BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2011 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLOUDY, BUT VERY MILD MID NOVEMBER DAY There has been an abundance of mid and high level clouds today providing for very little in the way of sunshine. Just after sunrise this morning, a partial rainbow was observed to the distant WSW of the summit in association with an area of light rain showers and virga. Late Monday afternoon, a light rain shower brought a trace of rainfall to the summit. Temperatures on Monday averaged an incredible 18 degrees above normal! Monday's high temperature of 67F was just 3 degrees shy of the record for the date. This morning's low temperature only managed to recover to 56F. That is 21 degrees above normal! The average high temperature this time of the year is 50F! If 56F holds as the low for the day, it will tie the existing record high minimum temperature set in 1989 and 2008. It is possible that the temperature will creep just below 56F late tonight, depending on the arrival time of a slightly cooler air mass approaching from the west. This afternoon's high has topped out at 66F, which is 16 degrees above normal. Winds have shifted from the south earlier this morning to west this afternoon, likely indicating that the slightly cooler air mass is on its way in. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken altostratus, broken dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, few altocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, higher cirrus layer partly thin, partial rainbow distant WSW, rain shower/ virga distant WSW-N and distant ENE-E, hazy Temperature: 56F, Dew point: 53F; Wind: S at 14G21 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.72 inches Hg, rising slightly Visibility: 25 miles, hazy 24-hour precip: Trace 6-hour min. temp: 56F BHO SA 1155 E100 BKN 140 BKN 220 BKN 250 BKN 25 063/56/53/1914G21/972/ FEW ACSL DSNT ALQDS HIER CI LYR PRTLY THN PARTIAL RAINBOW DSNT WSW SHRA/VIRGA DSNT WSW-N AND DSNT ENE-E HAZY/ 8/072 52003 MANUAL 7000/ 10058 20056 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken altostratus, broken dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, few altocumulus lenticularis all quadrants, altocumulus chaotic, higher cirrus layer partly thin, sun visible, dark smoke layer distant SE-SSW, hazy Temperature: 62F, Dew Point: 53F; Wind: SW at 12 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.76 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 25 miles, hazy BHO SA 1455 90 SCT E100 BKN 140 BKN 220 BKN 250 BKN 25 079/62/53/2212/976/ FEW ACSL ALQDS AC CHAOTIC HIER CI LYR PRTLY THN SUN VSBL DRK K LYR DSNT SE-SSW HAZY/ 8/092 51016 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, overcast altostratus, few cumulus ENE-SW and distant W-NW-NNE, few moderate cumulus distant NNW-N, few altocumulus lenticularis W-N-NE, breaks in overcast distant SE-SSW, rain shower distant SSW-W moving E, distant haze Temperature: 63F, Dew Point: 49F; Wind: W at 16G25 kts, Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.78 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 55 miles, NW 65 miles, distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 66F BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 80 SCT E100 OVC 55 086/63/49/2816G25/978/ FEW CU ENE-SW AND DSNT W-NW-NNE FEW MDT CU DSNT NNW-N FEW ACSL W-N-NE BRKS INOVC DSNT SE-SSW VSBY NW 65 SHRA DSNT SSW-W MOVG E DSNT HZ WND 25V31/ 8/27/ 53007 10066 20056 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....67 NORMAL.....50 MIN.....52 NORMAL.....35 MEAN....60 NORMAL.....42 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................+18 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+67 [+4.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............5 DEPARTURE........-18 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............219 DEPARTURE........-69 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........645 DEPARTURE.......-234 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......779 DIFFERENCE......-134 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............33 SSW AT 4:17 A.M. AERO...................35 SSW AT 4:17 A.M. ASOS...................35 SSW AT 4:17 A.M. DAVIS..................34 SSW AT 4:16 A.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............27 SSW AT 4:18 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............28 SSW AT 4:18 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............27 SSW AT 4:18 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........18.0 SSW ASOS.................17.3 DAVIS................16.9 SSW [202 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.16 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH ........1.12 DEPARTURE..........-1.04 ASOS..............1.11 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........55.14 DEPARTURE.........+10.96 ASOS..............55.56** **ASOS data is in error due to system failure on 1/12-13/11 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.........-0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0 DEPARTURE.........-1.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............8.5 DEPARTURE.........+7.2 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 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 RMY: R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011 TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 11/1 50/38/44/-3/0.00/0.0/286/46 25 ENE AERO 24 MPH ENE RMY 24 11/2 54/34/44/-2/0.00/0.0/619/100 17 S AERO 16 MPH S RMY N/A 11/3 60/40/50/+4/0.00/0.0/437/71 27 WSW AERO 30 MPH WSW RMY 28 11/4 49/33/41/-5/0.00/0.0/343/56 33 NW AERO 35 MPH NNW RMY 36 11/5 47/29/38/-7/0.00/0.0/556/91 18 NW AERO 21 MPH NNW RMY 21 11/6 56/35/46/+1/0.00/0.0/603/99 24 SSW AERO 24 MPH SSW RMY 26 11/7 62/39/51/+6/0.00/0.0/600/99 23 WSW AERO 24 MPH SW RMY 25 11/8 68/49/59/+15/0.00/0.0/580/96 20 W AERO 21 MPH W RMY N/A 11/9 68/50/59/+15/0.00/0.0/584/97 22 S AERO 23 MPH S RMY 23 11/10 60/53/57/+13/1.12/0.0/000/00 22 WNW AERO 22 MPH WNW RMY N/A 11/11 55/37/46/+3/T/0.0/.../.. 41 W AERO 44 MPH W RMY 45 11/12 52/34/43/0/0.00/0.0/.../.. 35 SSW AERO 38 MPH SSW RMY 38 11/13 62/43/53/+10/0.00/0.0/.../.. 36 S AERO 37 MPH S RMY 38 11/14 67/52/60/+18/T/0.0/.../.. 33 SSW AERO 35 MPH SSW RMY N/A 11/15 our morning low temp: 56F; the normal low is now 35F DAILY RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2011 None so far... DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 15 HIGH 74 IN 1993 LOW 15 IN 1933 PRECIP 1.66 INCHES IN 1981 SNOWFALL 4.0 IN 1967 PEAK GUST 65 SSE IN 2008 RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 16 HIGH 73 IN 1927 LOW 8 IN 1933 PRECIP 2.25 INCHES IN 1981 SNOWFALL 2.0 IN 1913 PEAK GUST 78 S IN 1989 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser