BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2008 COLUMBUS DAY
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME UNLESS NOTED
 
MID-LEVEL CLOUDINESS ALLOWS ONLY PARTIAL SUNSHINE
HIGH TEMPERATURE IN LOW 60'S WITH NORTHEAST WINDS
 
Pleasant weather with increasing color in the autumn
foliage has brought out numerous visitors to the
summit today with many taking tours of the Observatory.
After three straight days of very sunny weather adding
up to 97% of the possible bright sunshine,
October has been a very sunny month to date with 68%
of the possible bright sunshine as compared to the
long-term monthly average of 55%.  
Considerable mid-level altocumulus clouds have allowed
only partial sunshine today.  The increasing cloudiness
and less sunshine are combining to bring us a cooler
day with early afternoon temperatures mostly confined
to the lower 60's.
 
Today's observations:
 
8 A.M. EDT
Weather: High thin overcast, cirrus, cirrocumulus, few altocumulus,
varieties castellanus NE-E, lenticularis other parts of the sky,
and some of a chaotic sky   
Temperature: 56F, Dew point: 45F,  Wind: NNW at 8 kts,
Wind: direction gradually veering past hour
Sea-level pressure: 30.33 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles, few patches thin fog below inversion,
light haze
6-hourly minimum temperature: 53F
24-hourly rainfall: 0.00 inch
BHO SA 1155 220 SCT 250 –SCT 30 272/56/45/3408/033/
FEW ACC DSNT NE-E AC FEW ACSL CHAOTIC ALQDS CC ALQDS
FEW PTCHS THN GF BLO INVSN THN K LYR ALG HRZN NE
VSBY NE 20 WND GRDLY VEERING/
8/089 55001 10058 20053
 
11 A.M. EDT
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus, with
break in overcast southeast and numerous small breaks in the
overcast in all parts of the sky   
Temperature: 62F, Dew point: 49F, Wind: NE at 8 kts,
Wind: direction variability N to ENE
Sea-level pressure: 30.33 inches Hg, steady
Visibility: 50 miles, NE-SE lower, light haze  
BHO SA 1455 65 SCT E120 OVC 50 272/62/49/0408/033/
BINOVC SE NMRS THN SPTS/SML BINOVC ALQDS
VSBY LWR NE-SE LGT HZ WND 36V07/ 8/53/ 50000
 
2 P.M. EDT
Weather: Broken partly thin layer altocumulus and cirrus 
Temperature: 60F, Dew point: 49F, Wind: NE at 8 kts,
Wind: direction variable N-ENE
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 45 miles, light haze  
6-hourly max. temp: 62F  
BHO SA 1755 E170 BKN 250 –BKN 45 269/60/49/0408/032/
FEW SC DSNT SE FEW LWR AC NE-E LGE CLR SKY BND NE-SE
LGT HZ WND 35V07/ 8/531 55003 10062 20056
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....67    NORMAL.....62
MIN.....47    NORMAL.....44
MEAN....57    NORMAL.....53
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.............+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH............+10 (+0.6 DEGREES/DAY)
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............21  W  AT  11:49 P.M.  
                   AEROVANE.............17  W  AT  11:49 P.M. 
                   ASOS.................18  W  AT  11:49 P.M.  
                   DAVIS................19  W  AT  11:46 P.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............16 WSW AT  11:42 P.M.    
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........15 WSW AT  11:42 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........16 WSW AT  11:46 P.M. 
                   AVERAGE............. 6.9 WSW
                   ASOS.................7.2
                   DAVIS................7.0 NW [310 deg]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00   DEPARTURE.......-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.62   DEPARTURE.......-1.06
                         ASOS..............0.63
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........43.52   DEPARTURE.......+4.24
                         ASOS.............46.11 #
#  Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08.
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 2008 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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
 
10/1  68/58/63/+6/0.49/120/17     38 SW   TSTM #
10/2  62/46/54/-2/0.12/455/65     45 W
10/3  62/45/54/-2/T/376/54        44 SSW  Aero 43 MPH SSW
10/4  61/40/51/-5/0.00/612/88     32 WSW
10/5  53/45/49/-6/T/000/00        18 WNW
10/6  58/39/49/-6/0.00/303/44     28 WNW
10/7  64/37/51/-4/0.00/687/100    23 WNW
10/8  69/43/56/+2/0.00/581/85     32 S    Aero 30 MPH S
10/9  72/55/64/+10/0.02/510/75    33 WSW 
10/10 69/53/61/+7/0.00/664/98     29 W
10/11 68/49/59/+6/0.00/668/99     20 NNW
10/12 67/47/57/+4/0.00/625/93     21 W
 
10/13 morning low temp: 53F, our normal low is 44F
 
# Thunderstorm gust 
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER
 
None...
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 13
HIGH 84 IN 1930,1954
LOW 30 IN 1934,1936,1988
PRECIP 5.92 INCHES IN 1895
SNOWFALL 4.2 INCHES IN 1934
PEAK GUST 46e MPH W IN 1950
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 14
HIGH 79F IN 2000
LOW 28F IN 1958
PRECIP 2.69 INCHES IN 1990
SNOWFALL 2.0 INCHES IN 1913
PEAK GUST 63e W IN 1976
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling