Tuesday, August 27, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

EARLY MORNING LIGHT RAIN BRINGS ONLY 0.07 INCH OF RAINFALL;
TOMORROW MARKS 2ND ANNIVERSARY OF IRENE

Light rain that began very late Monday night and continued into the early
morning hours of today only amounted to 0.07 inch of rainfall. This is
the most substantial rainfall since August 9th. Rainfall from August 10
through today (18 days) has only been 0.09 inch, or a mere 4% of the
30-year average rainfall of 2.27 inches for the August 9-27 period.

As an area of low pressure tracked to our south today, the wind direction
has gradually shifted from a SW direction to a NE direction. This NE wind
has provided for plenty of moisture in the air, quite hazy conditions,
and has helped keep temperatures relatively in check in combination with
plenty of cloud cover. The high temperature has only reached the mid 70s
so far today. Visibility has improved from only a couple of miles at
times this morning to about 10 miles this afternoon.

Tomorrow, August 28, will mark the 2nd anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene.
A peak wind gust of 77 mph and rainfall of 1.98 inches were recorded at
Blue Hill as the relatively large tropical cyclone tracked from New York
City northward to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Fog, scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast
altocumulus, stratus fractus drifting over/below summit all quadrants,
partial undercast N-E, breaks in overcast W and N
Temperature: 68F; Dew Point: 67F; Wind: NNE at 6 kts,
Wind: Direction veering (clockwise) over the past hour
Sea-level pressure: 29.88 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 5 miles, fog
6-hr precip: 0.06 inch
24-hr precip: 0.07 inch
6-hr min. temp: 67F
BHO SA 1155 80 SCT E100 BKN 120 OVC 5F 117/68/67/0206/988/ STFRA DRFTNG
OVR/BLO SMT ALQDS PARTIAL UNDERCAST N-E BINOVC W AND N WND VEERING PST HR/
8/67/ 53007 MANUAL 70007 ASOS 70006 MANUAL 60006 ASOS 60005 10068 20067

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast cirrostratus,
few breaks in overcast W-NNW, thin fog/haze all quadrants, sun dimly
visible
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 68F; Wind: NE at 7 kts,
Wind: Direction variable NNE-E
Sea-level pressure: 29.89 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 8 miles, thin fog/haze all quadrants
BHO SA 1455 E10 BKN 140 BKN 200 OVC 8 123/70/68/0507/989/ FEW BINOVC
W-NNW THN FG/HZ ALQDS SUN DIMLY VSBL WND 02V08/ 8/577 53006

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus,
broken cirrus, cumulus distant E-SW-NNW, moderate cumulus distant WNW-NNW,
towering cumulus distant WSW-W, altocumulus and cirrostratus mostly
NE-SE-SW and overhead, hazy
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 68F; Wind: NNE at 7 kts,
Wind: Direction variable N-NE
Sea-level pressure: 29.89 ins. Hg, falling then rising
Visibility: 12 miles, hazy
6-hr max. temp: 76F
BHO SA 1755 20 SCT E160 BKN 200 BKN 250 BKN 12 123/75/68/0207/989/ CU
DSNT E-SW-NNW MDT CU DSNT WNW-NNW TCU DSNT WSW-W AC/CS MSTLY NE-SE-SW AND
OVHD HAZY WND 35V05/ 8/377 55000 10076 20068

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..80 NORMAL…..78
MIN…..64 NORMAL…..61
MEAN….72 NORMAL…..69

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..+3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….-30 [-1.4 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..7 DEPARTURE………+2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………128 DEPARTURE……..-36
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..611 DEPARTURE……..+96
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……682 DIFFERENCE…….-71

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY…………….26 WSW AT 11:43 A.M.
AERO…………………26 SW AT 11:51 A.M.
ASOS…………………26 WSW AT 11:44 A.M.
DAVIS………………..26 SW AT 11:43 A.M. RMY: 28
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………21 SW AT 11:54 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………20 SW AT 12:25 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………..19 SW AT 12:25 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION……….11.6 SW
ASOS……………….11.4
DAVIS………………10.6 SW [231 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.07 DEPARTURE………….-0.05
ASOS…………..0.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.62 DEPARTURE…………-0.86
ASOS…………..2.66
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….37.91 DEPARTURE…………+3.44
ASOS…………..N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

8/1 81/62/72/0/0.01/503/58 25 S AERO 26 MPH S RMY 27
8/2 81/62/72/0/0.23/518/60 26 W AERO 26 MPH W RMY 28
8/3 77/63/70/-2/T/276/32 22 WSW AERO 23 MPH WSW RMY 23
8/4 79/58/69/-3/T/645/75 25 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 26
8/5 75/54/65/-7/0.00/858/100 26 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 27
8/6 78/56/67/-5/0.00/846/99 17 ESE AERO 15 MPH S RMY 16
8/7 80/59/70/-2/0.00/759/89 21 S AERO 21 MPH S RMY N/A
8/8 79/62/71/-1/0.08/153/18 25 S AERO 25 MPH S RMY N/A
8/9 73/70/72/0/2.21/000/00 37 S AERO 39 MPH S RMY 40
8/10 81/61/71/-1/0.00/795/94 30 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 31
8/11 78/58/68/-3/0.00/835/99 18 W AERO 18 MPH W RMY 21
8/12 81/62/72/+1/0.00/656/78 18 W AERO 17 MPH WSW RMY 19
8/13 73/64/69/-2/0.02/193/23 16 SSE AERO 15 MPH SSE RMY N/A
8/14 73/57/65/-6/0.00/819/98 35 W AERO 35 MPH W RMY 35
8/15 75/53/64/-7/0.00/800/96 23 W AERO 23 MPH W RMY 24
8/16 77/57/67/-4/0.00/740/89 20 W AERO 19 MPH W RMY 21
8/17 77/59/68/-3/0.00/770/93 18 W AERO 18 MPH W RMY N/A
8/18 80/62/71/0/T/231/28 16 SSW AERO 17 MPH SSW RMY 18
8/19 82/58/70/0/T/494/60 17 W AERO 18 MPH W RMY 20
8/20 85/64/75/+5/0.00/772/94 17 NW AERO 18 MPH NW RMY N/A
8/21 87/65/76/+6/0.00/802/98 18 WSW AERO 18 MPH WSW RMY 18
8/22 84/67/76/+6/0.00/432/53 22 SW AERO 22 MPH SSW RMY N/A
8/23 78/63/70/0/0.00/…/.. 25 NNW AERO 25 MPH NNW RMY 24
8/24 73/55/64/-6/0.00/…/.. 23 NNE AERO 22 MPH NNE RMY N/A
8/25 82/57/70/+1/0.00/…/.. 20 SW AERO 21 MPH SW RMY 21
8/26 80/64/72/+3/T/…/.. 26 WSW AERO 26 MPH SW RMY 28

8/27 morning low temp: 67F; the normal low is now 60F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 27
HIGH 99F IN 1948
LOW 44F IN 1885
PRECIP 2.77 INCHES IN 1946
PEAK GUST 48 MPH NW IN 1983

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 28
HIGH 95F IN 1948
LOW 43F IN 1885
PRECIP 1.80 INCHES IN 1922
PEAK GUST 87 MPH SSE IN 1971 (DORIA)

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser