BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2005 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME MILD WEATHER TAKING A BIG BITE OUT OF A COLD DECEMBER.... TEMPERATURES SOAR TO 49 DEGREES FOR CHRISTMAS DAY AND UP TO 54 DEGREES EARLY THIS MORNING WITH STRONG SOUTH WINDS.. RAINFALL TOTALS 3/4 INCH OVERNIGHT THROUGH THIS MORNING... After averaging 5 degrees colder than normal through the 22nd the increasingly mild weather since then has reduced this month's negative temperature departure to a minus 3.7 degrees. Generally above normal temperature the rest of the month favor December ending up close to normal or possibly just a bit below. More sunshine than expected on Christmas allowed the temperature to reach near 50 degrees, and with a morning low of only 36, the day wound up 14 degrees warmer than normal! Very mild air returned on strong south winds early this morning with a top of 54 degrees between 2 and 3 a.m. before a wind shift from south to northwest sent the thermometer skidding down ten degrees in one hour between 6 and 7 a.m. Peak wind gusts reached 38 MPH S on Aerovane at 1:57 a.m. Rainfall overnight and early today has been moderate with close to three quarters of an measured through late this morning. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS.... 7 A.M. obscurement with fog and visibility 1/16 mile in light drizzle and heavy fog; temp. and dewpoint 43; wind NNW 06 MPH; six hourly max. temp. 54; min. temp. 43; 6-hourly precip. 0.31 in. 24-hourly precip. 0.70 inch.... BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/16L-F 922/43/43/3305/930/ RE40LBUKN PCPN VRY LGT/ 8//// 56023 ASOS 60033 MANUAL 6031/ ASOS 70074 MANUAL 70070 10054 20043 10 A.M. obscurement with heavy fog and rain shower occurred past hour; visibility 1/16 mile; temp. and dewpoint 41 deg; wind N 04 MPH; 3-hourly precip. 0.04 inch. BHO SA 1455 W2 X 1/16F 905/41/41/3603/925/ RBE UKN/ 8//// 56017 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 6004 1 P.M. obscurement with fog and visibility 1/16 light drizzle and heavy fog; temp. & dewpoint 39 deg; wind NW 07 MPH; six hourly precip. 0.05 in. six hourly min. temp. 39; max. temp. 43. BHO SA 1755 W2 X 1/16L-F 870/39/39/3206/915/ 8//// 56035 MANUAL 6005/ ASOS 60005 10043 20039 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, CHRISTMAS DAY: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....49 NORMAL.....36 HAZEN....49.4 @ 1:41 p.m. MIN.....36 NORMAL.....21 HAZEN....36.0 @ 7:36 a.m. MEAN....43 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......+ 14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......- 87 [- 3.7 deg per day] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..........22 DEPARTURE....- 14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.........912 DEPARTURE....+ 87 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.......1977 DEPARTURE....-131 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE..2108 DIFFERENCE...- 9 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.........31 E AT 10:35 P.M. AEROVANE..........35 E AT 10:25 P.M. ASOS..............30 E AT 10:56 P.M. DAVIS.............31 E AT 10:34 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........24 E AT 10:38 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE........25 E AT 10:40 P.M. MAXIMUM 1-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.......22 E AT 10:47 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...10.0 E ASOS............10.5 ESE [110 deg] DAVIS........... 9.1 E [100 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.70 DEPARTURE....+0.55 ASOS..............0.74 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.05 DEPARTURE....-0.62 ASOS..............3.01 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........65.32 DEPARTURE...+15.14 ASOS.............63.44* *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........ 0.0 DEPARTURE....- 0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.1 DEPARTURE....+ 4.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............15.2 DEPARTURE....+ 3.8 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/-11/0/0/464/85 21 MPH E 12/16 48/27/38/+7/0.88/T/000/00 55 MPH ESE Aero 61 MPH ESE/SLEET/GLAZE 12/17 37/26/32/+1/0/0/469 86 25 MPH W 12/18 33/23/28/-2/0/0/213/39 21 MPH W 12/19 31/21/26/-4/T/T/164/30 32 MPH WSW Aero 35 MPH WSW 12/20 31/17/24/-6/0/0/.../.. 27 MPH WSW 12/21 28/15/22/-8/0/0/.../.. 28 MPH WSW 12/22 30/18/24/-5/0/0/.../.. 28 MPH SSW 12/23 43/29/36/+7/0/0/.../.. 28 MPH SSW 12/24 48/35/42/+13/0/0/.../.. 25 MPH WSW 12/25 49/36/43/+14/0.25/0/.../.. 31 MPH E Aero 35 MPH E 12/26 morning low temp. 41 deg after 7 a.m. high temp. 54 [2A-3A] 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 26 HIGH 58 IN 1973,1982 LOW -12 IN 1980 PRECIP 3.64 INS. IN 1969 SNOWFALL 17.5 INS. IN 1909 PEAK GUST 84 MPH SSE IN 1957 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 27 HIGH 57 IN 1895,1949 LOW -04 IN 1903 PRECIP 2.43 INS. IN 1969 SNOWFALL 11.2 INS. IN 1947 PEAK GUST 53e W IN 1957,1978; WNW 1976 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Robert Skilling