Tuesday, December 31, 2024

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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0713E
SUNSET:  1622E

PLENTY OF SUNSHINE, BREEZY, AND STILL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES….

Not a bad way to close out the month of December and the year 2024.
Plenty of sunshine is being observed today with only some high
clouds floating across the sky. Clouds will tend to increase as we
go through the afternoon as our next system approaches the region.

Temperatures remain above normal today, albeit cooler than it was
yesterday. We started the day in the upper 30s which is still a
good 15+ degrees above normal. Readings have reached the low 50s
early this afternoon. So all in all, not a bad day to get outdoors.

The wind is steady today, but not as strong as yesterday. It is
averaging at around 11mph out of a westerly direction. The peak
gust for the day so far is 21mph which occurred twice at 12:07am
and 12:09am back in the wee hours of the day.

Visibility has been excellent all day, starting at around 60 miles
early this morning, then reaching 80 miles by mid morning.

The maximum temperature for today is 52F degrees, which is 16 degrees
above the normal high of 36F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 37F degrees, which is 16 degrees above the normal low of 21F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant ESE-SSW
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 35F; Relative Humidity: 88%
Wind: WSW @ 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1012.3 mb; 29.89 in. Hg: rising steadily
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 41F
6-hr Min temp: 38F
24-hr Precip:  0.65 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 123/38/35/2510/989/ FEW CI DSNT ESE-SSW/ 8/001
52025 70067 10041 20038

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant NW-N
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 34F; Relative Humidity: 67%
Wind: W @ 10G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1014.1 mb; 29.95 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 250 BKN 80 141/44/34/2710G17/995/ FEW SC DSNT NW-N/ 8/501
51018

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few altocumulus/castellanus distant S-WNW
Temperature: 51F; Dew Point: 35F; Relative Humidity: 54%
Wind: WSW @ 5 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1012.4mb; 29.90 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 51F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 80 124/51/35/2405/990/ FEW AC/ACC DSNT S-WNW
WND LGT/ 8/081 58017 10051 20037

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SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….56  NORMAL…..37
MIN…….42  NORMAL…..21
MEAN……49  NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+20
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..0 [-0.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………16  DEPARTURE…….-20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..969  DEPARTURE……..-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………1912  DEPARTURE……-262
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….1864  DEPARTURE…….+48

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all on Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)………..40 S    @   08:26 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….43 S    @   08:22 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….42 S    @   08:22 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….43 S    @   09:08 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………50 S    @   08:28 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..45 S    @   08:22 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..46 S    @   08:26 A.M.
MERLIN…………………38 SW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………29 S    @   08:35 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..28      @   08:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..30      @   08:30 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………26 S    @   08:27 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………35 S    @   09:10 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..28 S    @   08:32 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..30 S    @   08:30 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..17.6 SW [422 total miles] VECTOR #1………………17.6
VECTOR #2………………18.4
DAVIS #1……………….16.8 S
DAVIS #2……………….18.1 SSW
RMY #1…………………17.1 SSW
RMY #2…………………18.5 SSW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.65 DEPARTURE…..+0.49
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..7.58 DEPARTURE…..+2.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….55.05 DEPARTURE…..+1.35

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….12.6 DEPARTURE……+0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2024-2025)……12.6 DEPARTURE……-2.0

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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

12/1   37/23/30/-7/0.00/0.0/452/81        21 WSW VEC1 21 WSW RMY 21
12/2   38/22/30/-7/0.00/0.0/551/99        18 W   VEC1 18 W   RMY 18
12/3   36/20/28/-8/0.00/0.0/411/74        21 NW  VEC1 21 WNW RMY 21
12/4   39/22/31/-5/0.13/T/394/71          30 S   VEC1 31 S   RMY 33
12/5   37/31/34/-2/0.40/3.0/072/13        43 WNW VEC1 43 WNW RMY 47
12/6   31/23/27/-8/0.00/0.0/514/93        39 NW  VEC1 39 W   RMY 42
12/7   37/22/30/-5/T/T/408/74             25 S   VEC1 25 S   RMY 26
12/8   47/28/38/+3/0.02/T/198/36          37 SSW VEC1 37 SSW RMY 40
12/9   47/34/41/+7/0.41/0.0/187/34        28 ENE VEC1 28 E   RMY 29
12/10  42/31/37/+3/0.15/0.0/000/00        31 NE  VEC1 32 NE  RMY 34
12/11  62/36/49/+15/3.38/0.0/000/00       65 SSW VEC1 67 SSW RMY 70 TSTM
12/12  53/25/39/+5/0.05/0.0/460/84        51 WNW VEC1 49 WNW RMY 51
12/13  31/19/25/-8/0.00/0.0/514/94        30 WNW VEC1 30 W   RMY 30
12/14  33/17/25/-8/0.00/0.0/546/100       20 NW  VEC1 19 NNW RMY 20
12/15  34/17/26/-7/0.00/0.0/377/69        17 N   VEC1 17 N   RMY 16
12/16  45/29/37/+5/T/0.0/005/01           35 SSE VEC1 35 SSE RMY 35
12/17  59/41/50/+18/0.25/0.0/360/66       48 SSW VEC1 50 SSW RMY 50
12/18  50/36/43/+11/0.57/0.0/507/93       21 S   VEC1 21 S   RMY 21
12/19  44/30/37/+5/0.13/0.0/425/78        31 NW  VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32
12/20  32/24/28/-3/1.17/9.4/000/00        28 NNE VEC1 29 N   RMY 29
12/21  26/12/19/-12/0.00/0.0/262/48       38 NW  VEC1 38 NW  RMY 41
12/22  17/6/12/-19/0.00/0.0/544/100       33 NW  VEC1 33 NW  RMY 35
12/23  26/4/15/-16/0.00/0.0/420/77        21 S   VEC1 21 SSW RMY 20
12/24  31/19/25/-5/0.02/0.2/082/15        29 WSW VEC1 29 WSW RMY 30
12/25  31/20/26/-4/0.00/0.0/540/99        18 NNW VEC1 19 NNW RMY 21
12/26  38/23/31/+1/0.00/0.0/240/44        15 N   VEC1 15 N   RMY 15
12/27  42/21/32/+2/0.00/0.0/480/88        20 SSW VEC1 20 SSW RMY 21
12/28  45/31/38/+9/0.18/0.0/000/00        21 SW  VEC1 21 SSW RMY 21
12/29  53/44/49/+20/0.05/0.0/000/00       32 S   VEC1 33 S   RMY 31
12/30  56/42/49/+20/0.67/0.0/126/23       40 S   VEC1 43 S   RMY 45

12/31 The low since midnight is 37F, the daily normal low is 21F.

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DECEMBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

12/11 NEW PRECIPITATION RECORD OF 3.38″; OLD RECORD 2.36″ IN 1992

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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: Matt Douglas