Tuesday, February 16, 2021

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

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
SUNRISE: 0639E
SUNSET:  1718E

SOME GLAZE LAST NIGHT, DECENT SLUG OF RAIN THIS MORNING….

Persistent freezing drizzle yesterday afternoon through last
evening did accrue to 0.10″ on all untreated surfaces. The
temperature did make it above freezing between midnight and
1 A.M. at which time a transition to plain drizzle took place.

Light drizzle continued through the wee hours until heavier
rain arrived between 5-6 A.M. Rain continued through late
morning, coming down moderately at times, before tapering to
drizzle by noon time. Rainfall totaled 0.74″ inches for this
event.

The wind this morning was out of the east-southeast and south-
east, which was bringing milder air to the area as a warm
front approached. We did manage to get up to 44F degrees
briefly between 9-10 A.M., but then the cold front swept
through shifting the wind to the north-northwest and dropping
the temperature back down to 37F degrees. Winds did briefly
become gusty following the cold front with gusts of 20-25 mph.

Since then, we’ve been sitting in very dense fog with the
temperature rebounding to around 40 degrees. Visibility this
afternoon has been under 1/16th of a mile!

The wind has been more or less calm most of the afternoon thus
far.

The high so far today is 44F, 6 degrees above the daily
average max of 37F. The low since midnight is 31F, 12 degrees
above the normal minimum of 19F.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 200ft, light rain
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 36F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: ESE @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.73 in Hg; falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 1/4 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 33F
24-hr Precip: 0.30 ins.
24-hr Snow: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 12 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W2 1/4R-F 067/36/36/1207/973/ 8//// 4/012 58053 6030/ 70030 10037 20033

10 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 200ft, light rain
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 37F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: NNW @ 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.60 in Hg; falling, then steady
Visibility: 1/4 mile, fog
3-hr Precip: 0.40 ins.
3-hr Snow: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 X W2 1/4R-F 023/37/37/3306/960/ 8//// 56044 6040/

1 P.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 100ft, light drizzle
Temperature: 40F, Dew point: 40F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: Calm
Sea-level pressure: 29.54 in Hg, falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 44F
6-hr Min temp: 36F
6-hr Precip: 0.44 ins.
6-hr Snow: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 11 ins.
BHO SA 1755 X W1 1/16L-F 003/40/40/0000/954/ PCPN VRY LGT WND CALM/ 8//// 4/011 58020 6044/ 10044 20036

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….31   NORMAL…..37
MIN…….27   NORMAL…..19
MEAN……29   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1981-2010) NORMAL…….. +1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….. +1 [-0.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………36  DEPARTURE…….-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..572  DEPARTURE…….-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3616  DEPARTURE…..-489
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3717  DEPARTURE…..-101

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
420C/Official…………..21 NNE @  9:59 A.M.
AEROVANE (south tower)…..21 NNE @  9:59 A.M.
ASOS…………………..22 NNE @ 10:00 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….21 NE  @ 10:00 A.M.
DAVIS #2 (south tower)…..21 NE  @ 10:00 A.M.
RMY……………………22     @  9:59 A.M
VECTOR…………………24     @ 10:51 A.M.
MERLIN…………………N/A

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………14 NE  @ 11:03 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….15 NE  @ 10:11 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………15 NE  @ 10:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………16 NE  @ 10:20 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY AVERAGE………………..15 ENE @ 10:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR AVERAGE……………..15     @ 10:17 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…. 8.2 NNE [197 total miles] ASOS………………. 9.0
DAVIS #1…………… 8.2 NE
DAVIS #2…………… 8.2 NE
RMY……………….. 7.2 NE
VECTOR…………….. 6.5

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….0.30  DEPARTURE….+0.16
ASOS………….0.24
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………….3.99  DEPARTURE….+1.92
ASOS………….4.16
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..6.31  DEPARTURE….-0.11
ASOS…………6.51

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HOURS ENDING 7 A.M………..0.0  DEPARTURE…. -0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………29.0  DEPARTURE….+21.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………..62.4  DEPARTURE….+21.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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

02/01   32/21/27/+1/1.86/12.7/000/00      53 NE   AERO 65 NE   RMY 62
02/02   34/29/32/+6/0.91/1.6/000/00       52 NNE  AERO 55 NE   RMY 58
02/03   34/26/30/+4/0.01/0.2/036/06       20 NW   AERO 20 NW   RMY 22
02/04   37/26/32/+6/0.02/0.7/158/26       23 NW   AERO 22 NW   RMY M
02/05   39/26/33/+7/0.01/T/000/00         33 S    AERO 32 S    RMY 30
02/06   40/28/34/+8/0.00/0.0/595/97       42 WSW  AERO 41 WSW  RMY 47
02/07   35/25/30/+3/0.71/11.6/000/00      27 WNW  AERO 28 WNW  RMY 30
02/08   27/13/20/-7/0.00/0.0/619/100      29 NW   AERO 31 WNW  RMY 32
02/09   27/18/23/-4/0.17/2.2/000/00       16 N    AERO 16 N    RMY 17
02/10   31/15/23/-4/0.00/0.0/…/..       26 WNW  AERO 25 WNW  RMY 28
02/11   31/15/23/-4/0.00/0.0/…/..       28 NW   AERO 26 NW   RMY 31
02/12   25/8/17/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..       32 NW   AERO 35 NW   RMY 36
02/13   27/15/21/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..       20 NNW  AERO 20 NNW  RMY 23
02/14   34/24/29/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..       19 ENE  AERO 16 ENE  RMY 19
02/15   31/27/29/+1/0.11/0.0/…/..       21 NNE  AERO 21 NNE  RMY 22

The low since midnight is 31F, the daily normal low is 19F

DAILY RECORDS

02/01 -RECORD SNOWFALL OF 12.7 INS, BREAKING PREVIOUS RECORD
OF 11.0 INS SET IN 1898
02/01 -RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 1.86 INS, BREAKING PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 1.30 INS SET IN 1898

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 16
HIGH 62F IN 1954
LOW -16F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.91 INCHES IN 1958
SNOWFALL 18.6 INCHES IN 1958
PEAK GUST 78 MPH W IN 1967

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 17
HIGH 61F IN 1981
LOW -16F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.86 INCHES IN 2003
SNOWFALL 20.0 INCHES IN 2003
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1968

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas