BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2008 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME ARCTIC AIRMASS ARRIVED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON NEAR WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS PARTS OF LOCAL AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS SNOW SQUALLS MOVED THROUGH AHEAD OF BITTER COLD CONDITIONS GALE FORCE WINDS GUST TO NEAR 60 MPH OVERNIGHT The coldest weather since the third and fourth of January began arriving yesterday afternoon and some of the snow flurries were snow squalls with very gusty winds and visibility dropping to 1/8 mile for a short time during the mid to late afternoon. In the local area the burst of snow only left about a half inch. Winds increased during the evening as temperatures plummeted from 26 degrees at 7 p.m. to 11 degrees by midnight. Winds from the west averaged 36 MPH gusting 50 to 60 MPH during the last three hours of the day. This morning's low temperature of 7 degrees between 5 and 7 a.m. was accompanied by sustained winds near 30 MPH gusting over 40 MPH and windchill temperature dropped to near 15 below zero at times. Our low temperature of 7 degrees was the coldest since 2 degrees occurred on January 3-4. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus clouds Temperature: 7F, Dew point: -3F, Wind: W at 25G34 kts Wind: Peak gust 37 kts from W at 13 past the hour Sea-level pressure: 29.91 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 30 miles, 20 miles NE-SE 6-hour min temp: 7F 24-hour precipitation: 0.03 in. 24-hour snowfall: 0.4 in. Total snowcover on ground: 2 inches BHO SA 1155 15 SCT 30 127/7/-3/2625G34/991/ SC ALQDS LYR OFFSHR NE-SE VIRGA DSNT SW-NW VSBY NE-SE 20 PK WND 2637/13/ WINDCHILL -13 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.4 IN/ 8/500 4/002 53025 ASOS 70003 MANUAL 7003/ 10010 20007 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus, distant Temperature: 13F, Dew point: -2F, Wind: W at 26G41 kts Wind: Peak gust 47 kts from W at 9 mins. past the hour Sea-level pressure: 29.95 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 45 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 40 142/13/-2/2726G41/995/ FEW SC PK WND 2747/09/ 8/500 51015 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus, distant W-N-E Temperature: 20F, Dew point: +2F, Wind: W at 21G36 kts Wind: Peak gust 41 kts from W at 58 mins. past 11 a.m. Sea-level pressure: 29.97 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 50 miles BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 150/20/2/2620G36/997/ FEW DSNT SC W-N-E PK WND 2641/1658/ 8/500 51008 10020 20007 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....40 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....11 NORMAL.....19 MEAN....26 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........-1 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........+80 [+7.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............39 DEPARTURE.......+1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........304 DEPARTURE......-82 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3541* DEPARTURE.....-381 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3387 DIFFERENCE....+154 * corrected total PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............56 W AT 10:50 P.M.* AEROVANE.............61 W AT 10:50 P.M. ASOS.................60 W AT 10:48 P.M. DAVIS................57 W AT 9:59 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............44 W AT 11:14 P.M.* MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........41 W AT 11:15 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........44 W AT 11:14 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION....... 18.7 W ASOS.................18.0 DAVIS................18.1 WSW [240 deg] * Last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03 DEPARTURE.....-0.11 ASOS..............0.03 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.30 DEPARTURE.....+1.83 ASOS..............3.25 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........7.17 DEPARTURE.....+0.92 ASOS..............7.21 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.4 DEPARTURE.....-0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................4.4 DEPARTURE.....-2.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............48.5 DEPARTURE....+12.6 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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 when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 2/1 53/26/40/+14/1.16/0.1/000/00 54 SSE Aero 59 MPH SSE TSTM 2/2 51/34/43/+17/T/0/391/65 52 SW Aero 52 MPH SW 2/3 45/33/39/+13/0/0/381/63 21 SW 2/4 38/29/34/+8/0/0/006/01 18 SE 2/5 45/33/39/+12/0.42/0/000/00 36 SE Aero 37 MPH SE 2/6 46/34/40/+13/0.88/0/000/00 36 NE Aero 33 MPH NE TSTM 2/7 34/26/30/+3/0.59/1.9/000/00 40 NE Aero 40 MPH NE TSTM 2/8 28/24/26/-1/0.08/0.5/000/00 21 W 2/9 36/21/29/+2/0.09/1.0/.../.. 30 ESE 2/10 40/11/26/-1/0.08/0.9/..../.. 56 W Aero 61 MPH W 2/11 morning low temp: 7F; normal low is now 20F DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 11 HIGH 56F IN 1909 LOW -8F IN 1899 PRECIP 1.34 INCHES IN 1909 SNOWFALL 12.1 INCHES IN 1926 PEAK GUST 64 MPH W IN 2001 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 12 HIGH 56F IN 1999 LOW -14F IN 1914 PRECIP 4.85 INCHES IN 1886 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 2006 PEAK GUST 70 MPH E IN 1985 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling