BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2008 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME UNLESS NOTED
 
LIGHT SHOWERS DO LITTLE TO EASE LONG OCTOBER DRY SPELL
NOVEMBER-LIKE COLD TEMPERATURES ONLY RISING 1 DEGREE
FROM MORNING LOW TO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HIGH
 
The off and on light showers which began yesterday afternoon
and continued into this afternoon have done little to help
ease a long October dry spell. Just 0.10 inch of rainfall has
been measured, all but a trace of it falling between Tuesday
afternoon and 8 a.m. EDT this morning.
 
Temperatures have only risen from a morning low of 40F to
an early afternoon high of 41F today along with gusty
NW to NNW winds.  The high for the calendar day is 44F
back at midnight at the start of the day. The record low
maximum for today's date is 41F in 1940.  
 
Today's observations:
 
8 A.M. EDT
Weather: Low overcast stratus fractus, very light
rain and thin fog, few stratus drifting below
the summit   
Temperature: 40F, Dew point: 39F,  Wind: NW at 14G21 kts,
Wind: direction variability W-N, gust 24 kts past hour
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 inches, rising
Visibility: 12 miles, N 9 miles, SE 8 miles, and WNW 20 miles    
6-hourly minimum temperature: 40F
24-hourly rainfall: 0.10 inch
BHO SA 1155 E9 OVC 12R- 163/40/39/3214G21/001/
CIG RGD FEW STRA DRFTG BLO SMT SBY N 9 SE 8 W 20
THN F PCPN VRY LGT WND 28V35 GST TO 24 KTS PST HR/
8/7// 53034 ASOS 60009 MANUAL 6010/ ASOS 70009
MANUAL 70010 10043 20040
 
11 A.M. EDT
Weather: Low overcast status, stratus fractus,
higher clouds visible distant W-NW, drizzle ended
at 40 past the hour  
Temperature: 41F, Dew point: 39F, Wind: NW at 12G22 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 26 kts from NNW at 26 past the hour,
Wind: direction variability WNW to N
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles, WNW 45, NE-SE 25  
3-hourly precip: trace
BHO SA 1455 E10 OVC 30 201/41/39/3212G22/012/
CIG RGD AND HIER DSNT W-NW VSBY WNW 45 NE-SE 25
PK WND 3326/26/ WND 29V01 LE40/ 8/6// 51038 MANUAL 6000/  
 
2 P.M. EDT
Weather: Low overcast stratocumulus, light rain shower 
Temperature: 41F, Dew point: 38F, Wind: NNW at 11G22 kts,
Wind: Peak gust to 26 kts NNW at 12:03 p.m. EST,
Wind: Direction variability WNW-N
Sea-level pressure: 30.21 inches Hg, rising falling
Visibility: 12 miles, N 30 miles, SE 6 miles, W 20 miles
6-hourly maximum temperature: 41F
6-hourly precip: trace
BHO SA 1755 E13 OVC 12RW- 230/41/38/3411G22/021/ VSBY N 30
SE 6 W 20 PK WND 3426/03/ WND 30V36/ 8/5// 51029 MANUAL 6000/
10041 20040
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....59    NORMAL.....58
MIN.....43    NORMAL.....41
MEAN....51    NORMAL.....50
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.............+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH............+12 (+0.4 DEGREES/DAY)
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............14  DEPARTURE........-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........235  DEPARTURE.......-17
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON......... 351  DEPARTURE.......-70
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.... 233  DIFFERENCE.....+118
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............20  W  AT 10:09 P.M. *
                   AEROVANE.............18  W  AT 10:09 P.M.   
                   ASOS.................20  W  AT 10:09 P.M.  
                   DAVIS................20  W  AT  8:46 P.M.  
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............15  W  AT  8:39 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........14  S  AT 10:06 A.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........15  W  AT  8:39 P.M.  
                   AVERAGE............ 8.6  W
                   ASOS................8.1
                   DAVIS...............8.4 WSW [250 deg]
* Last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.10   DEPARTURE.......-0.04
                         ASOS..............0.09
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.72   DEPARTURE.......-2.22
                         ASOS..............0.72
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........43.62   DEPARTURE.......+3.08  
                         ASOS.............46.20 #
#  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/-2/0.11/455/65     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 62/50/56/+4/0.00/308/46     20 NE
10/14 65/50/58/+6/0.00/514/77     30 SSE
10/15 64/52/58/+6/0.00/618/93     21 ENE  
10/16 67/51/59/+8/T/026/04        35 NW
10/17 59/42/51/0/0.00/474/72      26 NW
10/18 51/37/44/-7/0.00/440/67     25 N
10/19 46/36/41/-10/0.00/176/27    36 NNE  Aero 36 MPH NNE
10/20 54/34/44/-6/0.00/631/97     25 N 
10/21 59/43/51/+1/0.01/.../..     20 W
 
10/22_morning low temp. 40F; our normal low is now 41F
 
# Thunderstorm gust 
* DAILY PRECIPITATION CORRECTED FOR 10/2 FROM 0.12 TO 0.11
 
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 22
HIGH 85 IN 1979
LOW 22 IN 1940
PRECIP 1.37 INCHES IN 1898
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1969
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ESE IN 1988
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 23
HIGH 82 IN 1947
LOW 24 IN 1969
PRECIP 2.18 INCHES IN 1956
SNOWFALL 3.0 INCHES IN 1891
PEAK GUST 78e MPH NW IN 1941
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling