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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
MONDAY MAY 06 2002

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http://www.bluehill.org/

SEE OUR NEW OFFICE CAM FACING WEST OUT WEST WINDOW AT WWW.BLUEHILL.ORG/WEBCAM

DAILY DISCUSSION.....5/6/2002

PLEASE SEE THE DELAYED APRIL 2002 STATISTICS BELOW....

LARGE TURNOUT FOR OUR OPEN HOUSE ON SATURDAY MAY 4TH...

Our annual open house here at the Observatory was attended by hundreds of 
visitors
who enjoyed touring the Observatory, talks by Miles Lawrence of the 
National Tropical
Prediction Center, kite making sessions and the great views from the tower 
roof.
Many people visited our gift shop and toured the historic exhibits in the 
building
and out in the kite shed.  A gala event during the evening was attended by 
many
friends of the Observatory and some famous local meteorologists including 
Don Kent,
Bob Copeland, Bruce Schwoegler, Harvey Leonard, and Barry Burbank. Views of 
a rather rare
celestial event known as a planetary alignment were enjoyed from the tower 
roof right after
sunset.


STRONG WINDS ON FRIDAY BRING NEAR HURRICANE FORCE GUSTS ON FRIDAY MAY 3RD...
STRING OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ENDED YESTERDAY WITH
THE FIRST ABOVE NORMAL MEAN IN 13 DAYS.

Strong west winds on Friday gusted to 71 MPH at 12:38pm EDT. There
were many gusts to and over 60mph making for one of the windiest
days up here in quite sometime. Here is how our wind systems
compared...

73 MPH - Maximum Inc. Maestro
71 MPH - NWS F420C (Official)
70 MPH - Aerovane Wind System
66 MPH - Maximum Inc. Merlin
62 MPH - ASOS
62 MPH - AWS/Weather Max (in Science Center )

The temperature yesterday averaged 6 degrees above normal and a very
long stretch of colder-than-normal days ended on May 3rd. The
long 12-day stretch of below normal temperatures was the longest since
a 12-day stretch in August 2000!!!

THE APRIL 2002 STATISTICS....

Mean temp: 48.5 deg. [ + 2.2 ]
24 hour corrected mean temp: 48.0 [ + 3.6 ]
High: 93/17th **
Low : 23  7th
HDD: 493 [ -71 ]
CDD:   7 [ + 3 ]

** new record for date and also an early season record....

Precip: 3.31 ins. [ -1.01 ins.]
Snowfall: 1.3 ins. - 2.0 ins. ]
Sunshine: 51% of possible; 2 points above normal
Peak gust: 54 MPH W [ 1st ] Peak gust Aerovane: 58 MPH W [ 1st ]
Av. Station pressure: 29.362 ins.
Av. Sea Level pressure: 30.073 ins.
Prevailing wind direction: WNW 13%

TODAY'S OBS....

5/6/2002 MON

8 A.M.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 20 261/53/46/2110/030/ HAZY VSBY WNW 45 ABV INVSN/
53005 10053 20046

11 A.M.
BHO SA 1455 CLR 35 254/69/43/2013/028/ FEW CI W LGT HAZE ALQDS VSBY WNW 45/
8/001/ 58007

2 P.M.
BHO SA 1755 300 -BKN 40 225/76/39/1917G25/019/ FEW CUFRA LGT HAZE ALQDS
VSBY WNW 45/ 8/106/ 58029 10077 20053


THE DATA RECORDED FOR SUNDAY MAY 5....

TEMPERATURES....CALENDAR DAY MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT....
EASTERN STANDARD TIME...

MAX : 72  MIN: 46 // ASOS MAX: 72  ASOS MIN: 46
NORMAL HIGH AND LOW: 63/43
MEAN  59 [ + 6 ]
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR MAY TO DATE:  - 8 degrees...

THE MAY TEMPERATURE IS 1 1/2 DEGREES COOLER THAN NORMAL.....


PRECIPITATION....ON 05/06 AS OF 8 A.M.

24 HRS ENDING 8 A.M.  .   0.00
ASOS......................0.00 INS.
ASOS TOTAL FOR MAY....... 0.62 INS.
TOTAL FOR MAY.............0.64 INS. STD GAGE
DEP. FROM NORMAL........- 0.01 INS.

PRECIP. TOTAL YEAR 2002: 14.15 INS.
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL....-4.45 INS.

SNOWFALL....

APRIL TOTAL SNOWFALL......1.3 INS.
SEASONAL TOTAL TO DATE.  40.3 INS.

WIND DATA....FOR 05/05...

PEAK GUST ASOS:   26 MPH S AT 5:44 P.M. EDT
PEAK GUST 420C:   28 MPH S AT 6:08 P.M. EDT **
PEAK GUST AERO:   28 MPH S AT 6:08 P.M. EDT
** also at earlier times

MAY 2002 PRELIMINARY DATA....ALL IS CALENDAR DAY DATA....
MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUNSHINE/ OFFICIAL 420C WIND GUST
Aero = Aerovane recording wind system

5/1  58/38/48/-4/0.00/0/.../../ 38 W
5/2  49/42/46/-6/0.62/0/000/00/ 35 SE
5/3  54/42/48/-5/0.02/0/.../../ 71 W (Aero 70 MPH W)(Maximum, Inc. 74 mph )
5/4  68/39/54/+1/0/0/.../../ 33 WNW
5/5  72/46/59/+6/0/0/.../../ 28 S
5/6  morning low temp. 46 degrees..normal; 44 degrees

RECORDS FOR MAY 06
HIGH   90 IN 1930
LOW    29 IN 1891
PRECIP 1.04 INS 1890
SNOWFALL: TRACE IN 1917 AND 1996 (corrected )
PEAK GUST 65 MPH SSE IN 1989

RECORDS FOR MAY 07
HIGH   93 IN 1930
LOW    33 IN 1970
PRECIP 1.15 INS 1998
SNOWFALL: TRACE IN 1967
PEAK GUST 66e MPH WNW IN 1940

e = estimated

Robert Skilling


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