BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2001 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org DAILY DISCUSSION... COOL, BEAUTIFUL WEATHER RETURNS THIS WEEKEND....After a period of light rain on Friday morning, cool temperatures and dry air have moved back into New England. Many areas were down to the mid-40s this morning, and a few stations reported temperatures in the upper 30s. Rainfall was generally about 0.50 inch. The peak gust for Friday of 44 mph W occurred during an early morning thunderstorm. Visibility is excellent today at more than 80 miles. On the summit, leaves on a few trees are beginning to change color. MJI NEXT MEETING OF THE BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY... None scheduled. BLUE HILL OBSERVATIONS Look for the hourly observations from the Blue Hill ASOS on the Internet. Our station code is KMQE. One good site is run by the NWS: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KMQE.html The main page for this site is: http://weather.noaa.gov/index.html Today's observations: 8 AM BHO SA 1155 CLR 85 223/48/42/3511/019/ SC NE-SSE FEW CI SW-NNW/ 8/501 53010 70018 10048 20044 11 AM BHO SA 1455 35 SCT 250 -BKN 80 226/59/40/0306/020/ CU FRMG ALQDS FEW MDT CU SE WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/501 51003 2 PM BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 250 -SCT 80 209/61/40/0305/015/ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/101 58017 WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14: PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...........44 MPH W AT 2:29 AM EDT AEROVANE.........47 MPH W AT 2:29 AM EDT ASOS.............43 MPH W AT 2:28 AM EDT AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR.........9.4 MPH NNW ASOS............9.2 MPH WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15: PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 2 PM..........19 MPH NNW AT 6:41 AM EDT AEROVANE..........21 MPH NNW AT 6:41 AM EDT ASOS..............18 MPH NNW AT 6:42 AM EDT TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 MAX.....59 NORMAL.....71 ASOS.....59 AT 1:19 AM EDT MIN.....49 NORMAL.....54 ASOS.....49 AT MIDNIGHT PM EDT MEAN....54 NORMAL.....62 DEP.....-8 DEP FOR MONTH....+39 September is averaging nearly 3 degrees above normal per day. HEATING DEGREE DAYS AT BLUE HILL: HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY...............11 DEP.......+7 HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............18 DEP......-12 HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........35 DEP.......-6 HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON..............24 DIFF.....+11 PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 8 AM....0.19 IN DEP....+0.06 IN ASOS.............0.18 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........0.75 IN DEP....-1.13 INS ASOS.............0.76 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR.........38.11 INS DEP....+4.78 INS ASOS............34.96 INS RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 15 HIGH 89 IN 1931 LOW 35 IN 1913 PRE 3.93 INS IN 1904 WIND 65 MPH NW IN 1944 (ESTIMATED) RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 16 HIGH 91 IN 1939, 1941 LOW 39 IN 1984 PRE 5.12 INS IN 1933 WIND 59 MPH SSE IN 1999 Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2000. Temperature and precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2000. Mike Iacono