Wednesday, December 30, 2015
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
WINTRY MIX TUESDAY FEATURED SNOW, ICE PELLETS,
RAIN, FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE- TEMPS DROP
TO 23F OVERNIGHT, GLAZE AND HOAR ICE ON BLUE HILL
Shockingly, after one of the coldest days of the month,
temperatures still averaged 4 degrees warmer than normal,
making Tuesday the 28th consecutive day with temperatures
warmer than normal.
Cold air rushed in after 4:00 PM EST yesterday afternoon,
changing rain to freezing rain, then freezing drizzle.
Glaze ice coated all surfaces this morning at less than
0.1 inch, with more than an inch of hoar frost forming on
most surfaces. Slushy melted snow and ice pellets from
yesterday morning froze hard overnight, creating slick surface
across Great Blue Hill.
Cloudy and cold conditions have prevailed this morning giving
way to a lower cloud deck and freezing fog. A brief snow
shower left a trace of new snow from 9:57 AM EST to 10:05 AM EST.
A maximum temperature of 28F had been reached by the 1:00 PM EST
observation.
BHO Latest First Measurable Snowfall, (1885-2014)
1) January 13, 2000 (7.0 inches)
2) January 1, 1954 (0.8 inches)
3) December 29, 1941 (0.4 inches)
3) December 29, 2015 (1.3 inches)
5) December 22, 1998 (0.6 inches)
6) December 16, 1973 (0.4 inches)
7) December 15, 1891 (0.3 inches)
BHO Largest December Daily Temperature Departure, deg F (1885-2015):
1) +35 on 29 Dec 1984 (72/51/62)
2) +30 on 25 Dec 2015 (64/52/58)
3) +29 on 23 Dec 1990 (62/53/58)
+29 on 24 Dec 2015 (67/48/58)
5) +27 on 31 Dec 1965 (62/45/54)
+27 on 22 Dec 1990 (58/53/56)
7) +26 on 27 Dec 1949 (57/51/54)
+26 on 9 Dec 1966 (68/52/60)
+26 on 6 Dec 2001 (70/52/61)
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, hoar frost on all surfaces,
thin glaze ice on all surfaces
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: estimated NNW @ 5 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.35 ins. Hg, falling, then rising but lower still
Visibility: 10 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 24F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
24-hr precip: 0.60 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.3 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E7 OVC 10 279/23/21/E3405/035/ THN FG ALQDS NEW SNW
PST 24 HRS 0.3 INS HOAR FRST ON ALL SFCS THN GLZ ON ALL SFCS
WND LGT/ 8/6// 53012 ASOS 70064 MANUAL 70060 10024 20023
10 A.M.
Weather: Freezing fog
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: estimated NNW @ 2 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.42 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 1 miles, freezing fog
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1ZF 300/25/23/E3302/042/ WND LGT/ 8//// 51021
1 P.M.
Weather: Freezing fog
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: estimated N @ 2 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.33 ins. Hg, falling steadily
Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, freezing fog
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/2ZF 270/27/27/E0102/033/ NEW SNW PST 3 HRS
TRACE WND LGT/ 8/// 57030 MANUAL 6000/ 10028 20023
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2015
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..38 NORMAL…..35
MIN…..23 NORMAL…..20
MEAN….31 NORMAL…..27
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………….+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………..+375 [+12.7 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..34 DEPARTURE……….-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….590 DEPARTURE……..-377
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1592 DEPARTURE……..-637
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1973 DIFFERENCE…….-381
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….35 ENE AT 1:39 P.M.
ASOS……………………36 NE AT 2:43 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..33 ENE AT 1:16 P.M. RMY 35
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………25 E AT 12:11 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………25 ENE AT 12:11 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..23 E AT 12:11 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..14.6 E
ASOS…………………..14.2
DAVIS………………….12.0 E [076 Deg.]
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…..0.60 DEPARTURE……+0.29
ASOS……………0.64
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………..4.11 DEPARTURE……-0.50
ASOS……………4.17
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..43.53 DEPARTURE……-9.62
ASOS…………….N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.3 DEPARTURE…….-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.3 DEPARTURE……-11.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON……………1.3 DEPARTURE……-13.6
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY GUST
RMY: R.M. Young wind gust recording system
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
12/1 42/30/36/-1/…./0.0/000/00 19 NNE RMY 19
12/2 53/37/45/+9/…./0.0/000/00 25 SSE RMY 25
12/3 53/37/45/+9/…./0.0/162/29 43 WNW RMY 42
12/4 47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80 32 NW RMY 32
12/5 50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99 21 W RMY N/A
12/6 57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96 22 SW RMY N/A
12/7 54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64 31 NE RMY N/A
12/8 42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00 32 NE RMY 31
12/9 44/34/39/+5/…./0.0/044/08 28 SSE RMY N/A
12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/209/38 29 SE RMY N/A
12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/049/09 28 SSW RMY 28
12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/367/67 23 W RMY N/A
12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/000/00 18 ESE RMY 19
12/14 60/43/52/+20/…./0.0/000/00 32 S RMY N/A
12/15 61/45/53/+21/…./0.0/371/68 48 W RMY 51
12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/415/76 25 N RMY N/A
12/17 53/36/45/+14/…./0.0/000/00 29 SE RMY 28
12/18 50/35/43/+12/…./0.0/000/00 29 NW RMY 30
12/19 38/30/34/+4/0.00/0.0/…/.. 39 W RMY 40
12/20 40/28/34/+4/0.00/0.0/…/.. 24 W RMY N/A
12/21 51/31/41/+11/T/0.0/…/.. 38 SSW RMY 42
12/22 57/49/53/+24/0.28/0.0/000/00 35 SW RMY 35
12/23 56/47/52/+23/…./0.0/…/.. 30 E RMY 27
12/24 67/48/58/+29/…./0.0/…/.. 37 SSW RMY 39
12/25 64/52/58/+30/…./0.0/…/.. 23 N RMY N/A
12/26 53/40/47/+19/…./0.0/…/.. 26 NNW RMY N/A
12/27 52/35/44/+16/…./0.0/000/00 36 NW RMY 33
12/28 35/27/31/+3/T/T/…/.. 33 NW RMY 33
12/29 38/23/31/+4/…./1.3/000/00 35 ENE RMY 35
12/30 low since midnight is 23F; normal low is now 19F
DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015
**12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983
**12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 67F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 61F SET IN 2014
**12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1900
**12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 64F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 62F SET IN 1889
**12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 52F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1964
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 30
HIGH 60 IN 1984
LOW -18 IN 1933
PRECIP 1.48 INS. IN 1891
SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 81 MPH WNW IN 1962
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 31
HIGH 62 IN 1965
LOW -12 IN 1917
PRECIP 0.96 INS. IN 1906
SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 2008
PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1990
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald
