Wednesday, January 10, 2024

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

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0713E
SUNSET:  1631E

POWERFUL STORM SYSTEM BRINGS HEAVY RAIN AND HIGH WINDS TO BLUE HILL….

The storm started as a mix of rain, sleet, and snow just after
5pm yesterday evening. The wintry mix didn’t last very long
and did not accumulate before changing to plain rain. Rain
continued through the entire overnight period, heavy at times.
Total precipitation amounted to 2.88″ with 0.61″ of it coming
in 1 hour between 3-4am. Unsurprisingly, this was the hour
in which the intense squall-line moved through when roughly
0.40″ of rain fell within a 10 minute period!

Winds were also very strong with this system, frequent gusts
over 50mph were occurring after midnight. The peak gust was
just before the squall-line arrived and was measured at 70mph.

The steady rain moved out before the 7am observation this morning
with some scattered showers lingering into early this afternoon.
Skies have remained mostly on the cloudy side, with only a few
brief periods of sunshine here and there.

The temperature started the day in the low 50s, but has been
gradually slipping back into the mid 40s by early this afternoon.

As mentioned, winds were strong prior to the squall-line which
passed through around 3:30am. While not nearly as strong as during
the overnight period, winds have remained on the gusty side into
this afternoon with gusts around 40mph occurring. The average
speed for the day so far is around 23mph.

Visibility has improved markedly since this morning with the view
increasing from around 5 miles early this morning in rain to
around 70 miles early this afternoon. It has been sporadically
lower however where rain showers are obscuring the view.

The maximum temperature so far today is 53F degrees, this is 18
degrees above the normal high of 35F. The minimum temperature
so far since midnight is 46F degrees, this is 27 degrees above
the normal low of 19F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, few lower stratus fractus all quadrants,
intermittent light rain showers
Temperature: 524F; Dew Point: 52F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S @ 23G35 kts, peak wind S 45mph at 6:30 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 981.3 mb; 28.98 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 5 miles, 8 miles NW-NE, fog
6-hr Max temp: 53F
6-hr Min temp: 43F
24-hr Precip: 2.88 inches
24-hr Snowfall: Trace
Snow Depth: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E6 OVC 5F 813/52/52/1923G35/898/ FEW LWR STFRA ALQDS
INTMT RW- VSBY 8 NW-NE PK WND 1939/30/ 8/7// 4/000 56097 6161/
70288 10053 20043

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken cumulus, broken altocumulus/
nimbostratus, rain showers in vicinity S-WSW, virga all quadrants
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 45F; Relative Humidity: 91%
Wind: W @ 9 kts, peak wind W 32mph at 9:16 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 985.2 mb; 29.09 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 60 miles, 5 miles S-SW
3-hr Precip: Trace
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 20 SCT E60 BKN 90 BKN 60 852/47/45/2609/909/ RW-B10E50
RW VCNTY S-WSW VIRGA ALQDS VSBY 5 S-SW WSHFT 14 PK WND 2728/16/
8/820 53039 6000/

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus/cumulus, broken altocumulus,
broken cirrostratus, virga distant WSW-N
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 37F; Relative Humidity: 71%
Wind: WSW @ 18G28 kts, peak wind WSW 32mph at 12:52 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 987.5 mb; 29.16 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 70 miles, lower WSW-W and NW-N
6-hr Max temp: 52F
6-hr Min temp: 46F
6-hr Precip: Trace
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E30 BKN 55 BKN 200 BKN 70 875/46/37/2518G28/916/ VIRGA DSNT
WSW-N VSBY LWR WSW-W AND NW-N PK WND 2528/52/ 8/868 53023 6000/ 10052 20046

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SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….40   NORMAL…..35
MIN…….23   NORMAL…..19
MEAN……32   NORMAL…..27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+16 [+1.6 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………33  DEPARTURE……..-5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..319  DEPARTURE…….-17
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………2214  DEPARTURE……-332
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….2157  DEPARTURE…….+57

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)……….E46 SE   @  11:07 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….49 SE   @  11:46 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….52 SE   @  10:19 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….43 SSE  @  10:23 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………46 SE   @  11:01 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..46 SE   @  11:01 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..55 SE   @  10:19 P.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……46      @  10:33 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………33 SE   @  11:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..30      @  11:35 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..33      @  11:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………33 ESE  @  10:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………33 SE   @  11:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..30 SE   @  10:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..32 SE   @  11:36 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………31      @  10:16 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……12.2 SE [293 total miles] VECTOR #1…………….11.9
VECTOR #2…………….12.8
DAVIS #1……………..12.3 ESE
DAVIS #2……………..12.6 ESE
RMY #1……………….11.9 E
RMY #2……………….12.6 E
RICHARDS (C5C)………..12.7

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..2.88 DEPARTURE…..+2.73
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..4.55 DEPARTURE…..+3.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)……..4.55 DEPARTURE…..+3.19

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………TRACE DEPARTURE……-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….13.2 DEPARTURE……+8.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)……13.5 DEPARTURE……-6.5

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PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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

1/1   37/25/31/+2/0.00/0.0/296/54         15 N   VEC1 14 N   RMY 15
1/2   39/19/29/+1/0.00/0.0/550/100        17 WNW VEC1 17 WNW RMY 17
1/3   42/25/34/+6/0.00/0.0/347/63         20 WNW VEC1 21 WNW RMY 21
1/4   42/21/32/+4/T/T/…/..              37 NNW VEC1 36 NNW RMY 39
1/5   32/17/25/-3/0.00/0.0/…/..         40 NW  VEC1 39 NW  RMY 39
1/6   34/24/29/+1/0.11/0.2/…/..         36 E   VEC1 36 E   RMY 36
1/7   33/21/27/0/0.84/13.0/…/..         38 ENE VEC1 37 ENE RMY 42
1/8   32/21/27/0/0.00/0.0/…/..          28 NW  VEC1 28 NW  RMY 31
1/9   40/23/32/+5/0.98/T/…/..           46 SE  VEC1 49 SE  RMY 46

1/10 The low since midnight is 46F, the daily normal low is 19F

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JANUARY DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

NONE.

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 10
HIGH 58F IN 2016
LOW -7F IN 2004
PRECIP 2.74 INS. IN 1935
SNOWFALL 8.0 INS. IN 1896
PEAK GUST 73e SE IN 1977

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 11
HIGH 65F IN 2020
LOW -7F IN 1968
PRECIP 1.58 INS. IN 2008
SNOW 10.2 INS. 1927
PEAK GUST 95e MPH S IN 1980

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas