BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2008 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
 
A TRACE OF SNOW AND SLEET EARLY THIS MORNING
PRECIPITATION CHANGES TO RAIN WITH RISING TEMPS.
 
Some light snow and ice pellets occurred around
6 a.m. this morning but by 9 a.m. there was light
rain and 33 degrees.  A total snow cover of 13 inches
is on the ground this Christmas eve and despite the
rising temperatures and rain today we will definitely
have a white Christmas this year.
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, light snow & ice pellets
ended during past hour
Temperature: 32F, Dew point: 27F, Wind: SSW at 20G31 kts,
Wind: Peak wind gust 31 kts SSW @ 6:46 a.m.
Sea-level pressure: 30.34 ins. Hg and falling  
Visibility: 15 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 24F
24-hour precipitation: trace
24-hour snowfall: trace
Snow on ground: 13 inches
BHO SA 1155 E28 OVC 15 273/32/27/2020G31/034/ PK WND 2031/46/
SIPE25/ 8/02/ 4/013 58019 MANUAL 6000/ 10032 20024
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Low overcast stratus fractus, light rain and fog
Temperature: 34F, Dew point: 33F, Wind: S at 16 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 inches Hg, falling
Visibility:  6  miles
3-hourly rainfall: 0.01
BHO SA 1455 E8 OVC 6R-F 260/34/33/1916/030/ CIG RGD FEW STRA DRFTG 
BLO SMT E/ 8/7// 58013 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6001/
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....27    NORMAL.....37
MIN......9    NORMAL.....22
MEAN....18    NORMAL.....29
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..............-11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...............+6 [+0.1 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............47  DEPARTURE........+11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............747  DEPARTURE.........0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........1997  DEPARTURE........-39
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....1937  DIFFERENCE.......+60
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............30  W  AT  8:31 A.M. *   
                   AEROVANE.............28  W  AT  7:49 A.M.   
                   ASOS.................28 WNW AT  8:55 A.M.     
                   DAVIS................29  W  AT  7:49 A.M.  
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............22  W  AT  7:59 A.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........23  W  AT  7:59 A.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........22  W  AT  7:59 A.M.  
                   AVERAGE............13.8  W
                   ASOS...............13.5
                   DAVIS..............12.5  W  [250 deg]
* last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....trace  DEPARTURE........-0.14
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........7.72  DEPARTURE.........+4.37
                         ASOS...............7.75
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........58.01  DEPARTURE.........+8.00
                         ASOS..............60.76 #
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08.
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........trace DEPARTURE.....-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............22.5  DEPARTURE....+15.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............22.5  DEPARTURE....+12.1
 
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/-17/0.00/0.0/462/84   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 60/37/49/+16/0.43/0.0/000/00   55 S     Aero 58 MPH S
12/11 37/34/36/+4/1.52/T/000/00      38 NNE   Aero 35 MPH NNE
12/12 61/28/45/+13/2.32/0.0/088/16   75 SSE   Aero 76 MPH SSE
12/13 28/17/23/-9/0.00/0.0/531/97    33 W
12/14 43/17/30/-1/0.00/0.0/328/60    36 S
12/15 61/43/52/+21/T/0.0/076/15      55 S     Aero 56 MPH S
12/16 57/26/42/+11/.../../000/00     43 W
12/17 38/25/32/+1/.../../000/00      26 E     Aero 22 MPH E
12/18 37/28/33/+3/0.00/0.0/.../..    23 WSW
12/19 29/14/22/-8/.../../000/00      46 NE    Aero 45 MPH NE
12/20 20/11/16/-14/.../../000/00     30 NNW
12/21 33/17/25/-5/.../../000/00      43 W     Aero 44 MPH W
12/22 22/12/17/-12/0.00/0.0/544/100  47 W     Aero 45 MPH W
12/23 27/9/18/-11/0.00/0.0/.../..    30 W
 
12/24 morning low temp: 23F; our normal low is now 21F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2008...
 
12/12 PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSE; PREVIOUS 74 MPH W IN 2000
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 24
HIGH 58 IN 1996
LOW -6 IN 1943
PRECIP 2.21 INS. IN 1994
SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1961
PEAK GUST 79e MPH SE IN 1941
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 25
HIGH 62 IN 1889
LOW -11 IN 1980
PRECIP 1.37 INS. IN 2002
SNOWFALL 8.5 INS. IN 2002
PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1971
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling