Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WARM, SUNNY AND MODERATELY HUMID WEATHER CONTINUES TODAY
THUNDERSTORM FORMING TO OUR DISTANT WEST ARE MOVING SOUTH
LONG DRY SPELL CONTINUES SINCE AUGUST 9TH

Early morning fog quickly burned off leaving us with another very
sunny day, and a warm and somewhat humid late summer day too.
There have been many sunny days this morning with our percent of
possible sunshine running up over 70%; normal for August is 58%.

Cumulonimbus tops from scattered distant showers and thunderstorms
are visible through our southwestern to northwestern sky this
afternoon.  According to the radar these showers are mostly moving
slowly toward the south.

Only 0.09 inch of rain has fallen since the 2.21 inches on August 9th.
The August precipitation departure is now close to minus one inch.

Today, August 28, will mark the 2nd anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene.
A peak wind gust of 77 mph and rainfall of 1.98 inches were recorded at
Blue Hill as the relatively large tropical cyclone tracked from New York
City northward to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky clear, few cirrus, few altocumulus dissipated
during past hour, thin fog
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: ENE at 6 kts,
Wind: Direction gradually veering (clockwise) over the past hour
Sea-level pressure: 29.91 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 4 miles, thin fog
24-hr precip: 0.00 inch
6-hr min. temp: 65F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 4F 128/70/66/0606/991/ FEW CI FEW AC DSSPTD PST HR/
8/001 51009 10070 20065

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, fog bank off shore NNE-E, lone small cumulus WNW,
lone altocumulus lenticularis W
Temperature: 76F; Dew Point: 64F; Wind: ENE at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 15 miles, WNW 20 miles, hazy all quadrants
BHO SA 1455 CLR 15 132/76/64/0707/992/ FG BNK OFFSHR NNE-E LONE
SML CU WNW LONE ACSL W VSBY WNW 20 HAZY ALQDS/ 8/140 51004

1 P.M.
Weather: Cumulonimbus distant WNW-N moving S, scattered cirrus/dense cirrus
associated with distant cumulonimbus dense cirrus cumulonimbus tops mostly
distant SW-N, few cumulus distant SE-SW, cumulus, few moderate distant W-N
Temperature: 79F; Dew Point: 62F; Wind: ENE at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.90 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 20 miles, except 15 miles, fog bank/haze NE-SE,
25 miles, distant haze SW-NW
6-hr max. temp: 81F
BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 20 126/79/62/0705/990/ CB DSNT WNW-NW MOVG S
ASOCTD CB DNS CI TOPS/PLUMES SW-N FEW CU DSNT SE-SW FEW MDT CU
DSNT W-N FG BNK OFFSHR NNE-ENE VSBY NE-SE 15 HAZY VSBY SW-NW 25
DSNT HZ WND LGT/ 8/203 58006 10081 20070

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..78     NORMAL…..78
MIN…..66     NORMAL…..60
MEAN….72     NORMAL…..69

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..+3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….-27  [-0.8 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..7   DEPARTURE………+2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………135   DEPARTURE……..-34
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..618   DEPARTURE……..+98
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……690   DIFFERENCE…….-72

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY…………….16 NE  AT  3:15 P.M. *
AERO…………………16 NE  AT  3:15 P.M.
ASOS…………………16 NE  AT  3:15 P.M. #
DAVIS………………..15 NE  AT  3-4  P.M. RMY 16
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………11 NE  AT  3:15 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………12 ENE AT  3:17 P.M. #
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………..11 ENE AT  3-4  P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………. 6.5 ENE
ASOS………………..6.6 (E)
DAVIS……………….6.2 ENE [060 deg.]

* last of several occurrences…
# ASOS data reported as estimated (E appears)

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.11
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.62  DEPARTURE………….-0.97
ASOS…………..2.66
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….37.91   DEPARTURE…………+3.33
ASOS…………..N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 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

8/1  81/62/72/0/0.01/503/58          25 S   AERO 26 MPH S   RMY 27
8/2  81/62/72/0/0.23/518/60          26 W   AERO 26 MPH W   RMY 28
8/3  77/63/70/-2/T/276/32            22 WSW AERO 23 MPH WSW RMY 23
8/4  79/58/69/-3/T/645/75            25 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 26
8/5  75/54/65/-7/0.00/858/100        26 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 27
8/6  78/56/67/-5/0.00/846/99         17 ESE AERO 15 MPH S   RMY 16
8/7  80/59/70/-2/0.00/759/89         21 S   AERO 21 MPH S   RMY N/A
8/8  79/62/71/-1/0.08/153/18         25 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY N/A
8/9  73/70/72/0/2.21/000/00          37 S   AERO 39 MPH S   RMY 40
8/10 81/61/71/-1/0.00/795/94         30 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 31
8/11 78/58/68/-3/0.00/835/99         18 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY 21
8/12 81/62/72/+1/0.00/656/78         18 W   AERO 17 MPH WSW RMY 19
8/13 73/64/69/-2/0.02/193/23         16 SSE AERO 15 MPH SSE RMY N/A
8/14 73/57/65/-6/0.00/819/98         35 W   AERO 35 MPH W   RMY 35
8/15 75/53/64/-7/0.00/800/96         23 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 24
8/16 77/57/67/-4/0.00/740/89         20 W   AERO 19 MPH W   RMY 21
8/17 77/59/68/-3/0.00/770/93         18 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY N/A
8/18 80/62/71/0/T/231/28             16 SSW AERO 17 MPH SSW RMY 18
8/19 82/58/70/0/T/494/60             17 W   AERO 18 MPH W   RMY 20
8/20 85/64/75/+5/0.00/772/94         17 NW  AERO 18 MPH NW  RMY N/A
8/21 87/65/76/+6/0.00/802/98         18 WSW AERO 18 MPH WSW RMY 18
8/22 84/67/76/+6/0.00/432/53         22 SW  AERO 22 MPH SSW RMY N/A
8/23 78/63/70/0/0.00/610/75          25 NNW AERO 25 MPH NNW RMY 24
8/24 73/55/64/-6/0.00/786/97         23 NNE AERO 22 MPH NNE RMY N/A
8/25 82/57/70/+1/0.00/791/98         20 SW  AERO 21 MPH SW  RMY 21
8/26 80/64/72/+3/T/…/..            26 WSW AERO 26 MPH SW  RMY 28
8/27 78/66/72/+3/0.07/…/..         16 NE  AERO 15 MPH NE  RMY 16

8/28 morning low temp: 65F; the normal low is now 60F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 28
HIGH 95F IN 1948
LOW 43F IN 1885
PRECIP 1.80 INCHES IN 1922
PEAK GUST 87 MPH SSE IN 1971 (DORIA)

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 29
HIGH 95F IN 1953
LOW 41F IN 1982
PRECIP 2.88 INCHES IN 1962
PEAK GUST 70e MPH S IN 1949

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling