Tuesday, December 31, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ARCTIC AIR MASS BRINGS BELOW NORMAL TEMPS..NOR’EASTER ON THE HORIZON

The year 2013 is ending on a rather chilly note in southern New England.
A surge of arctic air spread across the region overnight last night,
bringing the lowest recorded temperatures in two weeks. This morning’s
low of 11F is eight degrees below normal and was the coldest since 7F on
December 17. Conditions have also dried out a bit with dew points
dipping below zero throughout much of the morning. Skies have been mostly
cloudy to overcast with altocumulus, keeping temperatures in the teens
through the late morning. Winds are mainly out of west-northwest,
averaging 4.6 MPH since 7AM this morning.

Happy New Year!

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, higher clouds visible
Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: -3F; Wind: NW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, decreasing, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze NE-W
6-hr. min temp: 11F
BHO SA 1155 E45 OVC 70 199/12/-3/3207/012/ HIER CLDS VSB LGT DSNT
HZ NE-W 8/5// 56005 10015 20011

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, scattered altocumulus, lower cumulus
distant ESE-SSE and SW-W, virga all quadrants, sun dimly visible
Temperature: 15F; Dew Point: 0F; Wind: WNW at 4 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing
Visibility: 50 miles, thin smoke layer NNW
BHO SA 1455 160 SCT E200 BKN 50 196/15/0/2904/011/ LWR CU DSNT ESE-SSE
& SW-W VIRGA ALQDS SUN DMLY VSBL THN K LYR NNW 8/140 58003

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..39    NORMAL…..35
MIN…..17    NORMAL…..19
MEAN….28    NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..-2 [-0.3 DEGREE/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..37  DEPARTURE………-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………1006  DEPARTURE………+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2230  DEPARTURE……..-37
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1987  DIFFERENCE……+243

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………38 W  AT 11:43 A.M.
AERO…………………..39 W  AT 11:43 A.M.
ASOS…………………..39 W  AT 11:43 A.M.
DAVIS………………….33 W  AT 11:42 A.M. RMY 36
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..27 W  AT 11:43 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..28 W  AT 11:44 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….23 W  AT 11:43 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………14.5 WSW
ASOS…………………14.0
DAVIS………………..12.6 W [282 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.14
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.27  DEPARTURE………….+0.38
ASOS…………..5.27
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….51.87  DEPARTURE………….-1.55
ASOS…………..N/A**
** ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….0.0     DEPARTURE………….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………15.4     DEPARTURE………….+2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………..15.6     DEPARTURE………….+0.2

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2013 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

12/1  45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00           22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23
12/2  38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00             15 NW  AERO 15 MPH NW  RMY 16
12/3  45/32/39/+3/0.00/0.0/284/51         18 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY 20
12/4  43/29/36/+1/0.00/0.0/389/70         21 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21
12/5  53/38/46/+11/0.02/0.0/000/00        36 S   AERO 40 MPH S   RMY 39
12/6  55/33/44/+9/0.38/T/000/00           25 SSW AERO 28 MPH SSW RMY N/A
12/7  40/26/33/-1/0.12/T/287/52           23 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/8  30/22/26/-8/T/T/039/07              25 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY N/A
12/9  41/25/33/-1/0.35/0.6/000/00         28 E   AERO 28 MPH E   RMY 24
12/10 33/21/27/-6/0.14/2.1/000/00         28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 28
12/11 28/19/24/-9/0.00/0.0/345/63         27 SW  AERO 28 MPH SW  RMY 27
12/12 23/14/19/-14/0.00/0.0/542/99        28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 30
12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/405/74        31 W   AERO 32 MPH W   RMY 33
12/14 28/9/19/-13/0.45/4.8/000/00         30 E   AERO 26 MPH E   RMY N/A
12/15 36/21/29/-3/0.98/2.0/000/00         48 NE  AERO 50 MPH NE  RMY 51
12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/529/97        36 W   AERO 37 MPH W   RMY N/A
12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/104/19         28 N   AERO 30 MPH N   RMY 28
12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/436/80         29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 29
12/19 42/22/32/+2/0.00/0.0/425/78         38 SW  AERO 44 MPH SW  RMY 42
12/20 52/34/43/+13/0.00/0.0/332/61        26 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 29
12/21 58/42/50/+20/0.00/0.0/082/15        28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30
12/22 63/35/49/+20/0.01/0.0/000/00        37 SW  AERO 41 MPH SW  RMY 41
12/23 37/32/35/+6/0.73/0.0/000/00         24 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY 25
12/24 36/25/31/+2/T/T/142/26              25 NW  AERO
12/25 25/13/19/-9/0.00/0.0/480/88         29 NW  AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 30
12/26 35/19/27/-1/0.05/0.4/000/00         24 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 25
12/27 32/22/27/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..         25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 26
12/28 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..         30 WSW AERO 32 MPH SW  RMY 32
12/29 42/34/38/+11/1.23/0.0/000/00        36 NNE AERO 37 MPH NNE RMY 38
12/30 39/17/28/+1/0.00/0.0/000/00         38 W   AERO 39 MPH W   RMY 36

12/31 morning low temp: 11F; the normal low is now 19F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013
12/22- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F;
surpasses previous record of 62F set in 1994

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 31
HIGH 62 IN 1965
LOW -12 IN 1917
PRECIP 0.96 INS. IN 1906
SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 2008
PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1990

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 1
HIGH 58F IN 1966
LOW -6F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 1982
SNOWFALL 7.2 INS. IN 1938
PEAK GUST 90e MPH S IN 1945

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Eli Melaas