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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

May 5, 2026

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2026 ALL TIMES ARE…

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

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2026
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0434E
SUNSET:  1848E

MIX OF SUN AND CLOUDS WITH WARM TEMPERATURES, BUT A GUSTY WIND….

An area of high pressure is currently anchored northeast of
Bermuda over the open Atlantic. Meanwhile a cold front positioned
from Ontario southwestward through the Ohio Valley is slowly
moving eastward toward the Northeast. Sandwiched in between we
have a warm and increasingly humid air mass being advected into
the region on an increasing southwest flow.

Other than some patches of clouds moving through this morning,
skies have been mainly sunny today. However the increase in pollen
is quite noticeable as it’s rather hazy out there.

Temperatures have warmed to the upper 70s by late this morning,
but as the southerly wind increases, cooler air from the South
Coast is working in and readings have slipped back to the mid
70s by the 1pm observation. Dew point values rose into the mid
50s by late this morning and early this afternoon, but have
lowered a bit early this afternoon due to mixing from aloft
(sinking air both warms and dries out). As a result of the lower
relative humidity levels, there is an elevated fire risk for this
afternoon.

Winds have been gusty most of the day, but are increasing early
this afternoon. A south-southwest to southwest wind has been
averaging at around 15mph for the day so far. Gusts are now
reaching 30mph more regularly as we push into the early
afternoon hours. The peak gust so far is 35mph, which occurred
just after 12:45pm.

Visibility has been limited to between 30-35 miles all day due
to the high pollen count and overall warmer air mass in place.

The maximum temperature so far today is 78F degrees, which is
14 degrees above the normal high of 64F. The minimum temperature
since midnight is 49F degrees, which is 4 degrees above the
normal low of 45F.

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few altocumulus/castellanus distant SW-N
Temperature: 56F; Dew Point: 49F; Relative Humidity: 81%
Wind: SSW @ 13G22 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1011.4 mb; 29.87 in. Hg: falling, then steady
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 56F
6-hr Min temp: 49F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1155 E250 BKN 30 114/56/49/2013G22/987/ FEW AC/ACC DSNT SW-N
HAZY/ 8/081 56003 10056 20049

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus/castellanus, broken cirrus
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 58%
Wind: SSW @ 12G23 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1011.5 mb; 29.87 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 E120 BKN 250 BKN 35 115/69/54/2112G23/987/ HAZY/
8/081 50001

1 P.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few cumulus distant W-NNE
Temperature: 76F; Dew Point: 52F; Relative Humidity: 44%
Wind: S @ 16G30 kts, peak wind SSW 35mph at 12:46 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1009.9 mb; 29.82 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 78F
6-hr Min temp: 56F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1755 250 -SCT 35 099/76/52/1916G30/982/ FEW CU DSNT W-NNE
HAZY PK WND 2030/46/ 8/201 56016 10078 20056

————————————————————–

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MAY 4, 2026

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….71   NORMAL…..64
MIN…….41   NORMAL…..45
MEAN……56   NORMAL…..54

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………….+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………….-7 [-2.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2025 THRU JUN 2026)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………..9  DEPARTURE……..-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH (MAY)……….52  DEPARTURE……..+6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….5888  DEPARTURE…….-45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..5410  DEPARTURE……+478

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2026 THRU DEC 2026)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………..0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH (MAY)………..0  DEPARTURE……..-1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………….6  DEPARTURE……..+2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE………..7  DEPARTURE……..-1

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 *=Last of multiple occurrences

F420C (Official)………..46 SW   @   10:36 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….46 SW   @   10:36 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….43 SSW  @   11:34 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….45 SW   @   10:36 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………42 SW   @   11:34 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..48 SW   @   10:36 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..51 WSW  @   12:00 P.M.
MERLIN…………………43 WSW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……51 SW   @   10:36 A.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………28 SW   @   11:30 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..29 SW   @   10:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..30 SW   @   10:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………29 SW   @   10:38 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………31 WSW  @   10:38 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..29 SW   @   10:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..30 SW   @   10:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………28 SW   @   10:37 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……..16.3 WSW [390 total miles] VECTOR #1………………16.2
VECTOR #2………………16.9
DAVIS #1……………….16.3 SW
DAVIS #2……………….17.0 SW
RMY #1…………………16.0 SW
RMY #2…………………16.7 SW
RICHARDS (C5C)………….15.4

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.13
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH (MAY)……..0.04 DEPARTURE…..-0.46
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2026)…….13.67 DEPARTURE…..-5.57

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH (MAY)…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2025-2026)……81.6 DEPARTURE….+11.9

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MAY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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  63/43/53/0/0.00/…/..              26 WNW VEC1 27 NNW RMY 27
5/2  58/45/52/-2/0.04/…/..             29 SSW VEC1 29 SSW RMY 28
5/3  53/41/47/-7/T/…/..                37 NW  VEC1 36 NW  RMY 39
5/4  71/41/56/+2/0.00/…/..             46 SW  VEC1 46 SW  RMY 48

5/5 The low since midnight is 49F, the daily normal low is 45F.

————————————————————–

MAY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE.

————————————————————–

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

RECORDS FOR MAY 5
HIGH 92F IN 1949
LOW 30F IN 1891
PRECIP 2.74 INCHES IN 1922
SNOWFALL 3.0 INCHES IN 1917
PEAK GUST 58 MPH S IN 1966 & 58e MPH SW IN 1976

RECORDS FOR MAY 6
HIGH 90F IN 1930
LOW 29F IN 1891
PRECIP 1.04 INCHES IN 1890
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1917, 1952, 1996
PEAK GUST 65 MPH SSE IN 1989

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas

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