Tuesday, February 18, 2025

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

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0636E
SUNSET:  1721E

ARCTIC BLAST CONTINUES WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS….

The current arctic blast certainly means business with well below
normal temperatures and strong winds continuing today. Yesterday
brought the brunt of the high winds with frequent gusts approaching
60mph, and several exceeding it. The peak gust yesterday officially
was 70mph, which was only 2mph shy of tying the record peak gust
for the date.

Today we’re seeing plenty of sunshine, however it’s not really
helping to make things feel any better out there. Temperatures have
only recovered to the low 20s early this afternoon after bottoming
out in the low to mid teens early this morning. For contrast, the
normal high for today’s date should be 38F! Wind chill values today
have only “warmed” into the single digits above zero early this
afternoon, after spending much of the early to mid morning hours
below zero. The dew point has been down around zero as well, very
much indicative of the arctic air mass in place.

As mentioned, winds continued to be quite busy today, albeit not as
strong as yesterday. Still, frequent gusts of 40-50mph have been
occurring. The average speed for the day so far is around 22mph,
mainly out of the west and west-northwest. The peak gust so far is
51mph, which occurred just after 10am this morning.

Visibility has been quite decent today, rising from around 50 miles
early this morning to 70 miles for the balance of the day.

The maximum temperature for today is 23F degrees, which is 15 degrees
below the normal high of 38F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 13F degrees, which is 7 degrees below the normal low of 20F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant all quadrants, few cirrus
distant SE-WSW
Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: 0F; Relative Humidity: 54%
Wind: W @ 17G33 kts, peak wind W 38mph at 6:47 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1012.8 mb; 29.91 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 50 miles
6-hr Max temp: 16F
6-hr Min temp: 13F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 5 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 50 128/13/0/2717G33/991/ FEW SC DSNT ALQDS FEW CI DSNT
SE-WSW PK WND 2633/47/ 8/501 4/005 53021 10016 20013

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus all quadrants, few cirrus distant SE-WSW
Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 0F; Relative Humidity: 44%
Wind: WNW @ 23G36 kts, peak wind WNW 50mph at 9:37 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1012.5 mb; 29.90 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 125/19/0/2923G36/990/ FEW SC ALQDS FEW CI DSNT
SE-WSW PK WND 2943/37/ 8/501 58003

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus all quadrants, few cirrus distant
ESE-S-WSW
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 4F; Relative Humidity: 43%
Wind: WNW @ 23G39 kts, peak wind WNW 45mph at 12:52 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1012.8 mb; 29.91 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 23F
6-hr Min temp: 13F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 5 inches
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 128/23/4/2923G39/991/ FEW SC ALQDS FEW CI DSNT
ESE-S-WSW PK WND 2939/52/ 8/501 4/005 50003 10023 20013

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SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2025

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….28   NORMAL…..37
MIN…….16   NORMAL…..20
MEAN……22   NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………..+7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….-26 [-1.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………43  DEPARTURE……..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..669  DEPARTURE…….+26
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3812  DEPARTURE……-234
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3502  DEPARTURE……+310

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)………..70 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….68 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….71 W    @   01:39 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….66 W    @   12:45 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………68 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..72 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..73 W    @   01:20 P.M.
MERLIN…………………61 WNW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………54 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..46      @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..51      @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………49 W    @   01:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………51 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..44 WNW  @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..49 W    @   01:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..31.0 WNW [745 total miles] VECTOR #1………………28.5
VECTOR #2………………30.1
DAVIS #1……………….30.8 W
DAVIS #2……………….30.6 WNW
RMY #1…………………26.8 WNW
RMY #2…………………29.0 W
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..3.24 DEPARTURE…..+0.93
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2025)……..5.59 DEPARTURE…..-1.22

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….13.0 DEPARTURE……+1.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2024-2025)……34.0 DEPARTURE…..-10.9

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1    32/10/21/-5/0.07/0.4/000/00        35 NNW VEC1 34 NNW RMY 35
2/2    24/5/15/-11/0.10/1.0/260/43        22 SE  VEC1 25 SE  RMY 24
2/3    42/24/33/+7/0.05/0.5/321/53        35 SSW VEC1 35 SSW RMY 35
2/4    41/20/31/+5/0.00/0.0/542/89        51 NW  VEC1 51 NW  RMY 55
2/5    27/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/562/92        32 NW  VEC1 32 NW  RMY 32
2/6    32/16/24/-3/0.22/1.0/000/00        26 SE  VEC1 28 SE  RMY 25
2/7    38/22/30/+3/0.00/0.0/542/88        48 WNW VEC1 49 WNW RMY 50
2/8    35/19/27/0/0.09/1.1/433/70         23 W   VEC1 22 W   RMY 23
2/9    29/23/26/-1/0.30/3.0/006/01        24 N   VEC1 24 N   RMY 24
2/10   33/19/26/-1/0.00/0.0/343/55        26 WNW VEC1 27 NW  RMY 28
2/11   30/14/22/-5/0.00/0.0/232/37        23 WSW VEC1 22 WSW RMY 23
2/12   32/24/28/0/0.04/0.4/006/01         29 ENE VEC1 29 ENE RMY 28
2/13   38/28/33/+5/0.42/0.7/000/00        52 WNW VEC1 52 WNW RMY 55
2/14   32/20/26/-2/0.00/0.0/…/..        50 NW  VEC1 50 NW  RMY 54
2/15   28/15/22/-6/0.29/3.3/…/..        20 ESE VEC1 20 ESE RMY 18
2/16   35/22/29/+1/1.66/1.6/…/..        45 W   VEC1 45 W   RMY 48
2/17   28/16/22/-7/T/T/…/..             70 WNW VEC1 68 WNW RMY 72

2/18 The low since midnight is 13F, the daily normal low is 20F.

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FEBRUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE.

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

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 19
HIGH 66F IN 1981
LOW -5F IN 1923
PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1972
SNOWFALL 8.9 INCHES IN 1964
PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1972

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas