Wednesday, February 22, 2023

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

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0631E
SUNSET:  1725E

CLEAR SKIES TO START THE DAY, BUT CLOUDS HAVE QUICKLY INCREASED….

After a beautiful sunrise this morning under clear skies,
clouds have quickly increased and thickened leaving us with
overcast skies this afternoon. This advancement in cloud
cover is ahead of our next system that’s expected to bring
snow, sleet, and potentially some freezing rain and/or rain.
Precipitation is expected to start this evening and last
through the day tomorrow.

Temperatures have warmed into the low to mid 40s prior to
losing the sunshine. So all in all it’s not a bad day,
especially with winds being on the light side.

The wind has been light out of the west or west-northwest
all day, with an average speed since 7am of only around 9mph.

Visibility has been decent all day, holding between 60-65 miles.

The high so far today is 42F, which is 4 degrees above the
normal maximum of 38F. The low since midnight is 30F, which
is 9 degrees above the normal low of 21F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus all quadrants
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 24F; Relative Humidity: 75%
Wind: W @ 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1017.7 mb; 30.05 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 34F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip:  0.15 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.9 ins.
Snow Depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 177/31/24/2812/005/ FEW CI ALQDS
NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.9 INS/ 8/001 53032 70015 10034 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant W-NNW-NNE,
few altocumulus distant SE-SW-WNW
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 22F; Relative Humidity: 50%
Wind: WNW @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1019.8mb; 30.11 in. Hg: rising, then steady
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E250 -BKN 60 198/39/22/3007/011/ FEW SC DSNT W-NNW-NNE
FEW AC DSNT SE-SW-WNW/ 8/571 51021

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast cirrostratus,
few stratocumulus distant NNW-NNE
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 22F; Relative Humidity: 47%
Wind: W @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1019.7 mb; 30.11 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr Max temp: 42F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E100 BKN 200 OVC 65 197/40/22/2807/011/ FEW SC DSNT
NNW-NNE SUN DMLY VSBL/ 8/577 58001 10042 20031

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SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….41   NORMAL…..38
MIN…….31   NORMAL…..21
MEAN……36   NORMAL…..29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………+7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….+157 [+7.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………29  DEPARTURE……..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..630  DEPARTURE……-156
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………3453  DEPARTURE……-737
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….3839  DEPARTURE……-386

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
420C, Contacting, Merlin and Richards are all Main Tower.

420C (Official)…………26 W   @ 11:55 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….27 W   @ 11:55 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….29     @ 11:54 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….27 W   @ 11:55 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………27 W   @ 11:54 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..27 W   @ 11:55 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..30 WNW @ 11:54 P.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……26     @ 11:57 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………20 W   @ 11:59 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..19     @ 11:59 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..20     @ 11:55 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………20 W   @ 11:55 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………20 WNW @ 11:55 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..18 W   @ 11:59 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..20 WNW @ 11:55 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………19     @ 11:59 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……7.3 ENE [175 total miles] VECTOR #1…………….M
VECTOR #2…………….7.8
DAVIS #1……………..7.1 E
DAVIS #2……………..7.5 E
RMY #1……………….M
RMY #2……………….8.0 ENE
RICHARDS (C5C)………..M

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.15 DEPARTURE…..+0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.29 DEPARTURE…..-2.61
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……………7.08 DEPARTURE…..-0.32

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.9 DEPARTURE……+0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………..1.6 DEPARTURE…..-12.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……16.5 DEPARTURE…..-31.1

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

2/1   30/18/24/-2/T/T/552/92              17 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 20
2/2   38/19/29/+3/0.00/0.0/518/86         25 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/3   28/-11/9/-17/T/T/557/92             56 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 64
2/4   14/-14/0/-26/0.00/0.0/473/78        45 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/5   49/14/32/+5/0.00/0.0/359/59         38 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 43
2/6   47/30/39/+12/0.00/0.0/025/04        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 29
2/7   31/22/27/0/0.01/0.1/461/75          29 SSW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 33
2/8   46/31/39/+12/0.00/0.0/413/67        30 NW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 34
2/9   49/33/41/+14/T/0.0/149/24           31 SSE  VEC1 N/A    RMY 32
2/10  60/31/46/+19/0.00/0.0/603/97        43 W    VEC1 N/A    RMY 51
2/11  43/31/37/+10/0.00/0.0/625/100       41 WNW  VEC1 N/A    RMY 46
2/12  48/28/38/+10/0.00/0.0/339/54        22 SW   VEC1 N/A    RMY 24
2/13  42/33/38/+10/0.00/0.0/069/11        28 NE   VEC1 N/A    RMY 36
2/14  50/34/42/+14/0.00/0.0/475/75        30 NW   VEC1 33     RMY 35
2/15  56/35/46/+18/0.00/0.0/279/44        39 SSW  VEC1 44     RMY 49
2/16  61/50/56/+28/T/0.0/108/17           29 W    VEC1 31     RMY 34
2/17  56/23/40/+11/0.06/0.1/000/00        44 NNW  VEC1 46     RMY 46
2/18  39/19/29/0/0.00/0.0/643/100         41 NW   VEC1 42     RMY 47
2/19  44/30/37/+8/0.00/0.0/129/20         32 S    VEC1 35     RMY 36
2/20  59/41/50/+21/0.00/0.0/208/32        35 W    VEC1 36     RMY 40
2/21  41/31/36/+7/0.22/1.4/000/00         26 W    VEC1 27     RMY 27

2/22  The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 21F

DAILY RECORDS

02/03/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -11F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -7F SET IN 1955

02/04/2023: NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF -4F SET IN 1886 AND 1908

02/10/2023: NEW RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 56F SET IN 1909

02/16/2023: NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F,
THIS BEATS THE OLD RECORD OF 41F SET IN 1976. THIS ALSO
TIES THE WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY SET
IN 2018

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 22
HIGH 63F IN 1997
LOW -1F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.38 INCHES IN 1900
SNOWFALL 8.0 INCHES IN 1893
PEAK GUST 74 MPH S IN 1974

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 23
HIGH 67F IN 2017, 2022
LOW -8F IN 1907
PRECIP 1.48 INCHES IN 1967
SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1967
PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1974

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas