BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2011 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURES A LITTLE BELOW AVERAGE CLOUDS & MOISTURE INCREASING PRESSURE DROPPING Temperatures today are running a bit on the cool side. This morning's low of 16F was two degrees below average. The high temperature will likely reach the upper 20s today, ending up a few degrees below average. January is still running a few degrees above average despite the cooler temperatures due to the extreme warmth at the beginning of the month. Clouds have been increasing throughout the day. Moisture has been increasing as well. Dew point temperatures have come up into the upper teens this afternoon. The added moisture is cutting down on visiblity. This morning, visibility was running about 70 miles, but with the increase in moisture this afternoon, visibility has been reduced to 50 miles. Pressure finally began dropping shortly after the 10AM observation. It will continue to drop as a major winter storm develops and moves into the area tomorrow. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratus, scattered altocumulus, broken thin cirrus, stratus bases ragged WNW-N and ENE-ESE, few stratocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, cumulus/stratocumulus along and offshore distant NE-SE, few altocumulus lenticularis SE Temperature: 16F, Dew point: 12F; Wind: NW at 12 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.22 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 65 miles 6-hour min. temp: 16F Total snow depth on ground: 3 inches BHO SA 1155 15 SCT 120 SCT 250 –BKN 65 233/16/12/3212/022/ STRA BASES RGGD WNW-N AND ENE-ESE FEW SCSL ALQDS CU/SC ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NE-SE FEW ACSL SE/ 51014 4/003 8/841 10021 20016 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratus, broken thin cirrus, few cumulus along and offshore distant NE-E, few stratocumulus lenticularis ENE and SSE-S, thin cirrus distant E, mostly clear sky distant S-W-NE, sun disc visible Temperature: 22F, Dew point: 15F; Wind: NW at 7 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.24 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 70 miles BHO SA 1455 E15 BKN 250 –BKN 70 241/22/15/3207/024/ FEW CU ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NE-E FEW SCSL ENE AND SSE-S THN CI DSNT E MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT S-W-NE SUN DSC VSBL/ 8/501 50008 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, broken thin cirrus, few stratocumulus lenticularis distant W-NW, few altocumulus lenticularis distant SSW-SW, patches of dense cirrus distant SSW-W, light distant haze Temperature: 28F, Dew point: 18F; Wind: Estimated N at 2 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.18 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 28F BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN 120 BKN 220 BKN 250 –BKN 50 220/28/18/E3602/018/ FEW SCSL DSNT W-NW FEW ACSL DSNT SSW-SW PTCHS DNS CI DSNT SSW-W LGT DSNT HZ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/542 56021 10028 20016 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 10 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....33 NORMAL.....34 MIN.....18 NORMAL.....18 MEAN....26 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................0 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+40 [+3.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............39 DEPARTURE.........0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........345 DEPARTURE.......-39 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........2597 DEPARTURE......-116 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2666 DIFFERENCE......-69 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............32 WNW AT 2:04 P.M. * AEROVANE...............37 WNW AT 2:04 P.M. ASOS...................32 WNW AT 2:04 P.M. DAVIS..................35 W AT 10:28 A.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY........... 25 WNW AT 2:03 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............24 NW AT 2:04 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............26 W AT 2:05 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........17.0 WNW ASOS..................15.5 DAVIS.................17.2 W [280 DEG] *Last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE........-0.16 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.37 DEPARTURE........-1.15 ASOS..............0.37 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........0.37 DEPARTURE........-1.15 ASOS...............0.37 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE........-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.2 DEPARTURE........-2.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............25.2 DEPARTURE........+6.6 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 SSW 1/5 37/22/30/+3/0.00/0.0/.../.. 35 W AERO 38 MPH W 1/6 30/17/24/-2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 16 WNW 1/7 33/20/27/+1/T/T/.../.. 19 NNE 1/8 30/26/28/+2/0.14/1.7/.../.. 23 NNW 1/9 32/20/26/0/0.02/0.5/.../.. 38 W AERO 42 MPH W 1/10 33/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/.../.. 32 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW 1/11 our morning low temp: 16F; the normal low is now 18F 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 11 HIGH 59F IN 1975 LOW -7F IN 1968 PRECIP 1.58 INS. IN 2008 SNOW 10.2 INS. 1927 PEAK GUST 95e MPH S IN 1980 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 12 HIGH 57F IN 1913, 1975 LOW -15F IN 1886 PRECIP 1.46 INS. IN 1900 SNOW 6.0 INS. IN 1923 WIND 84e MPH S IN 1980 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser