BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOLER TODAY
AS WINDS BECOME A BIT GUSTY FROM NE
 
High cloudiness had spread across our sky early today
followed by a layer of low clouds or stratocumulus
which started out as scattered around 8 A.M. This soon
became broken to overcast later this morning shutting
out the sunshine.  Although the morning low of 51F was
still some 7 degrees warmer than the average for today
our high of only 59F which occurred just before 10 A.M.
was several degrees cooler than the average of 62 degrees.
Cooler air today is arriving on northeast winds which were
becoming a bit gusty early this afternoon.
The day will likely still wind up a couple of degrees on
the mild side of normal.  The month of October continues
to run much milder than normal by over 4 degrees. 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus increasing past hour, overcast of
altocumulus (2 layers) of a chaotic sky, dense cirrus visible SE-SW,
patch of snow virga SW, small break in overcast SW and E, numerous
bright spots and thin spots in overcast  
Temperature: 53F, Dew point: 46F; Wind: ENE at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.26 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze
6-hour min: 51F
BHO SA 1155 22 SCT E130 BKN 160 OVC 60 246/53/46/0707/026/
SC INCR PST HR AC CHAOTIC NMRS BRGHT SPTS IOVC
SML BINOVC W AND E THN SPTS IOVC HIER CLDS DNS CI SE-SW
PTCH SNW VIRGA SW SML PTCH DNS SHLW GF VSB DSNT ESTMTD 40 WNW
LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/592 53004 10053 20051
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast dense cirrus,
higher layer cirrus with thin spots in overcast
Temperature: 56F, Dew Point: 47F; Wind: NE at 10 kts,
Wind: Direction variable N-ENE
Sea-level pressure: 30.25 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 E23 BKN 220 OVC 70 242/56/47/0510/025/
DNS CI THN SPTS IN HIER CI LYR AT 250 LGT DSNT HZ
WND 36V07/ 8/502 58004
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, dense cirrostratus overcast 
Temperature: 56F, Dew Point: 48F; Wind: NE at 10 kts,
Wind: Direction variable NNE-E,
Wind: Gust to 16 kts past hour
Sea-level pressure: 30.20 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hour max. temp: 59F 
BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN E220 OVC 75 228/56/48/0510/020/ DNS CS OVC
WND 02V08 GST 16 KTS PST HR/ 8/507 58014 10059 20053
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....65    NORMAL.....62
MIN.....52    NORMAL.....44
MEAN....59    NORMAL.....53
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+54 [+4.7 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............6    DEPARTURE........-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............68    DEPARTURE.......-46
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........143    DEPARTURE......-140
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....190    DIFFERENCE......-47
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............17 E   AT  7:33 P.M. 
                   AERO...................17 E   AT  7:33 P.M.
                   ASOS...................17 E   AT  7:38 P.M.
                   DAVIS..................17 E   AT  7-8  P.M.  RMY: 18
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............14 E   AT  7:43 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............14 E   AT  7:42 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............14 E   AT  7:35 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........ 9.0 NNE
                   ASOS..................9.4
                   DAVIS.................8.5 NE [050 deg]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.82 DEPARTURE..........+1.28
                         ASOS..............2.76
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........46.88 DEPARTURE..........+7.74
                        ASOS..............47.22**
**ASOS data is in error due to system failure on 1/12-13
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 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
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
 
10/1  70/55/63/+6/0.88/085/12     24 NE  AERO N/A        RMY 25 MPH TSTM
10/2  64/54/59/+3/0.03/000/00     24 NNE AERO 27 MPH NNE RMY 26 MPH
10/3  67/53/60/+4/0.04/329/47     20 S   AERO 22 MPH S   RMY 22 MPH
10/4  65/52/59/+3/1.87/307/44     24 NW  AERO 25 MPH NNW RMY 25 MPH TSTM
10/5  63/42/53/-2/T/468/70        43 WNW AERO 42 MPH WNW RMY 44 MPH
10/6  60/40/50/-5/0.00/.../..     31 NW  AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 36 MPH
10/7  61/39/50/-5/0.00/.../..     17 SW  AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY N/A
10/8  78/49/64/+10/0.00/.../..    22 WSW AERO 23 MPH WSW RMY 24 MPH
10/9  82/61/72/+18/0.00/.../..    21 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 24 MPH
10/10 81/59/70/+16/0.00/.../..    23 NW  AERO 23 MPH NW  RMY 23 MPH
10/11 65/52/59/+6/0.00/.../..     17 E   AERO 17 MPH E   RMY 18
 
10/12 our morning low temp: 51F; the normal low is now 44F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2011
10/4 - NEW DAILY RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 1.87 INCHES;
surpasses the previous record of 1.07 set in 1986.
10/9 - NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMP OF 82F;
surpasses the previous record of 81F set in 1909.
10/9 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 61F;
surpasses the previous record of 60F set in 1970.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 12
HIGH 87F IN 1954
LOW 31F IN 1906
PRECIP 1.53 INCHES IN 1948
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1941
PEAK GUST 55 MPH NW IN 1963
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 13
HIGH 84F IN 1930,1954
LOW 30F IN 1934,1936,1988
PRECIP 5.92 INCHES IN 1895
SNOWFALL 4.2 INCHES IN 1934
PEAK GUST 46e MPH W IN 1950
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling