Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

HIGH THIN CLOUDINESS IN A SUNNY SKY TODAY
WINDS BECOME LIGHT AFTER WINDY DAY YESTERDAY
TEMPERATURES STRUGGLE UP TO 40 DEGREES AS THE
DEW POINT FALLS TO LOWER TEENS
HIGH BAROMETRIC PRESSURE OVER 30.50 INCHES

High thin cirrus and some cirrocumulus cloudiness has
invaded the sky after the day began mostly clear early.
The very gusty winds of yesterday are gone with speeds
well under 10 kts by early this afternoon. The temperature
has struggled up to 40 degrees by early this afternoon after
a much colder than normal low of 25F early this morning.
The normal low is now 32F. The barometer has reached a high
of approximately 30.54 inches early this afternoon.
Despite the cold weather no ice cover has formed on the
local ponds, Houghton’s and Ponkapoag.

Rainfall is badly needed as moderate drought conditions have
continued to develop across much of the area.  Precipitation
from September 2 through November 19 (79 days) has only been
3.69 inches, or 34% of the 30-year average of 10.93 inches.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather:  Clear, layer of stratocumulus, cumulus distant ENE-SSE
offshore, cirrus distant SE-SSW-W
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: NNW at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.45 ins. Hg, rising then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze
6-hr min temp: 25F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 312/25/14/3308/045/ LYR SC/CU ALG/DSNT OFFSHR
ENE-SSE CI DSNT SE-SSW-W LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/801 53027 10027 20025

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, 2 levels, ESE-SSW-WNW,
and in vicinity of station SE-SW, stratocumulus layer
distant ENE-SSE offshore
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: NNW at 9 kts,
Wind: Direction variable NW-NNE
Sea-level pressure: 30.53 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 250 –SCT 300 –SCT 75 337/33/12/3409/053/ SC LYR DSNT
OFFSHR ENE-SSE CI ESE-S-WNW VC SE-SW LGT DSNT HZ WND 31V03/
8/501 51025

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus/cirrocumulus, except NW-NE, thin scattered
cirrus, thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant
offshore E-ESE
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: NNW at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.52 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 85 miles
6-hr max temp: 40F
BHO SA 1755 220 SCT 250 –SCT 300 –BKN 85 335/40/11/3405/052/
FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR E-ESE PTCHS CC XCPT NW-NE WND LGT/
8/509 57002 10040 20025

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..46    NORMAL…..49
MIN…..28    NORMAL…..33
MEAN….37    NORMAL…..41

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………….-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+19 [+0.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..28  DEPARTURE………+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….388  DEPARTURE……..-19
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………865  DEPARTURE…….-105
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….844  DIFFERENCE…….+21

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………46 WNW AT  3:17 A.M.
AERO…………………..46 W   AT  3:17 A.M.
ASOS…………………..49 W   AT  3:17 A.M.
DAVIS………………….42 W   AT  2:07 A.M. RMY 44
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..31 WNW AT  3:17 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..31 WNW AT  3:18 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….29 WNW AT  2:08 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………17.5 NW
ASOS…………………17.0
DAVIS………………..14.9 WNW [300 degrees] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00   DEPARTURE…………-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.01   DEPARTURE…………-1.98
ASOS…………..1.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….44.02   DEPARTURE…………-2.74
ASOS…………..N/A**
**ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….0.0     DEPARTURE…………..0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………….0.2     DEPARTURE………….-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………0.2     DEPARTURE………….-0.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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

11/1  68/56/62/+16/0.10/0.0/012/02        60 SSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 66
11/2  65/49/57/+11/0.00/0.0/296/48        22 WSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 23
11/3  49/30/40/-6/0.06/T/135/22           23 N   AERO N/A N/A    RMY N/A
11/4  42/27/35/-10/0.00/0.0/588/96        24 NNE AERO N/A N/A    RMY 25
11/5  50/29/40/-5/0.00/0.0/487/80         16 SSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 17
11/6  59/40/50/+5/0.00/0.0/419/69         30 SSW AERO 31 MPH SSW RMY 33
11/7  65/37/51/+6/0.31/0.0/079/13         33 SW  AERO 37 MPH SW  RMY 37
11/8  48/31/40/-4/T/T/0.0/421/70          37 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 39
11/9  44/29/37/-7/0.00/0.0/366/61         25 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 29
11/10 52/40/46/+2/0.08/0.0/108/18         31 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY N/A
11/11 51/36/44/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..         36 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 37
11/12 48/24/36/-7/0.11/0.2/000/00         42 SW  AERO 43 MPH SW  RMY 43
11/13 35/21/28/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..        29 NW  AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 30
11/14 49/26/38/-4/0.00/0.0/…/..         25 SW  AERO 25 MPH SW  RMY 28
11/15 59/38/49/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..         24 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY 26
11/16 59/40/50/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..         20 WSW AERO 20 MPH WSW RMY N/A
11/17 59/42/51/+10/0.07/0.0/000/00        23 SSE AERO 25 MPH SSE RMY N/A
11/18 65/46/56/+15/0.28/0.0/…/..        40 SSW AERO 40 MPH S   RMY 46
11/19 46/28/37/-4/0.00/0.0/…/..         46 WNW AERO 46 MPH W   RMY 44

11/20 morning low temp: 25F; the normal low is now 32F

DAILY RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2013
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 20
HIGH 72 IN 1953
LOW 10 IN 1894
PRECIP 2.78 INS IN 1988
SNOWFALL 3.0 INS IN 1897
PEAK GUST 73e S IN 1950

RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 21
HIGH 69 IN 1931
LOW 10 IN 1888
PRECIP 2.60 INCHES IN 1950
SNOWFALL 4.0 INS IN 1929
PEAK GUST 69 NW IN 1989

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling