BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2005 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME Today's discussion.... Precipitation began early this morning as light snow and sleet but quickly turned to freezing rain creating a dangerous glaze condition, The temperature had climbed to 39 degrees by 10 a.m., and all the early morning glaze had melted. There's been a trace of snow for today and 0.88 precipitation thru 1 p.m. with temperatures reaching the mid-40's and a peak wind gust around noon to 61 MPH ESE on the Aerovane wind system. ASOS reported a peak of 49 MPH E this morning. Today's observations: 7 A.M. low overcast with light rain and fog and visibility 5 miles; temp. 33; dewpoint 32; wind E 22 GUSTING 30 MPH; six hourly precip. 0.22 in. snowfall trace; 24 hourly precip. 0.22 inch glaze estimated 0.1 inch freezing rain ended past hour... BHO SA 1155 E6 BKN 15 OVC 5R-F 127/33/32/0819G26/991/ PK WND 0828/30/ ZRERB UKN GLZ ACCUM ESTMTD 0.1 IN/ 8/72/ 4/007 58046 ASOS 60022 MANUAL 6022/ ASOS 70022 MANUAL 70022 10033 20028 10 A.M. low overcast with 2 miles in light rain and fog; temp. 39; dewpoint 39; wind E 32 gusting to 46 MPH; 3-hourly rainfall 0.34 in. BHO SA 1455 E7 OVC 2R-F 063/39/39/0928G40/972/ PRESFR PK WND 0944/04/ 8/7// 58064 ASOS 60033 MANUAL 6033/ 1 P.M. obscurement with 1/8 mile in heavy fog and rain ended past hour; temp. and dewpoint 45; WIND SE 23 GUSTIN 36 MPH; six hourly max. temp. 45; six hourly rainfall 0.66 in. BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/8F 007/45/45/1320G31/955/ VSBY OCNL 3 SE CDNS HIER PST HR STRA DRFTG OVR SMT PK WND 1348/13/ 8//// 55056 ASOS 60070 MANUAL 6066/ 10045 20033 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....39 HAZEN....32.0 @ 2:01 p.m. MIN.....07 NORMAL.....24 HAZEN.... 7.3 @ 3:58 a.m. MEAN....20 NORMAL.....32 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......-11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......-104 [- 7.1 deg per day] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..........45 DEPARTURE....+11 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.........577 DEPARTURE....+104 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.......1642 DEPARTURE...-117 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE..1758 DIFFERENCE...- 1 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.........21 E AT 11:20 P.M. AEROVANE..........23 E AT 11:20 P.M. ASOS..............21 E AT 11:20 P.M. DAVIS.............20 NNW AT 3:29 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........16 NW AT 5:23 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE........16 E AT 11:21 P.M. MAXIMUM 1-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.......17 NNW AT 5:27 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION... 8.6 NW ASOS............ 9.2 NW [310 deg] DAVIS........... 8.7 NW [320 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.22 DEPARTURE....+0.08 ASOS..............0.22 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.69 DEPARTURE....-0.52 ASOS..............1.55 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........63.96 DEPARTURE...+15.24 ASOS.............62.70* *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........trace DEPARTURE....- 0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.1 DEPARTURE....+ 8.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............15.2 DEPARTURE....+ 8.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2005......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: 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/-8/0/0/061/11 23 MPH WSW 12/6 33/23/28/-6/T/0.1/160/29 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/-10/0/0/545/99 25 MPH NW 12/9 32/22/27/-6/1.23/10.8/000/00 53 MPH NW Aero 63 MPH NW TSTM/SLEET/GLAZE 12/10 34/21/28/-5/0/0/367/67 30 MPH S 12/11 40/27/34/+2/0/0/493/90 27 MPH SSW 12/12 38/21/30/-2/0/0/241/44 25 MPH W 12/13 21/09/15/-17/T/T/361/66 32 MPH WNW Aero 35 MPH WNW 12/14 23/04/14/-17/0/0/513/94 24 MPH NW 12/15 32/07/20/-11/0/0/.../.. 21 MPH E 12/16 morning low temp. 27 since midnight DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): A NEW DAILY EXTREME HAS BEEN SET FOR DECEMBER 2005 12/9 - A NEW MAXIMUM DAILY SNOWFALL OF 10.8 INCHES; the previous record was 6.0 inches in 2001 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 16 HIGH 61 IN 1971 LOW -02 IN 1930 PRE 1.67 INS. IN 1960 SNOW 7.0 INS. IN 1896 WIND 73 MPH SSE IN 1982 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 17 HIGH 63 IN 2000 LOW -10 IN 1942 PRECIP 3.03 INS. IN 1888 SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1988 PEAK GUST 78 MPH SSE IN 2000 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Robert Skilling