BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2002 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org DAILY DISCUSSION... TRANQUIL WEATHER TODAY WITH LIGHT WINDS... Snow cover on the ground this morning was 8 inches, and this has not yet dropped today with the high temperature reaching only 31 so far. Skies are partly cloudy under SC and a few AC with visibility remaining low at 20 miles. The 31.0 inches of snow so far this season is the greatest snow total through December since 1995. That season had 31.1 inches through the end of December. MJI Today's observations: 7 AM BHO SA 1155 180 SCT 200 SCT 250 -OVC 20 156/21/16/2808/999/ DNS CI ALQDS HAZY WND LGT/ 8/071 4/008 56010 10024 20020 10 AM BHO SA 1455 E25 BKN 150 20 156/26/21/2706/999/ THN SPTS IOVC E-SE FEW BINOVC OVHD SUN OCNLY DMLY VSBL HAZY WND LGT/ 8/57/ 50000 1 PM BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN 150 BKN 20 119/31/23/2910/988/ HAZY/ 8/57/ 56037 10031 20021 WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27 PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...........37 MPH WNW AT 5:25 AM AEROVANE.........39 MPH WNW AT 5:25 AM ASOS.............36 MPH WNW AT 5:25 AM AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR........13.4 MPH, WNW ASOS...........12.9 MPH WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28 PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 1 PM..........17 MPH WNW AT 12:55 PM AEROVANE..........21 MPH WNW AT 12:30 PM ASOS..............16 MPH WNW AT 12:55 PM TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27 MAX.....32 NORMAL.....36 ASOS.....32 AT 3:02 PM MIN.....19 NORMAL.....21 ASOS.....19 AT 7:49 AM MEAN....26 NORMAL.....28 DEP......-2 DEP FOR MONTH....-31 The month is averaging about 1 degree below normal per day. HEATING DEGREE DAY UNITS THROUGH FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27 HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY............39 DEP.....+2 HEATING UNITS FOR NOVEMBER.........930 DEP....+38 HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON......2236 DEP....+55 HEATING UNITS FOR LAST SEASON.....1678 DEP...+558 PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM....0.00 IN DEP....-0.15 IN ASOS.............0.00 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........6.76 INS DEP....+2.80 INS ASOS.............6.58 INS TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR.........53.36 INS DEP....+2.89 INS ASOS............50.64 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..........21.5 INS DEP...+12.5 INS TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.........31.0 INS DEP...+18.4 INS RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 28 HIGH 60 IN 1982 LOW -2 IN 1933 PRE 2.16 INS IN 1967 SNOW 9.5 INS 1967 WIND 89 MPH SSE IN 1983 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 29 HIGH 72 IN 1984 LOW -19 IN 1933 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) PRE 1.91 INS IN 1945 SNOW 18.4 INS IN 1945 WIND 95 MPH S IN 1966 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2002. Temperature and precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2002. Mike Iacono