Tuesday, October 29, 2024

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

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0614E
SUNSET:  1641E

EARLY MORNING SUN GIVES WAY TO INCREASING CLOUDS, STILL COOL
AND DRY….

We started the day with some sunshine, but by mid morning, a deck
of mid level clouds overspread the area giving us overcast skies
by early this afternoon. High pressure that crested over the region
this morning is showing signs of gradually pushing eastward. A warm
front over western New York State and central Pennsylvania is moving
eastward and should reach our area overnight tonight. If we’re
lucky, we’ll be able to squeeze a few showers out of this feature.

We continue with very dry conditions, and thus the risk for fire
remains elevated. Rainfall for the month to date is a whooping 4.43
inches below normal, and over 7 inches below normal for September
and October combined! The 0.53″ of rain for October so far currently
ranks as 4th driest October on record! Despite the chance for some
showers overnight tonight, it likely won’t amount to much and
certainly won’t have any impact on the worsening drought conditions.

Temperatures today are still on the cool side relative to normal, but
not as chilly as yesterday. The dew point started the day in the low
to mid 20s, but has recovered into the low to mid 30s by early this
afternoon, thanks in part to a south-southeast wind flow.

Winds have been southeast to south-southeast today averaging around
10mph for the day so far. It has been occasionally gusty, but nothing
too exciting. The peak gust for the day so far is 22mph, which
occurred around 9:15am this morning.

Visibility has been decent today, generally averaging between 50-60
miles. A smoke layer early this morning north to northeast of Boston
did reduce visibility in that direction to 25 miles for a time, but
that cleared up once the inversion lifted.

The maximum temperature so far today is 53F, which is 3 degrees below
the normal high of 56F. The minimum temperature since midnight is 38F,
which is 1 degree below the normal low of 39F.

As mentioned above, the month of October is currently ranking as 4th
driest on record. Here is a list of rankings as compiled by our Chief
Scientist Mike Iacono.

BHO Lowest October Precipitation, inches (1885-2023):

1) 0.22 in 1924
2) 0.39 in 1994
3) 0.50 in 1946
4) 0.53 in 2024 (through 10/28)
5) 0.61 in 1935
6) 0.63 in 1897
7) 0.79 in 2001
8) 1.09 in 2013

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, thin broken cirrus, shallow smoke
layer S-W-NNW below inversion, smoke layer distant N-NE
Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 25F; Relative Humidity: 52%
Wind: SSE @ 11G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1035.4 mb; 30.58 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 50 miles, 25 miles NNE, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 41F
6-hr Min temp: 38F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
BHO SA 1155 E45 BKN 250 -BKN 50 354/41/25/1511G16/058/
SHLW K LYR S-W-NNW BLW INVRSN K LYR DSNT N-NE VSBY 25 NNE HAZY/
8/501 50000 10041 20038

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, thin broken cirrus, smoke plume distant N
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 44%
Wind: SSE @ 9G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1035.9 mb; 30.59 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 E55 BKN 250 -BKN 60 359/50/29/1609G16/059/ K PLUME DSNT N/
8/071 51005

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altocumulus, few breaks in overcast distant NE-ESE,
higher clouds visible distant NE-ESE, smoke plume distant N
Temperature: 53F; Dew Point: 34F; Relative Humidity: 48%
Wind: S @ 8G14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1033.6 mb; 30.52 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 53F
6-hr Min temp: 41F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1755 E60 OVC 60 336/53/34/1808G14/052/ FEW BINOVC DSNT NE-ESE
HIER CLDS VSBL DSNT NE-ESE K PLUME DSNT N/ 8/07/ 58023 10053 20041

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SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….50  NORMAL…..57
MIN…….36  NORMAL…..40
MEAN……43  NORMAL…..48

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL……………-5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..+60 [+1.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………22  DEPARTURE……..+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..278  DEPARTURE…….-63
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….348  DEPARTURE……-111
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..295  DEPARTURE…….+53

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2024 THRU DEC 2024)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….4  DEPARTURE……..-3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….761  DEPARTURE…….+84
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..715  DEPARTURE…….+46

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)………..20 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….21 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….22 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….21 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………21 W    @   01:57 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..22 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..21 NNW  @   01:57 A.M.
MERLIN………………….M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………16 WNW  @   01:03 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..15      @   12:06 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..16      @   12:39 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………16 W    @   12:06 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………16 W    @   12:04 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..14 NNW  @   01:58 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..16 W    @   12:04 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL………7.9 NNE [189 total miles] VECTOR #1……………….8.2
VECTOR #2……………….8.8
DAVIS #1………………..8.1 NE
DAVIS #2………………..8.2 ENE
RMY #1………………….7.8 NNE
RMY #2………………….8.7 NNE
RICHARDS (C5C)………….OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.53 DEPARTURE…..-4.43
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….43.57 DEPARTURE…..-0.06

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 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

10/1   66/55/61/+3/T/134/19               28 ENE VEC1 28 ENE RMY 29
10/2   66/52/59/+1/T/252/36               21 ENE VEC1 20 ENE RMY 20
10/3   72/52/62/+5/0.00/592/85            23 S   VEC1 23 S   RMY 23
10/4   74/54/64/+7/0.00/452/65            23 SW  VEC1 22 SW  RMY 22
10/5   72/52/62/+5/T/457/66               24 NNW VEC1 23 NNW RMY 24
10/6   65/47/56/0/0.00/655/95             20 SE  VEC1 19 SE  RMY 18
10/7   60/51/56/0/0.27/021/03             29 SSE VEC1 29 SSE RMY 31
10/8   64/45/55/0/0.00/663/97             21 NW  VEC1 21 NW  RMY 21
10/9   64/46/55/0/T/639/94                24 W   VEC1 23 WNW RMY 23
10/10  60/42/51/-4/0.00/616/91            36 NW  VEC1 36 NW  RMY 38
10/11  67/40/54/0/0.00/635/94             28 WSW VEC1 27 WSW RMY 27
10/12  71/48/60/+6/0.00/652/97            44 NW  VEC1 43 NW  RMY 45
10/13  50/44/47/-7/0.20/007/01            32 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 30
10/14  51/38/45/-8/0.06/000/00            35 NW  VEC1 34 WNW RMY 36
10/15  55/35/45/-8/0.00/617/93            31 W   VEC1 30 WNW RMY 31
10/16  56/38/47/-5/0.00/615/93            32 NW  VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32
10/17  54/35/45/-7/0.00/421/64            22 NE  VEC1 22 NE  RMY 20
10/18  59/40/50/-2/0.00/656/100           28 NNE VEC1 28 NE  RMY 27
10/19  72/46/59/+8/0.00/653/100           20 WSW VEC1 19 WSW RMY 19
10/20  76/47/62/+11/0.00/650/100          21 WSW VEC1 22 WSW RMY 23
10/21  82/52/67/+16/0.00/628/97           25 WNW VEC1 25 W   RMY 26
10/22  74/58/66/+16/0.00/632/98           18 WNW VEC1 17 WNW RMY 17
10/23  78/53/66/+16/0.00/571/89           35 SSW VEC1 35 SSW RMY 36
10/24  70/47/59/+9/T/…/..               26 NNW VEC1 26 NNW RMY 26
10/25  61/40/51/+2/0.00/…/..            20 NNW VEC1 21 NNW RMY 20
10/26  64/43/54/+5/0.00/…/..            37 W   VEC1 39 W   RMY 41
10/27  53/36/45/-4/0.00/…/..            28 W   VEC1 29 WNW RMY 30
10/28  50/36/43/-5/0.00/…/..            20 NNW VEC1 21 NNW RMY 22

10/29 The low since midnight is 38F, the daily normal low is 39F.

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OCTOBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

10/21 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82F, OLD RECORD WAS 79F IN 1979

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 29
HIGH 74F IN 1989
LOW 23F IN 1891
PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 2012
SNOWFALL 4.0 INCHES IN 2011
PEAK GUST 76 E IN 2012

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 30
HIGH 75F IN 1946,1989
LOW 21F IN 1928
PRECIP 1.85 INCHES IN 1917
SNOWFALL 6.5 INCHES IN 2020
PEAK GUST 73 SE IN 2017

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas