Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Agreement required — click “Accept & Continue” below to review and accept the Data Use & Privacy Policy

Access to this content requires acceptance of our Data Use & Privacy Policy.

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0604E
SUNSET: 1653E

OCEAN STORM WELL OFFSHORE BRINGING FILTERED SUNSHINE WITH A
CHILLY BREEZE….

A large ocean storm well off the coast of the Delmarva region
continues to very slowly push eastward toward the open Atlantic.
However the circulation around this system is bringing a band
of high clouds to the region. With the onshore flow, a low
level deck of stratocumulus overspread the region during the
wee hours of the morning, and took until early this afternoon
for them to finally break. As such, sunshine has been rather
had to come by so far today.

Temperatures are cooler today than yesterday, in part due to
the cloud cover, but also because a bit of a cooler air mass
settled down from Maine and Nova Scotia. Readings started the
day in the mid 40s, but only rose to the low to mid 50s by
early this afternoon. However with the wind chill, it feels
more like the mid 40s. Dew point values have been generally
holding in the upper 30s to low 40s throughout the day.

Winds have been busy today out of the north-northeast to
northeast. The average speed for the day so far is around
13mph. Gusts have been frequently reaching 25-30mph all day.
The peak gust so far for the day is 35mph, which occurred just
before 11:45am this morning.

Visibility has been decent throughout the day with a view of
60-70 miles.

The maximum temperature so far today is 53F, which is 6 degrees
below the normal high of 59F. The minimum temperature since
midnight is 44F, which is 2 degrees above the normal low of 42F.

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, few breaks in overcast all
quadrants
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 39F; Relative Humidity: 79%
Wind: NNE @ 10G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1025.9 mb; 30.30 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 44F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1155 E20 OVC 70 259/45/39/0210G18/030/ FEW BINOVC ALQDS
HIER CLDS VSBL OVHD-ESE-S/ 8/5// 53007 10048 20044

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, few breaks in overcast all
quadrants
Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 76%
Wind: NNE @ 11G21 kts, peak wind NNE 31mph at 9:39 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1025.4 mb; 30.28 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 E16 OVC 60 254/49/42/0211G21/028/ FEW BINOVC ALQDS
HIER CLDS VSBL OVHD-NW PK WND 0227/39/ 8/5// 58005

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus all quadrants
Temperature: 51F; Dew Point: 42F; Relative Humidity: 71%
Wind: NE @ 13G23 kts, peak wind NE 31mph at 12:19 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1023.7 mb; 30.23 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 53F
6-hr Min temp: 44F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 70 237/51/42/0513G23/023/ FEW SC ALQDS
PK WND 0427/19/ 8/501 58017 10054 20044

————————————————————–

SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2026

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….60 NORMAL…..60
MIN…….40 NORMAL…..42
MEAN……50 NORMAL…..51

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………….-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH (OCT)…………………+33 [+1.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2026 THRU JUN 2027)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….15 DEPARTURE……..+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH (OCT)………186 DEPARTURE…….-30
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………..307 DEPARTURE…….-27
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE………245 DEPARTURE…….+62

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2026 THRU DEC 2026)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………..0 DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH (OCT)……….10 DEPARTURE……..+3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………..815 DEPARTURE……+138
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE………756 DEPARTURE…….+59

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

F420C (Official)………..36 NE @ 11:01 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….36 NE @ 11:13 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….36 NNE @ 11:01 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….33 ENE @ 11:01 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………35 ENE @ 11:01 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..37 NE @ 11:01 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..37 NNE @ 11:01 A.M.
MERLIN…………………35 NNE
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……34 NE @ 01:40 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………23 NNE @ 11:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..22 NE @ 11:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..23 NNE @ 11:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………23 NE @ 11:02 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………23 NE @ 11:02 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..22 NE @ 11:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..22 NNE @ 11:02 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………21 NE @ 11:01 A.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….12.8 NE [306 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..13.0
VECTOR #2……………..13.8
DAVIS #1………………13.3 NE
DAVIS #2…………………M
RMY #1………………..12.8 NNE
RMY #2………………..13.0 NNE
RICHARDS (C5C)…………13.0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH (OCT)……..2.18 DEPARTURE…..-1.30
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2026)…….39.70 DEPARTURE…..-2.45

————————————————————–

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

10/1 74/56/65/+7/0.00/084/12 28 SW VEC1 28 SW RMY 27
10/2 84/63/74/+16/0.05/518/74 33 SW VEC1 33 SW RMY 32
10/3 68/51/60/+3/0.00/684/98 24 NNW VEC1 24 NNE RMY 24
10/4 63/49/56/-1/T/320/46 24 ESE VEC1 23 ESE RMY 22
10/5 69/46/58/+1/0.00/581/84 43 WNW VEC1 42 WNW RMY 43
10/6 60/41/51/-5/0.00/676/98 30 WNW VEC1 30 WNW RMY 31
10/7 65/40/53/-3/0.00/660/96 31 S VEC1 31 S RMY 31
10/8 70/53/62/+7/0.00/506/74 33 WNW VEC1 33 SSW RMY 34
10/9 66/47/57/+2/0.00/661/97 40 WNW VEC1 39 WNW RMY 40
10/10 62/44/53/-2/0.00/549/81 22 NW VEC1 22 NW RMY 23
10/11 58/48/53/-1/1.63/014/02 31 ENE VEC1 31 ENE RMY 31
10/12 68/47/58/+4/0.11/390/58 28 NE VEC1 28 NE RMY 27
10/13 59/50/55/+1/0.08/000/00 25 E VEC1 25 ENE RMY 25
10/14 77/55/66/+13/0.01/394/59 31 WNW VEC1 30 WNW RMY 31
10/15 62/49/56/+3/0.00/…/.. 33 NNW VEC1 34 NNW RMY 35
10/16 65/48/57/+5/0.30/…/.. 33 SSW VEC1 33 SSW RMY 34
10/17 57/34/46/-6/T/…/.. 35 NW VEC1 35 NNW RMY 37
10/18 55/32/44/-8/0.00/…/.. 18 SSE VEC1 18 SSE RMY 18
10/19 57/42/50/-1/0.00/…/.. 20 NNE VEC1 19 NNE RMY 19
10/20 60/40/50/-1/0.00/…/.. 36 NE VEC1 36 NE RMY 37