BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2004 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME [unless otherwise noted] Discussion...10 A.M. Heavy rain and gusty winds were the highlight of the last 24 hours with 1.09" of rainfall recorded here on the summit from our latest event. Strong winds accompanied this rainfall with an official peak gust of 67 MPH SSE at 6:36pm as recorded on our 420C system. Other gusts included 72 MPH SSE on the Aerovane and 63 MPH SSE from ASOS both at 7:06pm. 67 MPH establishes a new record peak gust for the date beating the previous record of 63 MPH NE set back in 1994. Warm temperatures were also a theme yesterday with a maximum reading of 59.4 in the HAZEN shelter between 7-8pm last evening. While not a record for the date, the day did end up averaging 22 degrees above normal! Temperature rapidly fell after midnight with a low of 29 degrees by 7am, which has yet to recover. Today's observations: 7 A.M. BHO SA 1155 E85 BKN 150 OVC 60 155/29/16/2916G24/999/ PK WND 2826/1058/ 8/04/ 53030 70109 10042 20029 10 A.M. BHO SA 1455 E180 BKN 250 -BKN 80 175/29/14/3017G26/005/ ACSL NE-SSE PK WND 3026/52/ 8/041 53020 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 23: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....59 NORMAL.....37 MIN.....42 NORMAL.....22 MEAN....51 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....+22 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....+50 (+2.0 DEGREES/DAY) PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........67 SSE AT 6:36 P.M. AEROVANE.........72 SSE AT 7:06 P.M. ASOS.............63 SSE AT 7:06 P.M. DAVIS............62 S AT 7:57 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........57 SSE AT 7:06 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......48 SSE AT 7:06 P.M. MAXIMUM 1-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE......50 SSE AT 6:36 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION....24.8 SSE ASOS.............24.8 SSE 150 deg. DAVIS............24.7 SSE 150 deg. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....1.09 DEPARTURE....+0.94 ASOS..............1.22* * condensation problem inflated total TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.56 DEPARTURE....+1.20 ASOS..............4.75 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........53.54 DEPARTURE....+3.52 ASOS.............52.07 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.....-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.2 DEPARTURE.....-5.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............10.0 DEPARTURE.....-0.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2004......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane recording wind system when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day ....: Data not yet available 12/1 55/39/47/+11/0.80/0/073/13 62 MPH SE Aero 65 MPH SSE 12/2 46/36/41/+5/0/0/379/68 50 MPH W Aero 51 MPH W 12/3 45/32/39/+4/0/0/378/68 33 MPH W 12/4 39/25/32/-3/0/0/500/90 31 MPH SSW 12/5 50/26/38/+3/0/0/532/96 46 MPH W Aero 51 MPH W 12/6 33/20/27/-7/0.03/0.2/000/00 22 MPH NE 12/7 45/32/39/+5/1.48/0/000/00 37 MPH ENE 12/8 52/34/43/+10/0.04/0/402/73 55 MPH W Aero 58 MPH W 12/9 41/32/37/+4/0/0/143/26 25 MPH W 12/10 44/37/41/+8/0.77/0/000/00 40 MPH NE 12/11 44/38/41/+9/0.07/0/000/00 35 MPH NNE 12/12 43/33/38/+6/0/0/099/18 32 MPH W 12/13 44/33/39/+7/0.01/0/050/09 30 MPH WSW 12/14 33/17/25/-6/0/0/371/68 33 MPH WNW Aero 36 MPH WNW 12/15 26/13/20/-11/0/0/534/98 29 MPH NW 12/16 41/16/29/-2/0/0/513/94 32 MPH S Aero 35 MPH S 12/17 40/23/32/+1/0.01/0.2/398/73 48 MPH W Aero 48 MPH W 12/18 37/1928/-2/0/0/392/72 21 MPH NW 12/19 41/28/35/+5/T/0/125/23 21 MPH N 12/20 36/02/19/-11/0.26/1.8/011/02 40 MPH WNW Aero 45 MPH WNW 12/21 30/01/16/-14/0/0/414/76 36 MPH SSW 12/22 47/25/36/+7/0/0/392/72 36 MPH SSW 12/23 59/42/51/+22/1.08/0/.../.. 67 MPH SSE Aero 72 MPH SSE 12/24 Morning low 28 degrees between 7-8am... DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 24 HIGH 58F IN 1996 LOW -06F IN 1943 PRECIP 2.21 INS. IN 1994 SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1961 PEAK GUST 79e MPH SE IN 1941 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 25 HIGH 62 IN 1889 LOW -11 IN 1980 PRECIP 1.37 INS. IN 2002 SNOWFALL 8.5 INS. IN 2002 PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1971 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Matt Douglas