BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2011 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER, MOISTURE INCREASING; TEMPERATURES CONTINUE NEAR AVERAGE A few rays of sunshine were observed breaking through a broken cloud deck to our east earlier this morning. More extensive cloud cover has moved in throughout the day, with no actual sunshine recorded at the summit today. A brief, light rain shower occurred just after 9:30 AM EDT this morning, amounting to only a trace of precipitation. Southerly winds of 10-15 mph have transported a more moist air mass into the region. Dew point temperatures have reached the lower 70s this afternoon. Temperatures are once again near average, with today likely marking the 6th consecutive day of at or below normal temperatures. Despite this most recent respite from the heat, July 2011 will most likely finish in the top five warmest Julys (or any month) on record at Blue Hill. If July 2011 makes the top 5, four out of the top five warmest months on record at Blue Hill will have occurred in the past 17 years. Below is the listing of our warmest Julys: Warmest July Corrected Mean Temperature (deg F) (also warmest for all months of the year) 1) 75.1 in 2010 2) 74.9 in 1952 3) 74.1 in 1994 4) 73.8 in 1999 5) 73.5 in 1949 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altostratus, few cumulus/ cumulus fractus distant SSW-NNW, few stratocumulus lenticularis distant S-SW, smoke layer distant all quadrants, thin fog/haze, Temperature: 68F, Dew point: 66F; Wind: SSE at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.00 inches Hg, steady (rising then falling) Visibility: 25 miles, NE-ESE 50 miles, SSW-N 15, thin fog/haze 6-hour min. temp: 63F BHO SA 1155 E50 BKN 100 BKN 25 160/68/66/1608/000/ FEW CU/CUFRA DSNT SSW-NNW FEW SCSL DSNT S-SW K LYR DSNT ALQDS THN FG/HZ VSBY NE-ESE 50 SSW-N 15/ 8/870 50000 10068 20063 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus/stratus fractus, overcast stratocumulus, stratus fractus all quadrants, thin fog/haze Temperature: 72F, Dew Point: 69F; Wind: SSE at 9 kts Wind: Direction variable SE-SSW Sea-level pressure: 30.00 inches Hg, steady (falling then rising) Visibility: 15 miles, thin fog/haze 3-hour precip: Trace BHO SA 1455 E5 BKN 50 OVC 15 160/72/69/1609/000/ STFRA ALQDS THN FG/HZ WND 14V20/ 8/8// 55000 MANUAL 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, few moderate stratocumulus tops all quadrants, few stratus fractus all quadrants, hazy Temperature: 76F, Dew Point: 71F; Wind: S at 12 kts, Wind: SE-SSW Sea-level pressure: 29.95 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 18 miles, hazy 6-hour max. temp: 76F 6-hour precip: Trace BHO SA 1755 E10 BKN 40 OVC 18 141/76/71/1712/995/ FEW MDT SC TOPS ALQDS FEW STFRA ALQDS HAZY WND 14V20/ 8/8// 58019 MANUAL 6000/ 10076 20068 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JULY 28 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....80 NORMAL.....82 MIN.....62 NORMAL.....63 MEAN....71 NORMAL.....72 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................-1 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...................+79 [+2.6 DEGREES/DAY] PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............17 S AT 10:32 P.M. * AEROVANE...............24 S AT 10:42 P.M. * ASOS...................20 S AT 10:52 P.M. DAVIS..................21 SSE AT 10:21 P.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............14 S AT 10:14 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............14 S AT 11:15 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............14 SE AT 7:52 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........8.0 N ASOS.................8.3 DAVIS................7.5 NE [048 deg] *last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE.........-0.12 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.24 DEPARTURE.........-1.14 ASOS..............2.18 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........29.55 DEPARTURE.........+0.50 ASOS..............30.04** **ASOS data is in error due to system failure on 1/12-13 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JULY 2011 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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 7/1 78/59/69/-1/0.01/530/58 15 WNW 7/2 80/61/71/+1/0.00/603/66 17 SE 7/3 79/64/72/+2/0.02/018/02 22 S 7/4 86/68/76/+6/0.00/583/64 18 SW 7/5 89/66/78/+7/0.00/784/86 15 S 7/6 88/68/78/+7/T/792/87 30 WNW AERO 35 MPH TSTM 7/7 86/67/77/+6/0.00/481/53 17 WNW 7/8 74/65/70/-1/0.47/027/03 16 ESE TSTM 7/9 81/63/72/+1/0.11/698/77 29 WNW 7/10 83/59/71/0/0.00/860/95 21 SSW 7/11 89/65/77/+5/0.00/814/90 23 S 7/12 90/72/83/+9/0.00/777/86 25 W 7/13 85/61/73/+1/0.73/469/52 21 NE 7/14 70/58/64/-8/0.37/801/89 28 NNE TSTM 7/15 79/59/69/-3/0.00/692/77 17 SSW TSTM 7/16 85/61/73/+1/0.00/834/93 15 SW 7/17 88/67/78/+6/0.00/797/89 30 SSW 7/18 84/70/77/+5/0.02/188/21 38 WSW AERO 43 MPH 7/19 86/69/78/+6/0.00/777/87 18 WNW AERO 24 MPH 7/20 88/69/79/+7/0.00/766/86 29 SSW 7/21 93/68/81/+9/0.00/685/77 37 SSW AERO 43 MPH 7/22 99/76/88/+16/0.00/852/96 28 W AERO 36 MPH 7/23 90/68/79/+7/0.05/469/53 25 WNW TSTM 7/24 80/63/72/-1/0.03/274/31 20 NW AERO 27 MPH 7/25 74/59/67/-6/0.34/123/14 16 ESE 7/26 80/61/71/-1/0.09/237/27 33 S AERO 42 MPH 7/27 82/61/72/0/0.00/824/94 16 WSW 7/28 80/62/71/-1/0.00/.../.. 17 S 7/29 morning low 63F; normal low is 63F DAILY RECORDS FOR JULY 2011 7/22 - RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 99F; ties the previous record of 99F set in 1926 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JULY 29 HIGH 97F IN 1949 LOW 53F IN 1888,1914 PRECIP 1.53 INCHES IN 1901 PEAK GUST 40e MPH E IN 1941 RECORDS FOR JULY 30 HIGH 99F IN 1949 LOW 51F IN 1956 PRECIP 1.84 INCHES IN 1976 PEAK GUST 70e MPH SW 1944 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser/Erin Abbott