Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

COOLER, CLOUDY TUESDAY CONTINUES INTO WEDNESDAY

Drizzle began during the mid afternoon on Tuesday, leaving
just 0.01 ins. of new precipitation as a prolonged period of
abnormally dry conditions continue in the region. On top of
Great Blue Hill, precipitation for the month of December is
now 0.94 inches below normal, and 10.06 inches below normal
on the year after several much drier than normal months in
2015.

Temperatures have continued their warmer than normal stretch
as well, even after a cooler day today and Tuesday. Through
yesterday temperatures continue to average near 7 degrees F
above normal for the month with warmer than normal temperature
expected through next week. By week’s end, some daily record
high temperatures may come close to being tied or broken.

Today, skies have remained mostly cloudy with a thick layer
of low stratocumulus. Visibility has remained poor since yesterday
at 20-30 miles in most directions. By the 1:00 PM EST observation
skies were still mainly overcast after a few peaks of sun near
mid morning. A maximum temperature so far of 44F had been recorded
with showers barely visible in the distant SSE-SSW.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, few cumulus distant N] Wind Speed: Light
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: estimated SE at 5 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.19 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 20 miles, except 30 miles SSE-S, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 35F
6-hr Min temp: 34F
24-hr precip: 0.01 inches
BHO SA 1155 E34 BKN 20 223/35/30/E1305/019/ VSBY SSE-S 30 MI
FEW CU DSNT N THN FG ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/500 53005 MANUAL 70001
10035 20034

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, breaks in overcast overhead
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 34F; Wind: estimated SE at 4 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.21 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog, hazy
BHO SA 1455 E34 OVC 25 231/40/34/E1404/021/ BINOVC OVHD THN
FG ALQDS HAZY WND LGT/ 8/500 53008

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast cirrostratus,
breaks in overcast distant NW, showers distant SSE-SSW
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 34F; Wind: S at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 30 miles, except 20 miles SSE-SSW, showers distant,
thin fog and hazy
6-hr max. temp: 44F
6-hr min. temp: 35F
BHO SA 1755 E50 BKN 200 OVC 30 215/43/34/1907/016/
VSBY SSE-SSW 20 MI SHWRS DSNT SSE-SSW BINOVC DSNT NW
THN FG ALQDS HAZY/ 8/507 58016 10044 20035

SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..42   NORMAL…..42
MIN…..35   NORMAL…..26
MEAN….39   NORMAL…..34

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………….+5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+57  [+6.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..26   DEPARTURE……….-5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….181   DEPARTURE………-57
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..1183   DEPARTURE……..-317
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……1398   DIFFERENCE…….-215

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….32  NE  AT 12:06 A.M.
ASOS……………………31  NE  AT 12:08 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..29  ENE AT 12:12 A.M. RMY 31
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………20  NE  AT 12:33 A.M.*
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………20  ENE AT 12:27 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..19  NE  AT 12:33 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION……………9.0 N
ASOS……………………9.2
DAVIS…………………..7.9 NNE [025 Deg.] * Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…..0.01  DEPARTURE……-0.16
ASOS……………0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………..0.37  DEPARTURE……-0.94
ASOS……………0.36
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..39.79  DEPARTURE…..-10.06
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……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.0  DEPARTURE……-2.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….TRACE  DEPARTURE……-5.1

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/…/..           43 WNW RMY 42
12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/…/..           32 NW  RMY 32
12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..           21 W   RMY N/A
12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/…/..          22 SW  RMY N/A
12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/…/..          31 NE  RMY N/A
12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31

12/9  low since midnight is 34F; normal low is now 26F

DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015

-NONE SO FAR.

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 9
HIGH 68 IN 1966
LOW -14 IN 1902
PRECIP 3.23 INS. IN 2014
SNOWFALL 10.8 INS. IN 2005
PEAK GUST 66 SE IN 1973

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 10
HIGH 62 IN 1946
LOW -6 IN 1902
PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1907
SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1905
PEAK GUST 66e SW IN 1940

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald