BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME COLD AND BREEZY SUN PILLAR OBSERVED AGAIN THIS MORNING Temperatures continue to run a few degrees below average. The temperature did manage to creep above the freezing point this afternoon. Winds, while not as strong as yesterday, are frequently gusting 25-35 mph today. This is pushing wind chill readings down into the teens. The air is relatively dry with dew point temperatures in the mid teens. Visibility is quite good, ranging between 60 and 65 miles today. A spectacular "sun pillar" or beam of sunlight cast into the sky above the sunrise horizon point was observed again this morning. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrostratus, scattered thin cirrus, few cumulus distant NE-SE-SSW, altocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, patches of dense cirrus distant SW-N, sun pillar over sunrise ESE, virga SE-SSW Temperature: 25F, Dew point: 16F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts, Wind: Variable SSW-W Sea-level pressure: 29.35 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 60 miles 6-hour minimum temp: 25F BHO SA 1155 75 SCT 200 SCT 250 –BKN 60 939/25/16/2412/935/ FEW CU DSNT NE-SE-SSW ACSL ALQDS PTCHS DNS CI DSNT SW-N SUN PILLAR OVR SUNRISE ESE VIRGA SE-SSW WND 21V28/ 8/142 51014 10026 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrostratus, scattered thin cirrus, cumulus/cumulus fractus all quadrants except N and overhead, altocumulus lenticularis all quadrants except ENE-SE-SW, patches of dense cirrus distant SW-W-NE and distant ENE-E Temperature: 29F, Dew point: 16F; Wind: WSW at 17G25 kts, Wind: Peak wind 27 kts west at 9:28 a.m. Wind: Direction variable SSW to WNW Sea-level pressure: 29.37 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 65 miles BHO SA 1455 45 SCT 75 SCT 200 SCT 250 –SCT 65 947/29/16/2517G25/937/ CU/CUFRA ALQDS XCPT N AND OVHD ACSL ALQDS XCPT ENE-SE-SW PTCHS DNS CI DSNT SW-W-NE AND DSNT ENE-E PK WND 2627/28/ WND 20V29/ 8/142 50008 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken altocumulus, broken thin cirrus, cumulus/cumulus fracts all quadrants, few moderate cumulus distant SSE-SSW and SW-NW, altocumulus lenticularus all quadrants except SE-S, snow shower NE moving SE, virga N and E-SSW Temperature: 31F, Dew point: 15F; Wind: W at 14 kts, Wind: Peak wind 26 kts west at 12:34 p.m. Wind: Direction variable SW to NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.38 inches Hg, rising slightly 6-hourly max. temp: 33F Visibility: 65 miles BHO SA 1755 45 SCT E75 BKN 250 –BKN 65 948/31/15/2714/938/ CU/CUFRA ALQDS FEW MDT CU DSNT SSE-SSW AND SW-NW ACSL ALQDS XCPT SE-S SW NE MOVG SE VIRGA N AND E-SSW PK WND 2626/34 WND 22V34/ 8/241 53001 10033 20025 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 6 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....41 MIN.....22 NORMAL.....27 MEAN....27 NORMAL.....34 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL................-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+1 [0.0 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............38 DEPARTURE........+7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........178 DEPARTURE........-1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........1338 DEPARTURE......-130 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....1305 DIFFERENCE......+33 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............37 WSW AT 3:18 P.M. * AEROVANE...............38 WSW AT 8:16 P.M. * ASOS.................. 37 W AT 3:19 P.M. DAVIS..................37 W AT 10:31 A.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............30 WSW AT 12:07 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............29 W AT 12:09 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............29 WSW AT 12:09 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........18.9 W ASOS...................18.3 DAVIS..................16.7 WSW [252 DEG] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE........-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.49 DEPARTURE........-0.41 ASOS..............0.53 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........58.52 DEPARTURE.......+10.96 ASOS.............58.44** ** ASOS missing rainfall due to system failure on 6/24-25 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.....-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0 DEPARTURE.....-1.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............0.1 DEPARTURE.....-4.2 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2010 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 12/1 55/43/49/+13/0.49/0.0/000/00 55 SE AERO 61 MPH SE 12/2 48/29/39/+3/0.00/0.0/.../.. 30 W 12/3 38/29/34/-1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 WNW 12/4 40/28/34/-1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 27 WNW 12/5 34/23/29/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 24 W 12/6 32/22/27/-7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 37 WSW AERO 38 MPH WSW 12/7 our morning low temp: 25F; the normal low is now 27F NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2010 None DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 7 HIGH 74 IN 1998 LOW 6 IN 1906 PRECIP 1.67 INS. IN 1953 SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 2003 PEAK GUST 76e SE IN 1976 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 8 HIGH 62 IN 1966 LOW -4 IN 1906 PRECIP 1.54 INS. IN 1969 SNOWFALL 2.5 INS. IN 2001 PEAK GUST 78e W IN 1979 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser