BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2002
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org
DAILY DISCUSSION...
HEAVY RAIN AND VERY STRONG WINDS ON FRIDAY...
Strong winds and heavy rain at the summit Friday
afternoon brought a storm total of 1.07" in the
standard gage with the heaviest hours bringing
about 0.25" per hour from 4-6 PM. There was perfect
agreement with our weighing rain gage, which also had
1.07" for the storm. ASOS measured 1.11" with the
high winds likely causing extra tips on this gage.
The peak gust of 65 knots, 75 mph S at 3:48 PM, was
observed by Matt Douglas. This is a new record wind
gust for the date going back to 1940, breaking the
previous gust of 70 mph WNW in 1943. This is also the
strongest wind gust of the year surpassing 71 mph gusts
on March 10th, May 3rd, and July 15th, and it is the
highest since the wind gusted to 78 mph SSW during the
significant rain storm on December 17th, 2000. The
highest hourly speeds yesterday were 43 mph from 3-4 PM
and 41 mph from 2-3 PM, and the fastest mile was 50 mph
(corrected) S at 3:50 PM during a second strong gust
observed at 63 knots. The high temperature of 59 on
Friday was two degrees short of the record for the date
of 61 set in 1957. Occasional passing low clouds have
brought virga but no showers today, and winds continue
to gust from 30-40 mph from the WSW.
MJI
Today's observations:
7 AM
BHO SA 1155 CLR 30 011/32/25/2214/956/ AC SSW-W FEW CI SW-W/
8/071 51024 70100 10036 20032
10 AM
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 35 025/39/27/2316G26/960/ AC DSNT WSW-NE
FEW CU FRMNG NW-N PK WND 2328/1443/ 8/171 51014
1 PM
BHO SA 1755 E55 BKN 75 OVC 40 011/41/22/2519G33/956/ BINOVC
ALQDS ACSL S-N FEW CUFRA S-W VIRGA DSNT N-NE PK WND 2534/1736/
8/54/ 56014 10042 20032
WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...........75 MPH S AT 3:48 PM
AEROVANE.........79 MPH S AT 3:48 PM
ASOS.............71 MPH S AT 3:51 PM
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR........24.3 MPH, S
ASOS...........23.5 MPH
WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21
PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 1 PM..........39 MPH WSW AT 12:51 PM
AEROVANE..........43 MPH WSW AT 12:36 PM
ASOS..............38 MPH WSW AT 12:58 PM
TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
MAX.....59 NORMAL.....37 ASOS.....59 AT 4:22 PM
MIN.....37 NORMAL.....22 ASOS.....37 AT MIDNIGHT PM
MEAN....48 NORMAL.....30 DEP......+18 DEP FOR MONTH....-60
The month is averaging about 3 degrees below normal per day.
HEATING DEGREE DAY UNITS THROUGH FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY............17 DEP....-18
HEATING UNITS FOR NOVEMBER.........706 DEP....+65
HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON......2012 DEP....+82
HEATING UNITS FOR LAST SEASON.....1443 DEP...+569
PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL.....
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM....1.00 IN DEP....+0.85 IN
ASOS.............1.04 IN
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........5.17 INS DEP....+2.25 INS
ASOS.............4.97 INS
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR.........51.77 INS DEP....+2.34 INS
ASOS............48.67 INS
SNOWFALL DATA AT BLUE HILL...
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM......0.0 IN DEP....-0.3 IN
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..........10.5 INS DEP....+3.8 INS
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.........20.0 INS DEP...+10.0 INS
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 21
HIGH 60 IN 1957
LOW -10 IN 1942
PRE 2.01 INS IN 1946
SNOW 11.4 INS 1954
WIND 77 MPH SSE IN 1957
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 22
HIGH 62 IN 1994
LOW -5 IN 1921
PRE 1.52 INS IN 1975
SNOW 8.8 INS IN 1975
WIND 62 MPH WNW IN 1998
Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2001. Temperature and
precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2001.
Mike Iacono