BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 MONDAY JANUARY 5 2004 MIXTURE OF SNOW, SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN OVERNIGHT BRINGS 0.3 SOLID PRECIPITATION THROUGH 7 A.M. MELTED PRECIPITATION 0.51 INCH FOR STANDARD GAGE AND 0.46 INCH FOR ASOS.... THIN COATING OF GLAZE STOPS SEVERAL WIND SYSTEMS It's been a return to wintry weather overnight, the first in exactly three weeks, or since December 14th. A total of 0.3 inch of mostly ice pellets and a little snow was measured by observer Hoell at 7 a.m. Some light snow was occurring at 7 a.m. but no accumulation was noted. A brief moderate shower of ice pellets deposited a quick 0.1 inch of sleet just before 1 p.m. for a total of 0.4 solid precipitation for the day. A thin coating of glaze from freezing rain and drizzle has stopped the propellers on the AWS and Aerovane wind systems but the cup anemometers continue to spin with no interuption in record. While the propeller is frozen stopped on the Aerovane, it continues to give us a complete record of wind direction. The ASOS wind system has had the usual problems with its wind vane freezing up in which case the observation shows the wind to be missing completely. That started with the midnight observation. The total melted precipitation for the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. this morning is 0.51 for the standard gage and 0.46 for ASOS. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS 1/5/2004 MON 7 a.m. OBSCUREMENT WITH LIGHT SNOW AND FOG AND 30 DEG; WIND NE 12 MPH.... BHO SA 1155 W2X 1/8S-F 153/30/29/0410/998/ SB UKN THN GLZ ALL SFCS TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HR 0.3 IN/ 8///// 53006 ASOS 60028 70051 ASOS 70046 10031 20030 10 a.m. overcast with 10 miles visibility and 31 degrees; wind ene at 13 mph... BHO SA 1455 E10 OVC 10 145/31/30/0611/996/ VIRGA SW-NW THN GLZ ALL SFCS/ 8/6/// 56008 ASOS 60004 1 p.m. obscurement with fog with light showers of ice pellets and light freezing drizzle and 32 degrees; wind ene at 10 mph.... BHO SA 1755 W2X 1/8VIPW-ZL-F 122/32/32/0609/989/ VSBY 1/16V1/4 IPB42 BRFLY IPW THN GLZ ALL SFCS TOTAL NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 0.1 IN/ 8///// 58023 ASOS 60008 MANUAL 6010/ 10032 20030 THE DATA RECORDED FOR SUNDAY JANUARY 4 TEMPERATURES ARE CALENDAR DAY MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT EASTERN STANDARD TIME MAX: 47 MIN: 32 ASOS MAX: 47 ASOS MIN: 32 MEAN: 40 [ + 13 ] TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR JANUARY TO DATE: + 39 DEGREES (+9.6 DEGREES/DAY) PRECIPITATION UPDATED ON 1/05 at 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.51 IN [STANDARD GAGE] TOTAL FOR ASOS...............0.46 IN JANUARY ASOS TOTAL...........0.75 IN TOTAL FOR JAN TO DATE........0.83 IN [STANDARD GAGE] JANUARY DEPARTURE TO DATE....0.23 IN TOTAL 2002 PRECIPITATION.....0.83 IN DEPARTURE FROM AVERAGE.......0.23 IN TOTAL 2003 PRECIPITATION....57.79 IN DEPARTURE FROM AVERAGE......+7.64 IN SNOWFALL UPDATED ON 1/05 at 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.3 IN TOTAL FOR DECEMBER..........29.7 IN TOTAL FOR JANUARY........... 0.9 IN TOTAL FOR 2003-2004 SEASON..31.1 IN WIND DATA FOR SUNDAY JANUARY 4 2004 PEAK GUST ASOS: 22 MPH W AT 11:38 A.M. PEAK GUST AERO: 27 MPH WNW AT 11:38 A.M. PEAK GUST 420C: 23 MPH WNW AT 11:38 A.M. FASTEST 2-MINUTE MILE BY ASOS: 16 MPH NW AT 2:40 P.M. JANUARY 2004 PRELIMINARY DATA....ALL IS CALENDAR DAY DATA.... BELOW IS THE ORDER OF DATA REPORTED.... MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUNSHINE/ OFFICIAL 420C WIND GUST/ AERO GUST Aero = Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant TSTM = thunderstorm day .../.. no sunshine data yet available 1/1 41/30/36/+09/0.00/0.0/461/84/ 35 WNW 1/2 35/28/32/+05/0.08/0.6/000/00 18 SSW 1/3 45/33/39/+12/..../0.0/000/00 21 SSW 1/4 47/32/40/+13/...../T/000/00 23 WNW 1/5 low 30 high 32 thru 1 p.m. OUR DAILY EXTREMES RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5 HIGH 58F IN 1950 LOW -9F IN 1981 PRECIP 0.98 INCHES IN 1993 SNOWFALL 4.5 INCHES IN 1891 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6 HIGH 60F IN 1913 LOW -14F IN 1896 PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1889 SNOWFALL 7.5 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959 e = estimated Today's report by Andrew Hoell // Robert Skilling