Tuesday, October 15, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WINDS SPEED CONTINUES QUITE LOW;
AT OR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE STREAK EXTENDS TO 19 DAYS

Today has been another tranquil Fall day. There was some sunshine this
morning before an extensive layer of stratocumulus clouds built in early
this afternoon. Winds continue to be quite low, likely averaging near
4-5 mph so far today, which is close to yesterday’s average of only 4.5 mph.
Yesterday morning, there was a period of nearly completely calm wind that
lasted for the first 3.5 hours of the day.

Today’s temperatures are running a few degrees warmer than yesterday, and
the day will likely finish at least 5 degrees above the 30-year normal for
the date. Today will mark the 19th consecutive day of at or above normal
temperatures. The month is now averaging about 4.5 degrees above normal.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken stratocumulus, broken dense cirrus,
broken cirrus, few stratocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, cirrus and
patches of dense cirrus distant E-SSW, inversion present with an estimated
top of 800 feet over the city to the north, patches of thin ground fog
below inversion all quadrants, thin smoke layer above horizon but below
inversion NNW-ENE, distant haze
Temperature: 54F; Dew Point: 46F; Wind: Calm
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 50 miles, WNW 55 miles above thin fog/inversion, distant haze
6-hr min temp: 50F
BHO SA 1155 40 SCT E50 BKN 220 BKN 250 BKN 50 249/54/46/0000/027/ FEW
SCSL ALQDS CI AND PTCHS DNS CI DSNT E-SSW INVSN PRSNT ESTMTD TOP 8 HND OVR
CTY N PTCHS THN GF BLO INVSN ALQDS THN K LYR ABV HRZN BLO INVSN NNW-ENE
DSNT HZ VSBY WNW 55 ABV INVSN WND CALM/ 8/502 52010 10054 20050

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus (2 levels), thin broken cirrus, few
stratocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, higher stratocumulus ESE-SSW,
cirrus E-S and NW-NE, thin smoke layer distant all quadrants, dark smoke
patch NNE, hazy
Temperature: 62F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: Estimated N at 1 kt,
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 45 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 40 SCT 50 SCT 250 –BKN 45 251/62/48/E0101/027/ FEW SCSL ALQDS
HIER SC ESE-SSW CI E-S AND NW-NE THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS DRK K PTCH NNE HAZY
WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/501 52002

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus (2 levels), broken cirrus, thin band of small
cumulus extending NNW-NNE, higher stratocumulus and a few stratocumulus
lenticularis distant E-S, cirrus distant ESE-S, thin smoke layer distant
SSW-NW-ENE, hazy
Temperature: 63F; Dew Point: 50F; Wind: NE at 7 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 30.23 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly
Visibility: 50 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 66F
BHO SA 1755 E40 BKN 50 BKN 250 BKN 50 238/63/50/0407/023/ THN BND SML CU
XTNDNG NNW-NNE HIER SC AND FEW SCSL DSNT E-S CI DSNT ESE-S THN K LYR DSNT
SSW-NW-ENE HAZY/ 8/501 58013 10066 20054

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..64 NORMAL…..61
MIN…..42 NORMAL…..43
MEAN….53 NORMAL…..52

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………….+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+64 [+4.4 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..0 DEPARTURE……….0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..5 DEPARTURE………+1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..701 DEPARTURE…….+100
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……766 DIFFERENCE…….-65

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….12 DEPARTURE………-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….86 DEPARTURE……..-65
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..232 DEPARTURE……..-61
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……248 DIFFERENCE…….-16

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………15 SSW AT 10:42 P.M.
AERO…………………..15 SSW AT 10:42 P.M.
ASOS…………………..15 SSW AT 10:42 P.M.
DAVIS………………….15 SSW AT 10:41 P.M. RMY 15
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..11 SSW AT 10:41 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..12 SSW AT 10:42 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….11 SSW AT 7:13 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….4.5 SSW
ASOS………………….4.9
DAVIS…………………4.2 SSW [211 degrees]

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……….0.92 DEPARTURE………….-1.15
ASOS…………..0.91
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….42.84 DEPARTURE………….+1.69
ASOS…………..N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

10/1 75/50/63/+6/0.00/676/96 16 WNW AERO 16 MPH WNW RMY 18
10/2 78/56/67/+10/0.00/666/95 29 W AERO 30 MPH W RMY 29
10/3 77/56/67/+11/0.00/628/90 20 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/4 67/56/62/+6/0.26/028/04 18 NW AERO 20 MPH NW RMY N/A
10/5 67/56/62/+6/0.01/125/18 14 ENE AERO 12 MPH ENE RMY N/A
10/6 58/53/56/+1/0.56/000/00 20 NE AERO 20 MPH NE RMY N/A
10/7 75/57/66/+11/0.07/213/31 48 S AERO 55 MPH S RMY 55
10/8 65/50/58/+4/0.00/581/85 25 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY 28
10/9 59/49/54/0/0.00/545/80 25 ENE AERO 24 MPH ENE RMY 25
10/10 61/46/54/0/0.00/095/14 18 NE AERO 17 MPH NE RMY 18
10/11 67/50/59/+6/0.00/473/70 20 NE AERO 20 MPH NE RMY N/A
10/12 59/50/55/+2/0.02/007/01 30 ENE AER0 31 MPH ENE RMY 32
10/13 59/46/53/0/0.00/482/72 23 ENE AERO 23 MPH ENE RMY 23
10/14 64/42/53/+1/0.00/…/.. 15 SSW AERO 15 MPH SSW RMY 15

10/15 the morning low temp: 50F; the normal low is now 43F

DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 15
HIGH 83F IN 1897
LOW 29F IN 1887,1937
PRECIP 4.58 INCHES IN 2005
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1961,1972
PEAK GUST 69 MPH W IN 2003

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 16
HIGH 86F IN 1897
LOW 28F IN 1886
PRECIP 2.82 INCHES IN 1974
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 2009
PEAK GUST 68e MPH SSE IN 1954 (HURRICANE HAZEL)

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser