BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2005 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME IMPRESSIVE OCEAN STORM BRINGS BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO EASTERN NEW ENGLAND ON FRIDAY...THUNDER REPORTED IN MANY AREAS DURING THE HEAVIEST SNOW...STORM TOTAL 10.8 INCHES SETS NEW DAILY SNOWFALL RECORD... A storm total of 10.8 inches of snowfall on Friday was measured at the Observatory with a total melted equivalent precipitation of 1.23 inches. This establishes a new daily snowfall record for December 9th, surpassing the previous 6.0 inches set in 2001. A thunderstorm occurred at the Observatory at mid-afternoon during the heaviest snowfall. The peak wind gust was officially 53 mph NW at 2:21 PM, with ASOS recording 51 mph WNW and our Aerovane wind instrument measuring 63 mph NW. There is an average of 10 inches of snow on the ground at the summit as of 7 AM Saturday morning. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Mostly sunny with altocumulus and cirrus Temperature: 22F, Dew point: 19F, Wind: W 17 mph Sea-level pressure: 30.02 inches, rising Visibility: 20 miles BHO SA 1155 150 SCT 200 -SCT 20 166/22/19/2615/002/ BND AC S-NW TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 10.5 INS PK WND 2726/15/ 8/071 4/010 53007 70122 10024 20021 10 A.M. Weather: Thin scattered cirrus Temperature: 28F, Dew point: 23F, Wind: SSW 11 mph Sea-level pressure: 30.05 inches, rising Visibility: 25 miles BHO SA 1455 250 -SCT 25 176/28/23/2010/005/ FEW AC NW-N/ 8/031 51010 1 P.M. Weather: Mostly sunny with altocumulus and cirrus Temperature: 33F, Dew point: 27F, Wind: S 16 mph Sea-level pressure: 29.93 inches, falling Visibility: 30 miles BHO SA 1755 180 SCT 250 -BKN 30 136/33/27/1814/993/ FEW DENSE CI S-W/ 8/051 56040 10033 20022 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....40 ASOS.....32 AT 1:42 PM MIN.....22 NORMAL.....26 ASOS.....22 AT 7:59 AM MEAN....27 NORMAL.....33 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......-6 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......-54 (-6.2 DEGREES/DAY) HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..........38 DEPARTURE.....+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.........328 DEPARTURE....+55 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.......1393 DEPARTURE...-169 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE..1457 DIFFERENCE...-64 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.........53 NW AT 2:21 P.M. AEROVANE..........63 NW AT 2:21 P.M. ASOS..............51 WNW AT 2:56 P.M. DAVIS.............48 WNW AT 2:56 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........41 WNW AT 2:28 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE........43 WNW AT 2:55 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...16.3 W ASOS............16.6 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....1.22 DEPARTURE....+1.07 ASOS..............1.10 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.47 DEPARTURE....+0.12 ASOS..............1.33 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........63.74 DEPARTURE...+15.88 ASOS.............62.48* *EXCLUDES 3.19 INCHES OF ERRONEOUS PRECIPITATION RECORDED FROM 1/23-1/28. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........10.5 DEPARTURE....+10.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.1 DEPARTURE....+10.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............15.2 DEPARTURE....+10.0 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2005......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 43/35/39/+3/0/0/212/38 29 MPH N 12/2 41/31/36/0/0/0/217/39 46 MPH WSW Aero 51 MPH WSW 12/3 33/26/30/-5/0/0/534/96 46 MPH W Aero 50 MPH W 12/4 28/22/25/-10/0.24/2.2/000/00 22 MPH W 12/5 32/21/27/-8/0/0/.../.. 23 MPH WSW 12/6 33/23/28/-6/T/0.1/.../.. 31 MPH W Aero 36 MPH W 12/7 28/16/22/-12/T/T/479/87 44 MPH WNW Aero 50 MPH WNW 12/8 31/14/23/-10/0/0/.../.. 25 MPH NW 12/9 32/22/27/-6/1.23/10.8/.../.. 53 MPH NW Aero 63 MPH NW 12/10 ..overnight low 21 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 10 HIGH 62 IN 1946 LOW -6 IN 1902 PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1907 SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1905 PEAK GUST 66e SW IN 1940 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 11 HIGH 63 IN 1911 LOW -1 IN 1988 PRECIP 2.36 INS. IN 1992 SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1894 PEAK GUST 78 S IN 1969 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Mike Iacono