Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ANOTHER JANUARY STORM PREDICTED TO BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW, WIND
AND COLD TONIGHT THROUGH TOMORROW.

The calm before the storm was observed this morning on Great Blue Hill, following
a gusty Monday evening with winds gusting near 40 MPH. This morning got off to a
chilly start as a morning low of 12 degrees was recorded just after the 0700
observation along with a thin veil of cirrostratus that slowly engulfed the skies
overhead.

Snow showers began just before 2 PM with visibilities dropping from today’s maximum
of 50 miles down to just a few miles with even poorer visibility expected during
the storm. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service
that is in effect from 1 PM this afternoon through 1 PM Wednesday afternoon with a
Blizzard Warning in effect for the South Shore coast through Cape Cod. Significant
snow and blowing snow is predicted through the evening hours. Keep posted for
tomorrow’s Daily Discussion for updated conditions and storm totals.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast cirrostratus, few stratocumulus offshore NE-SE, colorful sunrise,
breaks in overcast to the E-SE
Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: NNW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, increasing, then more quickly
Visibility: 50 miles, 35 miles SSW-NE
6-hr. min temp: 13F
Total snow depth on ground: 2 inches
BHO SA 1155 E200 OVC 50 164/13/4/3406/001/ FEW SC OFFSHR NE-SE VSBY SSW-NE 35 MI
BINOVC E-SE COLORFUL SUNRISE THN OVC VEIL OF CI OHD/ 8/108 4/002 53016 10023 20013

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast cirrostratus, few stratocumulus offshore distant NE-ESE, sun visible
through cirrostratus veil
Temperature/Dew Point: Unavailable at this time; Wind: NW at 5 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.03 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing, but higher
Visibility: 40 miles
BHO SA 1455 E200 OVC 40 169/XX/XX/3205/003/ FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-ESE
SUN VSBL THRU VEIL OF CI/ 8/108 50005

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-E, snow
showers distant SE-SW, sun dimly visible through veil of altostratus
Temperature: 14F; Dew Point: 1F; Wind: NNW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing, but higher
Visibility: 50 miles, 15 miles SE-SW
6-hr max. temp: 15F
6-hr min. temp: 12F
BHO SA 1755 E50 OVC 50 174/14/1/3307/004/ FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-E SHWRS DSNT SE-SW
VSBY SE-SW 15 MI SUN DMLY VSBL THRU VEIL OF AS 8/11/ 50005 10015 20012

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014  DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..39    NORMAL…..33
MIN…..23    NORMAL…..17
MEAN….31    NORMAL…..25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+67 [+3.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..34  DEPARTURE……….-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….722  DEPARTURE………-66
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..2999  DEPARTURE………-94
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……2659  DIFFERENCE…….+340

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………38 W   AT    9:32 P.M.
AERO…………………..41 W   AT    9:33 P.M.
ASOS…………………..42 W   AT    9:33 P.M.
DAVIS………………….39 WNW AT   10:02 P.M. RMY 42
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..32 W   AT    9:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29 W   AT   10:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….27 W   AT    9:33 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………15.4 SSW
ASOS…………………15.1
DAVIS………………..14.3 WSW [245 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……….4.16  DEPARTURE………….+1.32
ASOS…………..4.54
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..4.16  DEPARTURE………….+1.32
ASOS…………..4.54

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.0    DEPARTURE…………..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………….20.6    DEPARTURE…………..+9.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………36.3    DEPARTURE…………..+9.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 2014 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

1/1  26/16/21/-6/0.00/0.0/505/92          25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 27
1/2  24/00/12/-15/0.97/10.9/000/00        39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39
1/3  12/-3/05/-21/0.38/4.7/270/49         36 N   AERO 39 MPH N   RMY 34
1/4  25/-4/11/-15/0.00/0.0/545/99         35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38
1/5  42/23/33/+07/0.08/0.0/259 47         30 SE  AERO 32 MPH SE  RMY 42
1/6  57/25/41/+15/0.29/0.0/006/01         41 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 48
1/7  25/06/16/-10/0.00/0.0/555/100        44 WNW AERO 46 MPH WNW RMY 42
1/8  21/3/12/-14/0.00/0.0/550/99          28 WSW AERO 29 MPH WSW RMY N/A
1/9  28/13/21/-5/0.00/0.0/540/97          23 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY 27
1/10 37/17/27/+2/0.05/0.3/000/00          17 SSW AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY N/A
1/11 57/37/47/+22/0.67/0.0/000/00         50 S   AERO 59 MPH S   RMY 59
1/12 51/32/42/+17/0.04/0.0/286/51         41 W   AERO 44 MPH W   RMY 42
1/13 50/30/40/+15/0.00/0.0/…/..         33 S   AERO 36 MPH S   RMY 37
1/14 49/41/45/+20/0.83/0.0/…/..         35 S   AERO 37 MPH S   RMY 32
1/15 46/33/40/+15/0.00/0.0/…/..         24 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY N/A
1/16 40/34/37/+12/0.00/0.0/…/..         14 ENE AERO 13 MPH ENE RMY 14
1/17 44/33/39/+14/0.00/0.0/…/..         21 SW  AERO 21 MPH SW  RMY 22
1/18 37/30/34/+9/0.82/4.2/…/..          18 E   AERO 17 MPH E   RMY 18
1/19 32/27/30/+5/0.03/0.5/…/..          28 SW  AERO 35 MPH SW  RMY 34
1/20 39/23/31/+6/0.00/0.0/…/..          38 W   AERO 41 MPH W   RMY 42

1/21 morning low temp: 13F; the normal low is now 17F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2014
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 21
HIGH 65F IN 1906
LOW -4F IN 1888,1893
PRECIP 2.49 INS. IN 1979
SNOWFALL 7.6 INS. IN 2011
PEAK GUST 78e MPH SE IN 1979

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 22
HIGH 59F IN 1916
LOW -8F IN 1888,1976
PRECIP 1.24 INS. IN 1891,1987
SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 2005
PEAK GUST 67 MPH W IN 1976

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald