Thursday, January 4, 2024
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0713E
SUNSET: 1625E
A TOUCH OF LIGHT SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING, OTHERWISE ANOTHER NICE
DAY IN PROGRESS….
We started the day with just a touch of very light snow between
6am-8am this morning. There was no accumulation, thus it will
go down in the record books as only a trace. Interestingly, this
was the first snow seen here at Blue Hill since December 6th, when
0.3″ was recorded. This is still the seasonal total to this point
which is over 16″ below the 1991-2020 30-year normal.
Clouds have lingered through early this afternoon, however some
breaks have developed to allow for some sunshine.
The temperature has reached the lower 40s early this afternoon,
which is once again above normal for the date.
The wind has once again been on the light side today, however it
has begun to increase a bit in the last hour or so. The average
speed for the day is only around 6mph, however it’s been averaging
around 10mph in the last hour. The peak gust so far is 20mph,
occurring at around 12:40pm.
Visibility was limited early this morning to around 12 miles from
the snow, but has improved to around 50-60 miles by early this
afternoon.
The maximum temperature so far today is 42F degrees, this is 6
degrees above the normal high of 36F. The minimum temperature since
midnight is 32F degrees, this is 12 degrees above the normal low
of 20F.
————————————————————–
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, very light snow
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 27F; Relative Humidity: 80%
Wind: W @ 5kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1013.2 mb; 29.92 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 12 miles
6-hr Max temp: 34F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
24-hr Precip: Trace
24-hr Snowfall: Trace
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 E50 OVC 12S- 132/33/27/2805/992/ PCPN VRY LGT S-B22 WND LGT
TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/ 8/02/ 55003 6000/ 70000 10034 20032
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus/altostratus, broken cirrostratus,
overcast cirrus, few breaks in overcast distant WSW-N, sun dimly visible
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 79%
Wind: WSW @ 6 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1013.0 mb; 29.91 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: Trace
3-hr Snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1455 130 SCT E200 BKN 250 OVC 40 130/35/29/2406/991/ FEW BINOVC
DSNT WSW-N SUN DMLY VSBL HAZY WND LGT TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS TRACE/
8/078 55002 6000/
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrus
Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 26F; Relative Humidity: 56%
Wind: WNW @ 10G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1011.2 mb; 29.86 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 42F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
6-hr Precip: Trace
6-hr Snowfall: Trace
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E35 BKN 75 BKN 250 BKN 60 112/41/26/2910G16/986/ TOTAL NEW
SNW PST 6 HRS TRACE/ 8/554 58018 6000/ 10042 20032
————————————————————–
SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2024
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….42 NORMAL…..36
MIN…….25 NORMAL…..21
MEAN……34 NORMAL…..28
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………..+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+9 [+2.8 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………31 DEPARTURE……..-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..101 DEPARTURE……..-9
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1996 DEPARTURE……-324
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1975 DEPARTURE…….+21
PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated
F420C (Official)……….E20 WNW @ 12:25 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….21 WNW @ 12:25 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….20 NW @ 12:25 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….19 W @ 12:25 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………20 NW @ 12:25 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..21 WNW @ 12:25 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..20 NW @ 12:25 A.M.
MERLIN…………………19 NW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……21 @ 12:25 A.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………15 NW @ 01:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..15 @ 12:26 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..17 @ 12:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………15 WNW @ 12:26 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………16 WNW @ 12:16 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..15 WNW @ 12:26 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..16 WNW @ 12:16 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………15 @ 12:26 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….7.5 NW [180 total miles]
VECTOR #1……………..7.8
VECTOR #2……………..8.3
DAVIS #1………………7.8 NW
DAVIS #2………………7.8 NW
RMY #1………………..7.7 NW
RMY #2………………..8.1 NW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………8.3
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.46
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.46
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………TRACE DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………TRACE DEPARTURE……-1.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)…….0.3 DEPARTURE…..-16.4
————————————————————–
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
PEAK GUST: F420C (Official)
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY: R.M. Young #1 wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M: Missing data
1/1 37/25/31/+2/0.00/0.0/296/54 15 N VEC1 14 N RMY 15
1/2 39/19/29/+1/0.00/0.0/550/100 17 WNW VEC1 17 WNW RMY 17
1/3 42/25/34/+6/0.00/0.0/347/63 20 WNW VEC1 21 WNW RMY 21
1/4 The low since midnight is 32F, the daily normal low is 20F
————————————————————–
JANUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE
NONE.
————————————————————–
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4
HIGH 60F IN 2000
LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981
PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982
SNOW 16.5 INS. IN 2018
PEAK GUST 84 MPH S IN 1982
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5
HIGH 61F IN 2007
LOW -9F IN 1981
PRECIP 1.15 INS. IN 2019
SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
