Thursday, October 13, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SKIES TURN MOSTLY CLOUDY AHEAD OF COLD FRONT,
UPDATED DROUGHT MONITOR LESSENS DROUGHT RATING FOR SE MASSACHUSETTS

Morning skies were mostly cloudy with stratocumulus and cirrus, but no
precip. has yet been measured today.  Stratocumulus slowly dissipated
into few cumulus by early afternoon while cirrus clouds became more
dense as the day progressed.  Visibility also improved through the day
as thin morning fog burned away.

Today has been a warm day with a low since midnight of 52F, 8F above
average. Temperatures reached a max. of 70F by 1:00PM EST, 9F above
average.  Dew points have been increasing over the past couple days
and reached the mid 50s late this morning.

The large amount of rain from this past weekend has helped to lessen
the drought rating for southeast Massachusetts from ‘extreme’ to
‘severe’; however, a large portion of the state, including BHO, is still
in an extreme drought.

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken cirrus
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 52F; Wind: SSE at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 20 miles, except 15 miles NE-SSE, distant fog NE-SSE
6-hr Max temp: 55F
6-hr Min temp: 52F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
BHO SA 1155 40 SCT E250 BKN 20 197/55/52/1610/011/ VSBY 15 NE-SSE
DSNT FG NE-SSE/ 8/501 58008 10055 20052

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken cirrus
Temperature: 64F; Dew Point: 56F; Wind: SSW at 9 kts,
Wind Direction: SSE-SW
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 40 miles
BHO SA 1455 E26 BKN 250 BKN 40 183/64/56/2109/007/ WND 16V23/ 8/501 58014

1 P.M.
Weather: Few cumulus in all directions, broken cirrus
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 53F; Wind: SSW at 10G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max. temp: 70F
6-hr Min. temp: 55F
BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 70 156/70/53/2010G16/999/ FEW CU ALQDS/
8/102 58027 10070 20055

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..68   NORMAL…..62
MIN…..49   NORMAL…..44
MEAN….59   NORMAL…..53

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+15 [+1.1 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………0   DEPARTURE………..0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………0   DEPARTURE……….-4
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………894   DEPARTURE……..+293
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….810   DIFFERENCE……..+84

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………6   DEPARTURE……….-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….105   DEPARTURE………-20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………180   DEPARTURE………-87
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….167   DIFFERENCE……..+13

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….17 S  AT  9:14 P.M.
ASOS……………………18 S  AT  9:06 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..16 S  AT 12:07 P.M. RMY 17
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………14 S  AT  9:08 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………14 S  AT  9:24 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..13 S  AT  9:15 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..8.3 S
ASOS…………………..8.4
DAVIS………………….7.5 S [190 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……….3.30  DEPARTURE……+1.52
ASOS…………..3.31
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….30.62  DEPARTURE…..-10.24
ASOS………….30.95

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
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
M:    Missing data

10/1  57/52/55/-2/1.22/000/00                 33 NNE AERO  M  RMY 34
10/2  55/52/54/-3/0.19/…/..                 23 N   AERO  M  RMY N/A
10/3  69/53/61/+5/0.00/…/..                 21 ENE AERO  M  RMY 20
10/4  61/47/54/-2/T/…/..                    26 NE  AERO  M  RMY 27
10/5  61/44/53/-3/0.00/…/..                 22 NE  AERO  M  RMY 21
10/6  71/46/59/+4/0.00/…/..                 16 SW* AERO  M  RMY 15
10/7  75/54/65/+10/0.00/…/..                16 S   AERO  M  RMY 16
10/8  69/53/61/+7/0.00/…/..                 23 SSW AERO  M  RMY 23
10/9  63/44/54/0/1.89/…/..                  28 N   AERO  M  RMY 34
10/10 57/40/49/-5/0.00/…/..                 32 NW  AERO  M  RMY 32
10/11 62/39/51/-2/0.00/…/..                 17 N   AERO  M  RMY N/A
10/12 68/49/59/+6/0.00/…/..                 17 S   AERO  M  RMY 17

10/13 Low temp since midnight is 52F; normal low is now 44F

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 13
HIGH 84F IN 1930,1954
LOW 29F IN 2012
PRECIP 5.92 INCHES IN 1895
SNOWFALL 4.2 INCHES IN 1934
PEAK GUST 46e MPH W IN 1950

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 14
HIGH 79F IN 2000
LOW 28F IN 1958
PRECIP 2.69 INCHES IN 1990
SNOWFALL 2.0 INCHES IN 1913
PEAK GUST 63e W IN 1976

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle