Wednesday, October 23, 2024

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0607E
SUNSET:  1649E

ANOTHER DAY WITH ABUNDANT SUNSHINE AND WARMER THAN NORMAL
TEMPERATURES….

I know I sound like a broken record, but today is yet another day
featuring plenty of bright sunshine and above normal temperatures.
We did start the day with dense fog below the summit while here on
the summit it was clear. This created an undercast condition that
was breaking up by the 7am observation. Shortly thereafter, as the
fog below started to lift, we had a period where the summit itself
was in the dense fog with visibility down as low as 1/4 mile.

These conditions didn’t last long at all with the fog dissipating
completely by mid morning.

Temperatures are still running well above normal levels for this
time of year. Readings have reached the upper 70s early this
afternoon, which is nearly 20 degrees above normal. The dew point
continues to run in the low to mid 50s.

The wind has been increasing during the day today with a south-
southwest to southwest flow averaging at around 13mph. Gusts have
been frequently exceeding 20mph, with a peak so far today of 30mph
which occurred just after 11am this morning.

Other than for the brief time this morning of low visibility as
mentioned above, the view has been generally around 30-40 miles for
most of the day.

The maximum temperature so far today is 77F, which is 19 degrees
above the normal high of 58F. The minimum temperature since midnight
is 53F, which is 12 degrees above the normal low of 41F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, broken undercast all quadrants, few stratus fractus
ENE-ESE, few cirrus distant WNW-NW
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 98%
Wind: S @ 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1021.2 mb; 30.16 in. Hg: falling, then rising
Visibility: 20 miles, thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 57F
6-hr Min temp: 53F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 20 212/55/54/1912/016/ BKN UNDERCAST ALQDS
FEW STFRA ENE-ESE FEW CI DSNT WNW-NW THN F ALQDS/ 8/601 55006
10057 20053

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant SW-NW-N
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 57%
Wind: SSW @ 10G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1020.1 mb; 30.12 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1455 CLR 40 201/69/54/2110G17/012/ FEW CI DSNT SW-NW-N HAZY/
8/001 56011

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant SSE-WNW, few cirrus all quadrants
Temperature: 77F; Dew Point: 51F; Relative Humidity: 40%
Wind: SSW @ 12G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1016.6 mb; 30.02 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 77F
6-hr Min temp: 55F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
BHO SA 1755 CLR 40 166/77/51/2112G17/002/ FEW CU DSNT SSE-WNW
FEW CI ALQDS HAZY/ 8/201 58035 10077 20055

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SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….74  NORMAL…..59
MIN…….58  NORMAL…..42
MEAN……66  NORMAL…..50

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………..+16
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………..+37 [+1.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2024 THRU JUN 2025)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….0  DEPARTURE…….-15
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..205  DEPARTURE…….-41
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….275  DEPARTURE…….-88
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..266  DEPARTURE……..+9

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JAN 2024 THRU DEC 2024)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….1  DEPARTURE……..+1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………….3  DEPARTURE……..-4
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….760  DEPARTURE…….+83
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..704  DEPARTURE…….+56

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

F420C (Official)……….E18 WNW  @   02:12 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….17 WNW  @   02:12 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….17 WNW  @   02:37 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….17 E    @   05:08 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………16 NW   @   02:16 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..17 WNW  @   02:14 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..17 ENE  @   05:11 P.M.
MERLIN………………….M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)…..OTS

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………14 E    @   05:35 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..13      @   05:48 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..14      @   05:27 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………14 E    @   05:31 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………14 E    @   05:27 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..13 E    @   05:32 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..14 ENE  @   05:27 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE……..OTS

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….8.5 NE [204 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..8.8
VECTOR #2……………..9.3
DAVIS #1………………9.0 NE
DAVIS #2………………9.1 ENE
RMY #1………………..8.8 NE
RMY #2………………..9.3 NNE
RICHARDS (C5C)………….OTS

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.18
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..0.53 DEPARTURE…..-3.32
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….43.57 DEPARTURE…..+1.05

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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   66/55/61/+3/T/134/19               28 ENE VEC1 28 ENE RMY 29
10/2   66/52/59/+1/T/252/36               21 ENE VEC1 20 ENE RMY 20
10/3   72/52/62/+5/0.00/592/85            23 S   VEC1 23 S   RMY 23
10/4   74/54/64/+7/0.00/452/65            23 SW  VEC1 22 SW  RMY 22
10/5   72/52/62/+5/T/457/66               24 NNW VEC1 23 NNW RMY 24
10/6   65/47/56/0/0.00/655/95             20 SE  VEC1 19 SE  RMY 18
10/7   60/51/56/0/0.27/021/03             29 SSE VEC1 29 SSE RMY 31
10/8   64/45/55/0/0.00/663/97             21 NW  VEC1 21 NW  RMY 21
10/9   64/46/55/0/T/639/94                24 W   VEC1 23 WNW RMY 23
10/10  60/42/51/-4/0.00/616/91            36 NW  VEC1 36 NW  RMY 38
10/11  67/40/54/0/0.00/635/94             28 WSW VEC1 27 WSW RMY 27
10/12  71/48/60/+6/0.00/652/97            44 NW  VEC1 43 NW  RMY 45
10/13  50/44/47/-7/0.20/007/01            32 ENE VEC1 32 ENE RMY 30
10/14  51/38/45/-8/0.06/000/00            35 NW  VEC1 34 WNW RMY 36
10/15  55/35/45/-8/0.00/617/93            31 W   VEC1 30 WNW RMY 31
10/16  56/38/47/-5/0.00/615/93            32 NW  VEC1 31 NW  RMY 32
10/17  54/35/45/-7/0.00/…/..            22 NE  VEC1 22 NE  RMY 20
10/18  59/40/50/-2/0.00/…/..            28 NNE VEC1 28 NE  RMY 27
10/19  72/46/59/+8/0.00/…/..            20 WSW VEC1 19 WSW RMY 19
10/20  76/47/62/+11/0.00/…/..           21 WSW VEC1 22 WSW RMY 23
10/21  82/52/67/+16/0.00/…/..           25 WNW VEC1 25 W   RMY 26
10/22  74/58/66/+16/0.00/…/..           18 WNW VEC1 17 WNW RMY 17

10/23  The low since midnight is 53F, the daily normal low is 41F.

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OCTOBER DAILY RECORDS TO DATE

10/21 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82F, OLD RECORD WAS 79F IN 1979

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 23
HIGH 82F IN 1947
LOW 24F IN 1969
PRECIP 3.66 INCHES IN 2014
SNOWFALL 3.0 INCHES IN 1891
PEAK GUST 78e MPH NW IN 1941

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 24
HIGH 79F IN 1963
LOW 22F IN 1969
PRECIP 2.96 INCHES IN 1890
SNOWFALL 1.8 INCHES IN 1960
PEAK GUST 70 MPH SE IN 1959

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas