Tuesday, May 2, 2023

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

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0438E
SUNSET:  1845E

MORE CLOUDS THAN SUN TODAY WITH OFF AND ON RAIN SHOWERS…

Clouds have mainly dominated the sky today with a couple of
short duration periods of partial sun this morning. Spokes of
rain showers have moved through today, with one coming through
early this morning along with a rumble of thunder. The second
spoke has been working through early this afternoon, with
moderate rainfall rates at times.

Temperatures briefly warmed into the upper 50s late this
morning, before falling back into the mid 40s thanks to the
clouds and rain. Definitely feels chilly out there with all
the dampness.

The wind has been busy today with an average speed for the day
thus far of around 14mph. Frequent gusts of around 30mph were
occurring this morning, but have decreased this afternoon.

Visibility has been changeable today with the spokes of showers
moving through, dropping to as low as around 4-5 miles at times,
then rising again to as high as 30 miles.

The high temperature so far today is 57F degrees, which is 6
degrees below the normal high of 63F. The low since midnight is
43F, which is 1 degree below the normal low of 44F.

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PRELIMINARY STATS FOR APRIL 2023

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 59.8 [+3.5] Avg. Min. 40.9 [+3.0] Mean      50.4 [+3.3] 24-hour corrected mean: 49.4
Max. for month: 88F on the 13th and 14th
Min. for month: 28F on the 3rd

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:    439 [-101] Total for the season:  4971 [-916] Total for last season: 5364

COOLING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units:      9 [+006] Total for the season:     9 [+006] Total for last season:    0

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.59 [-1.17] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.72 on the 30th

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 0.0 [-2.8] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 10.5 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   11.1 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   East-Northeast [13%] Peak gust and direction:  46 NW on the 12th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 11598 of a possible 23250, or 50%
Astronomical total minutes: 12017 of a possible 24085, or 50%

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratus fractus, broken cumulonimbus, overcast
altocumulus castellanus, thunderstorm, few breaks in overcast E-SE
and SW-WSW
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 47F; Relative Humidity: 97%
Wind: SE @ 8 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 997.1 mb; 29.44 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 10 miles, 20 miles SE amd WSW, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 43F
24-hr Precip:  0.03 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E1 BKN 55 BKN 75 OVC 10T 971/48/47/1408/944/ FEW BINOVC
E-SE AND SW-WSW CB SSW AND N-ENE MOV N STFRA DFTG OVR SMT TB54
RW-E55 THN F ALQDS VSBY 20 SE AND WNW WSHFT 50/ 8/38/ 58005 6002/
70003 10048 20043

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, overcast altostratus, few breaks in
overcast distant NNE-ESE, virga distant S-WSW
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 43F; Relative Humidity: 59%
Wind: S @ 13G23 kts
Sea-level pressure: 996.2 mb; 29.42 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip:  Trace
BHO SA 1455 30 SCT E200 OVC 30 962/57/43/1813G23/942/ FEW BINOVC
DSNT NNE-ESE VIRGA DSNT S-WSW RW-B02E10 HAZY/ 8/22/ 58009 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, very light rain showers
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 46F; Relative Humidity: 98%
Wind: SSE @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 995.8 mb; 29.41 in. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 10 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 57F
6-hr Min temp: 46F
6-hr Precip:  0.15 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E45 OVC 10RW- 958/47/46/1608/941/ FEW STFRA ALQDS
THN F ALQDS PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/72/ 57004 6015/ 10057 20046

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SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MAY 1, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….63   NORMAL…..63
MIN…….45   NORMAL…..44
MEAN……54   NORMAL…..53

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+1 [+0.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………11  DEPARTURE……..-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………11  DEPARTURE……..-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4982  DEPARTURE……-917
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….5374  DEPARTURE……-392

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2023 THRU DEC 2023)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……………9  DEPARTURE……..+6
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……….0  DEPARTURE……..+9

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

F420C (Official)……….E44 SSE @   12:22 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….46 SSE @   12:41 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….45 SSE @   12:41 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….45 SSE @   12:47 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………47 S   @    3:20 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..48 WSW @    8:22 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..49 SSE @   12:41 A.M.
MERLIN…………………43 SSW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……48     @    8:37 A.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………33 SSW @    2:32 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..29     @    8:35 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..30     @    2:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………29 SW  @    8:36 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………33 S   @    2:44 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..29 SW  @    8:35 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..31 SSW @    2:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………28     @   12:48 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL………17.0 SSW [408 total miles] VECTOR #1……………….16.8
VECTOR #2……………….17.6
DAVIS #1………………..16.4 SSW
DAVIS #2………………..17.7 SSW
RMY #1………………….16.3 SSW
RMY #2………………….17.6 SSW
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..16.4

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.03 DEPARTURE…..-0.11
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.06 DEPARTURE…..-0.07
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..18.26 DEPARTURE…..-0.65

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE…….0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..0.0 DEPARTURE…….0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……34.9 DEPARTURE…..-34.8

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR APRIL 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

4/1   60/39/50/+9/0.39/0.0/145/19         36 SW   VEC1 40 SW  RMY 41
4/2   50/30/40/-1/0.00/0.0/636/83         40 NNW  VEC1 44 NNW RMY 45
4/3   51/28/40/-2/0.00/0.0/737/96         41 SSW  VEC1 46 SSW RMY 46
4/4   62/40/51/+9/0.00/0.0/594/77         26 ENE  VEC1 26 ENE RMY 27
4/5   45/37/41/-2/0.02/0.0/000/00         33 ENE  VEC1 34 ENE RMY 37
4/6   62/37/50/+7/0.02/0.0/155/20         26 NW   VEC1 28 NNW RMY 29
4/7   58/36/47/+3/0.00/0.0/328/42         45 WNW  VEC1 48 WNW RMY 52
4/8   50/29/40/-4/0.00/0.0/767/98         26 NNW  VEC1 29 NNW RMY 31
4/9   54/33/44/0/0.00/0.0/770/98          25 S    VEC1 28 S   RMY 28
4/10  65/33/49/+4/0.00/0.0/772/98         18 WSW  VEC1 19 NW  RMY 20
4/11  75/45/60/+15/0.00/0.0/522/66        37 W    VEC1 37 W   RMY 38
4/12  73/56/65/+19/0.00/0.0/515/65        46 NW   VEC1 49 NW  RMY 52
4/13  88/52/70/+24/0.00/0.0/764/96        25 W    VEC1 26 WNW RMY 27
4/14  88/50/69/+22/0.00/0.0/711/89        24 WNW  VEC1 27 WNW RMY 26
4/15  68/45/57/+10/T/0.0/401/50           20 ENE  VEC1 20 ENE RMY 21
4/16  55/46/51/+4/0.05/0.0/000/00         21 NE   VEC1 22 NE  RMY 21
4/17  55/45/50/+2/0.06/0.0/000/00         17 NE   VEC1 18 ENE RMY 18
4/18  57/45/51/+3/T/0.0/446/55            39 WSW  VEC1 41 WSW RMY 42
4/19  49/37/43/-6/0.00/0.0/244/30         35 WNW  VEC1 36 WNW RMY 40
4/20  64/36/50/+1/0.00/0.0/693/85         23 NW   VEC1 23 NNW RMY 23
4/21  55/42/49/-1/0.00/0.0/663/81         22 E    VEC1 24 SE  RMY 24
4/22  53/42/48/-2/0.27/0.0/000/00         28 ESE  VEC1 31 ESE RMY 30
4/23  51/45/48/-2/0.72/0.0/000/00         30 SE   VEC1 33 SE  RMY 31
4/24  58/43/51/0/0.00/0.0/339/41          21 WNW  VEC1 22 WNW RMY 22
4/25  61/42/52/+1/0.11/0.0/406/49         18 NNE  VEC1 21 NNE RMY 21
4/26  55/42/49/-3/T/0.0/332/40            20 NE   VEC1 21 E   RMY 22
4/27  59/42/51/-1/0.04/0.0/450/54         26 NW   VEC1 30 NW  RMY 30
4/28  62/41/52/0/0.00/0.0/619/74          20 ESE  VEC1 23 ESE RMY 22
4/29  55/44/50/-3/0.19/0.0/008/01         33 ESE  VEC1 34 ESE RMY 34
4/30  57/46/52/-1/1.72/0.0/000/00         37 ESE  VEC1 39 ESE RMY 38

DAILY RECORDS

04/12/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 56F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 52F SET IN 1945 AND 1947

04/13/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 88F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 85F SET IN 1945

04/14/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 88F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 80F SET IN 1945

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MAY 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

5/1   63/45/54/+1/0.04/0.0/…/..         44 SSE  VEC1 46 SSE RMY 48

5/2  The low since midnight is 43F, the daily normal low is 44F

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

RECORDS FOR MAY 2
HIGH 92F IN 2001
LOW 29F IN 1903
PRECIP 1.36 INCHES IN 2006
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1920, 1941
PEAK GUST 58 MPH S IN 1983

RECORDS FOR MAY 3
HIGH 92F IN 2001
LOW 31F IN 1888
PRECIP 2.25 INS IN 1900
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1908, 1985
PEAK GUST 71 MPH W IN 2002

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas