BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2004 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME TODAY'S DISCUSSION... OUTER RAIN BAND OF T.S. GASTON BRINGS RAIN AND BRIEF DOWNPOUR EARLY TODAY.. 0.2 INCH IN ABOUT SEVEN MINUTES ENDING 6:45 A.M... RAINFALL TOTAL REACHES 0.79 INCH Brief tropical downpours moved northward late yesterday afternoon leaving 0.14 here. Then, more general light rain occurred overnight ending with a tropical downpour bringing 0.3 inch of rainfall in the hour ending at 7 a.m. this morning (including 0.20 inch in 7 minutes). A line of clearing is approaching early this afternoon from the west with lots of blue sky beyond the edge of the receding middle and high cloud deck. Another 0.02 of rain fell after 8 a.m. this morning bring- ing the two day total to 0.79 inch. The wind has veered to north-northwest and drier air is beginning to arrive as dew points finally drop out of the lower 70's into the 60's. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS: 8 A.M. overcast with thin spots and a few small break overhead and low fog clouds drifting below and over the summit; visibility 4 miles in fog; temp. 72; dewpoint 71; wind southwest at 04 mph; six hourly minimum temp. 70 deg; six hourly precipitation 0.56 inch; 24 hourly precipitation 0.77 inch. BHO SA 1155 80 SCT E120 BKN 150 BKN 250 OVC 4F 143/72/71/E2303/995/ STRA DRFTG BLO AND OCNL OVR SMT VSBY S 1 ENE 12 SCC E-S ACC ALQDS AC CHAOTIC BINOVC AND OVC PTLY THN OVHD RE15/ 8/692 50010 ASOS 60055 MANUAL 6056/ ASOS 70076 MANUAL 70077 10072 20070 11 a.m. overcast with 2 miles in fog; temp 74; dewpoint 73; wind wnw 05 mph; 3-hourly precip. 0.02 inch BHO SA 1455 3 SCT E130 OVC 2F 143/74/73/2904/995/ STRA DRFTG BLO AND OCNL OVR SMT MDT CU OCNL VSB SE-S OCNL THN SPTS/SML BINOVC OVHD RE15/ 8/27/ 50000 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6002/ 2 p.m. breaking overcast; line of clearing approaching from the west visibility 35 miles but 45 miles west to northwest; temp. 74; dewpoint 67; wind nnw 14 gusting 22 mph; six hourly max. temp. 78; six hourly precip. 0.02 inch BHO SA 1755 E130 BKN 180 BKN 35 133/74/67/3312G19/992/ FEW SC ALQDS BINOVC/LINE OF CLRG XTDNG SW-NNW VSBY WNW 45/ 8/57/ 56010 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6002/ 10078 20072 ALL TIMES EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME.. WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 30: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....86 NORMAL.....76 HAZEN SHELTER....86.1 AT 3:21 p.m. MIN.....69 NORMAL.....58 HAZEN SHELTER....68.9 AT 12:08 a.m. ** MEAN....78 NORMAL.....67 ** eastern standard time... DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....+ 11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....- 1 (-0.2 DEGREES/DAY) PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........28 SSE AT 4:41 P.M. AEROVANE.........31 SSE AT 4:41 P.M. ASOS.............29 SSE AT 4:41 P.M. DAVIS............28 SSW AT 1:53 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........23 SSE AT 4:40 P.M. HIGHEST ASOS 2 MIN AV...22 SE AT 4:42 P.M. HIGHEST DAVIS 1 MIN AV...25 SSW AT 1:53 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.. 11.8 SSW ASOS........... 12.6 S / 190 deg. DAVIS.......... 13.2 S / 190 deg. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 8 A.M....0.77 DEPARTURE....+0.63 ASOS..............0.76 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.80 DEPARTURE....+1.87 ASOS..............5.69 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........33.53 DEPARTURE....+0.19 ASOS.............31.87 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 2004......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: 24 HOUR PERIODS ENDING MIDNIGHT EST DATE MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST ... SUNSHINE DATA NOT YET AVAILABLE 8/1 79/70/75/+3/0.03/165/19 32 MPH SSW AERO 35 MPH SSW 8/2 84/69/77/+5/0/544/63 21 MPH NE 8/3 86/69/78/+6/0/698/81 25 MPH SW AERO 29 MPH SW 8/4 79/65/72/0/0.06/679/79 24 MPH ENE 8/5 70/57/64/-8/0.49/231/27 21 MPH E 8/6 70/56/63/-9/0/419/49 24 MPH N 8/7 72/51/62/-9/0/495/58 17 MPH WNW 8/8 75/52/64/-7/0/774/91 31 MPH W 8/9 80/56/68/-3/0/848/100 25 MPH W 8/10 84/62/73/+2/0/719/85 31 MPH S 8/11 81/66/74/+3/0/177/21 35 MPH S AERO 36 MPH S 8/12 82/67/75/+4/0.62/530/63 33 MPH SSE TSTM 8/13 77/70/74/+3/0.78/008/01 30 MPH SSW TSTM 8/14 83/65/74/+4/0.02/576/69 21 MPH W 8/15 68/60/64/-6/1.55/000/00 28 MPH ENE 8/16 62/58/60/-10/0.18/000/00 18 MPH ENE 8/17 72/57/65/-5/0.04/356/43 18 MPH NNE 8/18 79/58/69/-1/0/685/83 30 MPH S AERO 33 MPH S 8/19 79/67/73/+3/T/206/25 31 MPH S AERO 35 MPH S 8/20 86/68/77/+8/0.02/525/64 31 MPH SSW 8/21 77/59/68/-1/1.24/000/00 54 MPH WSW TSTM AERO 55 MPH WSW 8/22 70/52/61/-8/0/807/99 22 MPH NNW 8/23 79/56/68/-1/0/796/98 24 MPH SW 8/24 71/58/65/-4/0/778/96 24 MPH NNW 8/25 76/55/66/-2/0/807/100 21 MPH SE 8/26 77/55/66/-2/0/804/100 23 MPH S AERO 27 MPH S 8/27 81/60/71/+3/0/714/89 25 MPH SW 8/28 88/68/78/+10/0/663/83 25 MPH SSW 8/29 87/66/77/+10/0/708/89 29 MPH S 8/30 86/69/78/+11/0.19/492/62 28 MPH SSE AERO 31 MPH SSE 8/31 morning low temp. 70; rainfall for day 0.60 inch A NEW RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMP. FOR 8/7 OF 51 DEG; the previous record was 52 degrees in 1950,1964. A NEW RECORD DAILY RAINFALL OF 1.55 INCHES has been established for 8/15; the previous record was 1.31 ins. in 1973. A NEW RECORD PEAK DAILY WIND GUST OF 54 MPH WSW has been established for 8/21; previous record was 51 MPH ESE in 1997. OUR DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR AUGUST 31 HIGH 94F IN 1953 LOW 42F IN 1976 PRECIP 2.46 INCHES IN 1954 PEAK GUST 125 MPH SE 1954 [CAROL - RECORD FOR MONTH] RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 01 HIGH 93F IN 1969 LOW 47F IN 1975 PRECIP 1.60 INCHES IN 1927 PEAK GUST 59e MPH S IN 1945, SSW IN 1965 Today's report: Robert Skilling