BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
BOTH NEARBY PONDS COMPLETELY THAWED AGAIN;
WARM TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS CLOSE TO
RECORD LEVELS BUT NOT QUITE HIGH ENOUGH
 
After Monday's unseasonably cold temperatures and
calm overnight winds, both Houghton's and Ponkapoag
Ponds were completely frozen over yesterday morning. 
However, after today's warm temperatures and strong
wind gusts from the south, both ponds are completely
thawed again.  Ponkapoag had frozen over on November
24th but soon thawed after an unusual November cold
spell ended. 
 
Today's warm temperatures and wind gusts are closing
in on records for today's date, but are not quite
high enough. The high temperature of 60F so far today
is still 2 degrees below the record of 62F which
occurred in 1946.  Several gusts to 55 MPH from the
south have occurred today, but are are still below
the record wind gust of 66 MPH (estimated) from the
SW in 1940.
 
The low temperature for the day so far is 53 degrees,
which was recorded just after 1:00AM.  This is also a
possible record, for the highest minimum temperature
for today's date, if overnight temperatures do not drop
below the existing record of 45 degrees, which occurred
in 1966.
 
7 A.M.
Weather:  Broken stratus, overcast nimbostratus,
very light rain
Temperature: 58F, Dew point: 53F, Wind: S at 28G40 kts,
Wind: Peak gust past hour 47 kts S at 6:16 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.95 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 3 miles, light rain and fog
24-hour precipitation: 0.02 in.
6-hour minimum temperature: 53F
BHO SA 1155 E25 BKN 33 OVC 3R-F 142/58/53/1828G40/995/
PK WND 1747/16/ 8/72/ 56014 MANUAL 6000/ ASOS 60006
MANUAL 70002 ASOS 70014 10058 20053
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratus, overcast nimbostratus, light
rain, sun occasionally visible
Temperature: 58F, Dew point: 56F, Wind: S at 35G43 kts,
Wind: Peak gust past hour 46 kts S at 9:22 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.91 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 3 miles, light rain and fog
3-hour precipitation: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E18 BKN 25 OVC 3R-F 129/58/56/1835G43/991/
SUN OCNL VSB PK WND 1846/22/ 8/72/ 56013 MANUAL 6000/ ASOS 60004
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, light rain
Temperature: 57F, Dew point: 57F, Wind: S at 24G35 kts,
Wind: Peak wind gust 42 kts S at 12:12 P.M.  
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 10 miles, rain and fog
6 hour maximum temperature: 57F
6-hour precipitation: 0.03 in.
BHO SA 1755 E15 OVC 10R-F 102/57/57/1824G35/983/ PK WND 1942/12/
8/7// 56027 ASOS 60006 MANUAL 6003/ 10060 20057
 
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....53    NORMAL.....40
MIN.....13    NORMAL.....26
MEAN....33    NORMAL.....33
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL................0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...............-3 [-0.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............32  DEPARTURE..........0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............277  DEPARTURE.........+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........1527  DEPARTURE........-35
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....1433  DIFFERENCE.......+94
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............48  S  AT 10:36 P.M.
                   AEROVANE.............50  S  AT 10:34 P.M.
                   ASOS.................49 SSW AT 10:36 P.M.
                   DAVIS................51  S  AT 10:41 P.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............38  S  AT 11:24 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........37 SSW AT 11:24 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........31  S  AT 11:44 P.M.
                   AVERAGE............17.0 SSE
                   ASOS...............16.8
                   DAVIS..............14.7 SSE [160 deg]
* last of several occurrences....
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.02   DEPARTURE.......-0.13
                         ASOS...............0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........0.26   DEPARTURE.......-1.09
                         ASOS...............0.38
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........50.55   DEPARTURE.......+2.54 
                         ASOS..............53.39 #
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08.
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.....-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................1.6  DEPARTURE.....-0.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............1.6  DEPARTURE.....-3.6
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2008 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
12/1  59/43/51/+15/0.12/0.0/374/67   43 SSW 
12/2  47/32/40/+4/0.00/0.0/451/81    33 SSW
12/3  44/29/37/+2/0.00/0.0/556/100   24 SSW
12/4  53/33/43/+8/T/0.0/122/22       42 SSW   Aero 43 MPH S
12/5  38/26/32/-3/0.00/0.0/404/73    26 WNW
12/6  37/23/30/-4/0.00/0.0/309/56    21 S
12/7  32/20/26/-8/0.12/1.6/000/00    54 W     Aero 53 MPH W
12/8  21/10/16/-17/0.00/0.0/.../..   50 W     Aero 50 MPH W
12/9  53/13/33/0/0.01/T/000/00       48 S     Aero 50 MPH S
 
12/10  morning low temp. 53F; our normal low is now 25F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2008...
 
None to date.
 
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 PREPARED By: Stephanie Radner