Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

UNSEASONABLE COLD REMAINS, LIGHT SNOW BEGINS
AFTER 9:00 AM EST

Yesterday’s midnight to midnight average temperature
was just 5F above zero, 23 degrees below the norm.
With yesterday’s cold taken into consideration, Blue
Hill is now nearly 12 degrees below the norm for
temperature so far this month with the end of the
month fast approaching.

Temperatures dipped overnight once more with this
morning’s minimum temperature reading of 5F above
zero under overcast skies. Very light snow began to
fall just prior to 9:30 AM EST, with only a trace
recorded by the 10:00 AM EST observation.

By 1:00 PM, more continuous light snow had accumulated
0.9 inches of new snow, while the sun was dimly visible.
A maximum temperature of 17F had been recorded by that time.

Snow for the season now totals 126.1 inches, placing
this season at Blue Hill firmly in third place
on the list of snowiest seasons. Following last weekend’s
storm, February 2015 is also the snowiest February on
record, as well as the snowiest month on record. This
latest storm has also made it onto the list of
single greatest storm totals in February and all time.
See below:
BHO Greatest Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan, 2015
3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960
4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
5) 30.0 on 31 Mar – 1 Apr, 1997
6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013
7) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
8) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
9) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
10) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003
11) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001
12) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
13) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
14) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015):

1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969
2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978
3) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015
4) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013
5) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003
6) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958
7) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015
8) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969

BHO Snowiest February, inches (1885-2015):

1) 72.2 in 2015 (through Feb 17 at 1:00 PM EST)
2) 65.4 in 1969
3) 51.3 in 2003
4) 45.2 in 1967
5) 40.4 in 1920
6) 39.7 in 2013
7) 37.0 in 1893

BHO Snowiest January-February, inches (1886-2015):

1) 115.1 in 2015 (through Feb 17 at 1:00 PM EST)
2) 77.9 in 1948
3) 70.2 in 2005
4) 68.7 in 1904
5) 67.5 in 1920
6) 66.9 in 1994

BHO Greatest Snow Depth, inches (1895-2015):
1) 46 in February 2015
2) 43 in March 1969
3) 42 in January 1948
4) 41 in February 1969
5) 39 in February 1948
6) 38 in February 1920
7) 33 in February 1978
33 in January 1996
9) 31 in February 2003
31 in February 2011
11)30 in March 1960
30 in March 1978

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus
Temperature: 9F; Dew Point: -4F; Wind: estimated NNW at 3 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, falling, then rising
Visibility: 35 miles, except 25 miles E-WSW
6-hr max temp: 9F
6-hr min temp: 5F
24-hr precip: none
24 hr snowfall: none
Snow depth: 42 inches
BHO SA 1155 E100 OVC 35 154/9/-4/E3403/998/ VSBY E-WSW 25 MI
WND LGT/ 8/02/ 4/042 55002 ASOS 70122 10009 20005

10 A.M.
Weather: Very light snow, begins 9:29 AM EST, overcast stratus
Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: 0F; Wind: estimated NW at 5 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg, rising, then falling
Visibility: 8 miles, except 10 miles NNW-NE, obscured by light snow
3-hr precip: Trace
3-hr snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E60 OVC 8S- 141/12/0/E3105/995/ S-B29 VSBY NNW-NE
10 MI PRCP VRY LGT NEW SNW PST 3 HRS TRACE WND LGT/ 8/6// 58013
MANUAL 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Very light snow, sun dimly visible, overcast stratus
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: NNW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.87 ins. falling then more slowly
Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, obscured by light snow
6-hr max temp: 17F
6-hr min temp: 8F
6-hr precip: 0.05 inches
6-hr snowfall: 0.9 inches
BHO SA 1755 E30 OVC 1/2S- 116/17/12/3408/987/ SUN DMLY VSBL NEW SNW
PST 3 HRS 0.9 INS/ 8/6// 56025 ASOS 60005 MANUAL 60005 10017 20008

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..17   NORMAL…..37
MIN…..-8   NORMAL…..19
MEAN…..5   NORMAL…..28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………-23
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..-176 [-11.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..60  DEPARTURE……….+23
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….786  DEPARTURE………+175
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4134  DEPARTURE………..-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4142  DIFFERENCE………-12

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………43 NW  AT 12:33 A.M.
ASOS………………….. MISSING **
DAVIS………………….47 WNW AT  1:21 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..36 NW  AT 12:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE…………….. MISSING **
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….32 NW  AT 12:34 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………20.7 NW
ASOS………………… MISSING **
DAVIS………………..18.0 NW [313 degrees] * last of several occurrences…
**ASOS SENSOR CURRENTLY DOWN

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.14
ASOS…………..N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….5.47  DEPARTURE…..+3.26
ASOS……………N/A ***
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….10.64  DEPARTURE…..+4.21
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings
on February 9-10th and 16th.

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………71.3  DEPARTURE…..+63.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….125.2  DEPARTURE…..+84.2

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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
2/1  28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/…/..               29 WNW RMY N/A
2/2  29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00              44 NE  RMY 46
2/3  21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/4  36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..              31 S   RMY 33
2/5  34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/…/..               38 NW  RMY 39
2/6  19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/…/..              28 NW  RMY 27
2/7  25/14/20/-7/…./…/…/..              25 WSW RMY N/A
2/8  29/11/20/-7/…./…/000/00              30 NNE RMY 29
2/9  19/12/16/-11/…./…/000/00             29 N   RMY 28
2/10 28/12/20/-7/…./…/…/..              29 N   RMY 29
2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/…/..              30 N   RMY 29
2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/…/..              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/…/..              35 NW  RMY 35
2/14 26/1/14/-14/…./…/…/..              24 NW  RMY N/A
2/15 18/-6/6/-22/…./…/…/..              53 NW  RMY 59
2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/…/..              43 NW  RMY N/A

2/17 morning low temp: 5F since midnight, normal low is now 19

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

– NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. surpasses previous record:
5.5 ins. in 1916, 1934

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

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 18
HIGH 65F IN 1981
LOW -10F IN 1958
PRECIP 1.97 INCHES IN 1887
SNOWFALL 9.2 INCHES IN 1952
PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2008

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald