 MPH W   RMY 30
1/24 16/2/9/-16/0.00/0.0/571/98           28 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY N/A
1/25 36/12/24/-1/0.01/0.2/053/09          60 SSW AERO 66 MPH SSW RMY 64
1/26 22/12/17/-8/0.00/0.0/405/69          45 W   AERO 43 MPH W   RMY 41
1/27 45/17/31/+6/0.02/0.0/024/04          46 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 49
1/28 18/9/14/-11/0.00/0.0/…/..          33 W   AERO 31 MPH W   RMY 32
1/29 24/11/17/-8/0.01/0.2/…/..          28 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 27

1/30 morning low temp: 10F; the normal low is now 17F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2014
1/21 – New record daily snowfall of 9.0 ins.; this surpasses
7.6 ins. in 2011.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 30
HIGH 60F IN 1914
LOW -8F IN 1948
PRECIP 1.12 INS. IN 1925
SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1986
PEAK GUST 76 MPH WNW IN 1962

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 31
HIGH 58F IN 1913, 1947, 2013
LOW -12F IN 1920
PRECIP 1.03 INS. IN 1914
SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 1898
PEAK GUST 75 MPH NW IN 1974

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling