BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2011 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO RETURN CLOSER TO NORMAL BUT JANUARY REMAINS CLOSE TO 9 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL THROUGH FOUR DAYS.... This morning's low temperature was several degrees less cold than yesterday and so for the third day in a row we will run a few degrees milder than the early January daily average again today. The extremely mild first two days of the month have contributed heavily to an average which is 9 degrees above normal through four days. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus layer few moderate tops, few cumulus, hazy Temperature: 24F, Dew point: 19F; Wind: W at 12 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.76 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 20 miles, hazy 6-hourly min. temp. 24F Total snow depth on ground: 2 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 20 073/24/19/2712/976/ FEW CU/SC LYR FEW MDT TOPS NE-ESE ALG/OFFSHR HAZY/ 8/800 4/002 53010 10027 20024 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus forming distant west, few stratocumulus offshore distant NE-E Temperature: 31F, Dew point: 20F; Wind: WSW at 4 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.77 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 30 080/31/20/2504/977/ FEW CUFRA FRMG DSNT W FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-E HAZY/ 8/800 50007 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, moderate cumulus, virga distant west thru north Temperature: 36F, Dew point: 20F; Wind: WSW at 16G25 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 27 kts W at 12:09 PM Wind: Direction variable SW to NW Sea-level pressure: 29.70 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 60 miles, 70 miles, virga distant W-N 6-hourly max. temp: 37F BHO SA 1755 45 SCT 60 059/36/20/2516G25/970/ MDT CU ALQDS VIRGA DSNT W-N VSBY NW 70 PK WND 2727/09 WND 23V31/ 8/200 58021 10037 20024 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 4 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....37 NORMAL.....34 MIN.....21 NORMAL.....19 MEAN....29 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................+2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+36 [+8.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............36 DEPARTURE........-2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........116 DEPARTURE.......-36 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........2368 DEPARTURE......-113 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2408 DIFFERENCE......-40 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............29 SSW AT 1:27 P.M. AEROVANE...............35 SSW AT 1:27 P.M. ASOS...................30 SSW AT 1:27 P.M. DAVIS..................33 SSW AT 1:26 P.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY........... 22 SSW AT 1:57 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............21 SSW AT 1:58 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............22 SSW AT 1:27 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........12.5 SW ASOS.................11.9 DAVIS................11.6 SW [220 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......... 0.21 DEPARTURE........-0.29 ASOS..............0.21 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........0.21 DEPARTURE........-0.29 ASOS............. 0.21 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.....-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0 DEPARTURE.....-2.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............23.0 DEPARTURE.....+7.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 2011 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 1/1 57/37/47/+20/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 S 1/2 47/33/40/+13/0.21/0.0/.../.. 38 WNW AERO 44 MPH WNW 1/3 33/23/28/+1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 40 NW AERO 48 MPH NW 1/4 37/21/29/+2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 29 SSW AERO 35 MPH 1/5 our morning low temp: 24F; the normal is 19F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2011 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5 HIGH 61F IN 2007 LOW -9F IN 1981 PRECIP 0.98 INS. IN 1993 SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6 HIGH 66F IN 2007 LOW -14F IN 1896 PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling/Chris Torchia