BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2004 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME JANUARY NOW LIKELY TO FINISH 3RD COLDEST ON 119-YEAR RECORD... THIS MONTH ALSO 7TH DRIEST AND IN TOP TEN SUNNIEST ON RECORD... SNOW SHOWERS THIS MORNING BRING 0.1 INCH OF NEW SNOW... The month will finish no lower than tied for 3rd coldest on record with a mean temp of 17.2 deg F, and it can still finish cold enough (17.1) to hold 3rd place on its own. The only colder Januarys averaged 15.5 deg F in 1920 and 16.3 in 1888, followed by 17.2 in 1912 and 1918. The monthly precipitation of 1.72" will be the 7th lowest on record, with the driest January occurring in 1955 with 0.89 inch. Sunshine for the month is averaging 58% through the 28th, which puts it in the top ten sunniest Januarys, with the most occurring in 1961 with 67%. Snowfall this morning measured 0.1 inch on the snow board from a trace of melted precipitation that fell from 8:20 AM through 9:40 AM. Visibility in light snow dropped as low as 2 miles for a time here at the summit. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus and thin broken altocumulus with several AC lenticularis Temperature: 11F, Dewpoint: 3F, Wind: WSW 15 mph, Sea-level pressure: 29.62 in BHO SA 1155 55 SCT 100 -BKN 35 031/11/3/2413/962/ ACSL SE-SW FEW SC DSNT NE-SE VSBY NW-N 25 WND 21V27/ 8/571 4/004 53014 10015 20011 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered SC and cirrus; Visibility: 35 miles Temperature: 16F, Dew Point: 8F, Wind: NW 12 mph Precipitation last 3 hours: Trace, 0.1" new snow BHO SA 1455 35 SCT 200 SCT 35 058/16/8/3110/970/ SE40 WND 28V34 TOTAL NEW SNOW PST 3 HRS 0.1 IN/ 8/501 51027 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cirrus and altocumulus; few SC Temperature: 23F, Dew Point: 3F, Wind: W 21 mph, gusting to 29 mph Sea-Level pressure: 29.68 inches, falling BHO SA 1755 90 SCT 200 -SCT 50 051/23/3/2818G25/968/ FEW SC NE-S PK WND 2928/1658 WND 24V31/ 8/531 4/004 56007 6000/ 10023 20011 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 30: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....23 NORMAL.....34 ASOS.....22 AT 2:39 PM MIN.....10 NORMAL.....18 ASOS.....10 AT 7:45 AM MEAN....17 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......-9 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....-265 (-8.8 DEGREES/DAY) HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR YESTERDAY.......48 DEPARTURE.....+9 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE MONTH.....1436 DEPARTURE...+265 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE SEASON....3556 DEPARTURE....+59 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR LAST SEASON...3716 DIFFERENCE..-160 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........46 WNW AT 2:38 P.M. AEROVANE.........49 WNW AT 2:38 P.M. ASOS.............41 W AT 2:42 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........35 WNW AT 2:41 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......35 W AT 2:42 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..18.9 W ASOS...........18.5 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE....-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.72 DEPARTURE....-2.91 ASOS..............1.40 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.72 DEPARTURE....-2.91 ASOS..............1.40 SNOWFALL (INCHES) TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M......0.0 DEPARTURE....-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................8.4 DEPARTURE....-6.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.6 DEPARTURE....+9.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY, 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 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/+12/0.15/0.0/000/00/ 21 SSW 1/4 47/32/40/+13/0.28/ T/000/00/ 23 WNW 1/5 34/30/32/+05/0.58/0.4/000/00/ 25 ENE 1/6 32/16/24/-02/0.06/0.6/514/93/ 43 WNW Aerovane 45 MPH WNW 1/7 20/12/16/-10/ T/ T/404/73/ 37 W 1/8 18/06/12/-10/ 0/ 0/505/91/ 51 W Aerovane 51 MPH W 1/9 05/-4/01/-25/ 0/ 0/550/99/ 36 NW 1/10 10/-7/02/-24/ 0/ 0/557/100/ 32 WNW 1/11 21/-4/09/-17/ 0/ 0/328/58/ 30 SSW 1/12 30/20/25/-01/0.10/1.4/ 0/ 0/ 25 SW 1/13 38/05/21/-04/0.01/0.2/107/19/ 61 WNW 1/14 5/-08/-2/-28/ 0/ 0/474/84/ 39 WNW 1/15 5/-10/-3/-29/0.03/0.5/384/68/ 44 WNW 1/16 10/-12/-1/-27/ 0/ 0/516/91/ 47 WNW Aerovane 50 MPH WNW 1/17 34/08/21/-05/ 0/ 0/540/95/ 46 NW 1/18 32/23/28/+02/0.22/2.0/000/00/ 31 WNW 1/19 24/12/18/-07/ 0/ 0/561/98/ 42 WNW Aerovane 44 MPH WNW 1/20 22/09/16/-09/ 0/ 0/574/100/ 42 WNW 1/21 27/09/18/-07/ 0/ 0/437/76/ 33 NW 1/22 33/12/23/-02/ T/ T/000/00/ 42 WNW 1/23 18/06/12/-13/ 0/ 0/493/85/ 47 WNW 1/24 16/01/09/-17/ 0/ 0/442/75/ 39 WNW 1/25 13/-5/04/-22/ 0/ 0/548/94/ 43 W 1/26 17/01/09/-17/ 0/ 0/434/74/ 28 NNW 1/27 21/09/15/-11/ 0/ 0/018/03/ 18 N 1/28 25/18/22/-04/0.21/2.7/.../../ 35 WNW 1/29 25/13/19/-07/ T/ T/.../../ 60 WNW Aerovane 61 MPH WNW 1/30 23/10/17/-09/ 0/ 0/.../../ 46 WNW Aerovane 49 MPH WNW 1/31 ...morning low 11...0.1 snow... DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 31 HIGH 58F IN 1913, 1947 LOW -12F IN 1920 PRECIP 1.03 INS. IN 1914 SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 1898 PEAK GUST 75 MPH NW IN 1974 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 1 HIGH 65F IN 1989 LOW -9F IN 1920 PRECIP 1.30 INS. IN 1898 SNOWFALL 11.0 INS. IN 1898 PEAK GUST 66e SSW IN 1951 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Mike Iacono