BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2005 ARCTIC AIR-MASS WELL ENTRENCHED, THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM TODAY... It has certainly tuned cold compared to the first half of the month. Yesterday's temperature averaged some 11 degrees below normal bringing the total temperature departure for the month down to +104 (this is down from a max of +121). The month is now averaging around 5.5 degrees warmer than normal per day. Sunshine has been the theme today as we are in the calm before the storm. Winds, which normally find a way to become gusty up here, have been tame today generally running between 10-20kts. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS.... 2/20/2005 SUN 7 A.M. BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 285/17/9/3209/037/ FEW SC/SCSL S-W-NW AND OFFSHR NE-SE THN K LYR ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/500 53030 10019 20017 10 A.M. BHO SA 1455 35 SCT 70 302/23/8/3011/042/ 8/500 51017 1 P.M. BHO SA 1755 250 -SCT 70 282/28/0/2914G20/036/ 8/001 58020 10029 20017 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....26 NORMAL.....37 HAZEN 25.7 @ 3:16 p.m. MIN..... 9 NORMAL.....21 HAZEN 9.1 @ 6:32 a.m. MEAN....18 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......-11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......+104 (+5.3 DEGREES/DAY) PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE....-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.15 DEPARTURE....-0.59 ASOS..............2.09 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........8.39 DEPARTURE....+0.87 ASOS..............7.92 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M......... 0.0 DEPARTURE.....-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH............... 4.0 DEPARTURE.... -7.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............72.8 DEPARTURE....+31.9 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........31 WNW AT 4:02 A.M. AEROVANE.........33 WNW AT 4:02 A.M. ASOS.............29 WNW AT 4:01 A.M. DAVIS............33 WNW AT 3:12 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........25 WNW AT 3:24 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......24 WNW AT 3:11 A.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 1-MINUTE AVERAGE......25 WNW AT 3:12 A.M. OUR AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.. 12.7 MPH WNW THE ASOS AVERAGE SPEED AND DIRECTION....13.4 MPH W [ 280 deg ] THE DAVIS AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR....13.4 MPH W [ 280 deg ] THE PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2005...... CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED HERE ENDING MIDNIGHT: 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 2/1 38/18/28/+2/0/0/600/100 13 MPH NNW 2/2 35/20/28/+2/0/0/549/91 23 MPH N 2/3 36/20/28/+2/0.28/0.2/012/02 27 MPH NNE 2/4 33/30/32/+6/0.02/0.1/000/00 33 MPH N 2/5 49/30/40/+13/0/0/605/99 30 MPH N 2/6 41/30/36/+9/0/0/613/100 31 MPH N 2/7 50/29/40/+13/0/0/400/65 22 MPH S 2/8 47/36/42/+15/0/0/012/02 24 MPH SSW 2/9 50/36/43/+16/0.01/0/099/16 25 MPH W 2/10 38/30/34/+7/0.97/2.9/000/00 32 MPH NNW 2/11 30/21/26/-1/0.05/0.5/451/72 44 MPH WNW Aero 51 MPH WNW 2/12 36/24/30/+2/0/0/182/29 36 MPH W 2/13 37/21/29/+1/0/0/429/68 27 MPH WNW 2/14 38/19/29/+1/0.06/0.1/323/51 38 MPH SE 2/15 48/36/42/+14/0.58/0/293/46 52 MPH SE Aero 53 MPH SE 2/16 52/33/43/+15/0.17/0/160/25 42 MPH S Aero 43 MPH S 2/17 38/26/32/+3/0/0/.../.. 30 MPH W Aero 30 MPH W 2/18 33/14/24/-5/0.01/0.2/.../.. 37 MPH W 2/19 26/9/18/-11/0/0/.../.. 31 MPH WNW Aero 33 MPH WNW 2/20 Morning low 17 degrees... DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): There are no new daily extremes established for this month to date.... RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 20 HIGH 66F IN 1930 LOW -4F IN 1966 PRECIP 1.90 INCHES IN 1934 SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1921,1934 PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1972 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 21 HIGH 62F IN 1930 LOW -6F IN 1950 PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1898 SNOWFALL 9.0 INCHES IN 1929 PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1967 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Matt Douglas