BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME BRUSHED BY POWERFUL LATE JANUARY NOR'EASTER HERE AT BLUE HILL WHILE CAPE COD WAS POUNDED BY GALES AND 6 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOWFALL A rapidly intensifying ocean storm moved to the northeast passing southeast of Cape Cod last night lashing the Cape and Islands with heavy snow and N-NNE winds gusting close to or over 60 MPH. Buoys southeast of Cape Cod reported wind gusts of 60 kts and seas which topped out at 28 feet! Snowfall totals from southern Bristol and Plymouth counties eastward across Cape Cod ranged between 6 and 12 inches. Here at Blue Hill we recorded peak gusts of 45 to 50 MPH from the N early last evening but this storm was a very minor snowfall event with just 1.2 inches and 0.13 inch of melted precipitation. Peak wind gusts recorded all from the north: Maximum, Inc. Maestro 50 MPH 420C 47 MPH ASOS 46 MPH Maximum, Inc. Merlin 46 MPH Aerovane 44 MPH Davis 41 MPH Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Overcast with stratocumulus clouds, break/line of clearing extending SW-NNW Temperature: 21F, Dew point: 7F, Wind: NNW at 15G27 kts Wind: peak gust past hour from NNW @ 31 kts @ 15 past the hour Wind: variability WNW-N Sea-level pressure: 29.93 inches Hg, steady Visibility: 50 miles 6-hour min temp: 19F 24-hour precip: 0.13 inch 24-hour snowfall: 1.2 inches Snow depth on ground: 3 inches BHO SA 1155 E36 OVC 50 136/21/7/3315G27/993/ LINE OF CLRG/BINOVC SW-NNW VIRGA DSNT NE-SE PK WND 3331/15/ WND 29V36 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.2 INS/ 8/5// 4/003 55004 ASOS 70010 MANUAL 7013/ 10021 20019 10 A.M. Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, large break or clearing slowly advancing from wes extending SW-NW, virga offshore distant NE-SE Temperature: 27F, Dew point: 11F, Wind: NNW at 16G130 kts Wind: peak gust past hour from NNW @ 32 kts @ 41 past the hour Wind: variability W-N Sea-level pressure: 29.97 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 60 miles, 30 miles NE-SE BHO SA 1455 E35 OVC 60 148/27/11/3316G30/997/ LINE OF CLRG/BINOVC SW-NW VRY SLWLY ADVCNG E VIRGA OFFSHR DSNT NE-SE VSBY NE-SE 30 PK WND 3332/41/ WND 28V36/ 8/5// 53012 1 P.M. Weather: Broken variable overcast stratocumulus, mostly clear sky to the southwest through northwest Temperature: 35F, Dew point: 15F, Wind: NW at 15G23 kts Wind: peak gust past hour from NW @ 28 kts @ 35 past the hour Wind: variability W-N Sea-level pressure: 29.91 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 65 miles, 70 miles NW 6-hour max. temp. 35F BHO SA 1755 E30 BKN 65 130/35/15/3115G23/991/ BKN V OVC MSTLY CLR SKY SW-NW SCSL ALQDS VSBY NW 70 PK WND 3128/35/ WND 28V35/ 8/500 56018 10035 20021 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 27 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....30 NORMAL.....34 MIN.....21 NORMAL.....18 MEAN....26 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........... 0 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........+114 [+4.0 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............39 DEPARTURE....... 0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........939 DEPARTURE.....-113 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3106 DEPARTURE.....-274 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2778 DIFFERENCE....+328 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............47 N AT 7:45 P.M. * AEROVANE.............44 N AT 7:45 P.M. * ASOS.................46 N AT 7:45 P.M. DAVIS................41 N AT 7:08 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............31 N AT 7:48 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........30 N AT 7:42 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........30 N AT 7:06 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......15.5 NNW ASOS................14.5 DAVIS...............15.1 N [010 deg] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M... 0.13 DEPARTURE.....-0.02 ASOS..............0.10 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.83 DEPARTURE.....-0.35 ASOS..............3.91 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.83 DEPARTURE.....-0.35 ASOS..............3.91 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........1.2 DEPARTURE.....+0.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.6 DEPARTURE.....+0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............44.1 DEPARTURE....+17.0 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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 1/1 38/28/33/+6/0.24/1.8/049/09 30 E 1/2 29/7/18/-9/T/T/006/01 43 NW Aero 43 MPH NW 1/3 11/2/7/-20/0/0/539/98 35 NW 1/4 30/2/16/-11/0/0/242/44 31 SSW 1/5 38/24/31/+4/0/0/287/52 28 SSW 1/6 47/34/41/+15/0/0/133/24 27 SSW 1/7 54/39/47/+21/0/0/188/34 29 S 1/8 65/45/55/+29/0/0/283/51 37 S 1/9 59/42/51/+25/0.01/0/167/30 48 S 1/10 47/35/41/+15/0/0/340/61 35 W 1/11 55/35/45/+19/1.58/T/0/0 46 S Aero 48 MPH S 1/12 47/32/40/+14/0/0/376/67 28 W 1/13 42/30/36/+10/0/0/455/81 33 ENE 1/14 36/24/30/+4/1.45/10.3/000/00 37 NE Aero 36 MPH NE 1/15 30/21/26/0/T/T/000/00 25 NW 1/16 30/16/23/-3/0/0/560/99 28 NW 1/17 32/17/25/-1/T/T/165/29 23 ESE Aero 19 MPH ESE 1/18 44/28/36/+10/0.39/0.2/331/58 41 W Aero 39 MPH W 1/19 33/24/29/+4/0/0/086/15 25 W 1/20 29/13/21/-4/0/0/367/64 38 WNW Aero 40 MPH WNW 1/21 21/10/16/-10/0/0/564/98 35 W Aero 33 MPH W 1/22 37/15/26/+1/0.03/0.1/110/19 52 S Aero 55 MPH S 1/23 35/23/29/+4/0/0/574/99 31 W 1/24 29/19/24/-2/0/0/203/35 28 NW Aero 25 MPH NW 1/25 28/11/20/-6/0/0/583/100 36 W Aero 33 MPH W 1/26 31/17/24/-2/0/0/.../.. 23 WSW 1/27 30/21/26/0/0.13/1.2/000/00 47 N Aero 44 MPH N 1/28 morning low tmperature 19F; normal low is now 18F NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2008: 1/8 - New record high temperature of 65 deg; the previous record, 59 deg. in 1930 New record high minimum temperature of 45 deg; the previous record, 41 deg. in 1930, 1935, 1967 1/9 - New record high minimum temperature of 42 deg; the previous record, 39 deg. in 1937, 1956. 1/11 - New record rainfall of 1.58 inches; surpasses previous record of 1.14 inches in 1956 1/14 - New record daily snowfall of 10.3 inches; surpasses previous record of 9.0 inches in 1999. New record maximum daily precipitation of 1.45 inches; surpasses 1.35 inches in 2006 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 28 HIGH 59F IN 1916 LOW -9F IN 1888, 1924 PRECIP 2.18 INCHES IN 1897 SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1897 PEAK GUST 78e MPH SSE IN 1977 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 29 HIGH 66F IN 2002 LOW -11F IN 1888 PRECIP 1.48 INS. IN 1973 SNOWFALL 8.0 INS. IN 1943 PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1973 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling