BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SEASONABLE, BREEZY DAY;
STORM TOTAL RAINFALL REACHES 3.15 INCHES

Conditions are drier and certainly more sunny today compared to
yesterday.  Dew point temperatures have dropped into the lower 30s
this afternoon.  Temperatures are fairly similar to yesterday, and
are fairly close to the normals for the date.  Winds have been strong
at times from the SSW.  Gusts are frequently reaching 30-40 mph.

Rainfall from the latest storm that began on Sunday and ended late
Monday afternoon provided very beneficial rainfall that reached a 
total of 3.15 inches on the summit.  This has brought rainfall for the
month of April back up near normal, but the deficit for the year is
still substantial near 8 inches.

Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered stratocumulus cumulogenitus,
moderate cumulus and cumulus fractus all quadrants, stratocumulus
distant SE-SW, light distant haze, rain shower distant SSE and distant
S and distant SW moving NE
Temperature: 44F, Dew point: 34F, Wind: SSW at 19G27 kts,
Wind: Peak wind from SSW at 31 kts at 6:02 A.M. EST
Wind: Direction variable S-WSW
Sea-level pressure: 29.46 inches Hg, rising  
Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze 
24-hour precipitation: 0.28 inch   
6-hour min. temp: 43F
BHO SA 1155 30 SCT 45 SCT 65 977/44/34/2119G27/946/ MDT CU AND CUFRA
ALQDS SC DSNT SE-SW LGT DSNT HZ SHRA DSNT SSE AND DSNT S AND DSNT SW
MOVG NE PK WND 2031/02 WND 19V25/ 8/400 52020 MANUAL 70028 ASOS 70026
10046 20043 
  
10 A.M. 
Weather: Broken cumulus, broken stratocumulus cumulogenitus, broken
cirrostratus, broken cirrus, moderate cumulus and a few cumulus fractus
all quadrants, numerous bands of cumulus oriented NNE-SW, cirrostratus
distant SW, cirrus distant SW-WSW partly thin, cirrostratus/cirrus
invading the sky, light distant haze, rain shower distant SW and distant
W moving NE
Temperature: 48F, Dew Point: 32F; Wind: SSW at 21G28 kts,
Wind: Peak wind from SSW at 30 kts at 9:43 A.M. EST
Wind: Direction variable SSE-SW
Sea-level pressure: 29.51 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 E35 BKN 40 BKN 200 BKN 250 BKN 70 994/48/32/2021G28/951/ MDT
CU AND FEW CUFRA ALQDS NMRS BANDS CU ORIENTED NNE-SW CS DSNT SW CI DSNT
SW-WSW PRTLY THN CS/CI INVADING LGT DSNT HZ SHRA DSNT SW AND DSNT W
MOVG NE PK WND 2030/43 WND 16V23/ 8/405 51017   

1 P.M.  
Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrostratus, broken cirrus, moderate
cumulus and a few cumulus fractus all quadrants, cirrostratus distant
SSW, cirrus S-SW and W-NW partly thin, cirrostratus/cirrus invading the
sky, light distant haze
Temperature: 54F, Dew Point: 31F; Wind: SSW at 17G25 kts,
Wind: Peak wind from SSW at 29 kts at 12:37 P.M. EST
Wind: Direction variable S-WSW
Sea-level pressure: 29.54 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze 
6-hour max. temp: 55F
BHO SA 1755 50 SCT E200 BKN 250 BKN 65 005/54/31/2117G25/954/ MDT CU
AND FEW CUFRA ALQDS CS DSNT SSW CI S-SW AND W-NW PRTLY THN CS/CI
INVADING LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2029/37 WND 18V24/ 8/205 51011 10055 20044
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 23

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....61    NORMAL.....59
MIN.....42    NORMAL.....41
MEAN....52    NORMAL.....50
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+150 [+6.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............13   DEPARTURE..........-3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............312   DEPARTURE........-147
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4597   DEPARTURE.......-1326
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5856   DIFFERENCE......-1259

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............46 NE  AT  1:14 A.M.
                   AERO..................47 NE  AT 12:46 A.M.
                   ASOS..................50 NE  AT  1:15 A.M.
                   DAVIS.................47 NE  AT 1 - 2 A.M. RMY 48
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........37 NE  AT 12:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............36 NE  AT 12:01 A.M.
DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........34 NE  AT 1 - 2 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......19.4 S
                   ASOS................18.1
                   DAVIS...............18.0 SSE [154 deg.]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.28   DEPARTURE..........+0.14 
                         ASOS..............0.26
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.50   DEPARTURE..........-0.12
                         ASOS..............3.57
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.59   DEPARTURE..........-8.03
                         ASOS..............9.72
	
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..........-2.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2    DEPARTURE.........-35.1

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR APRIL 2012 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:  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
 
4/1  50/34/42/+1/0.14/0.0/360/47    20 SSW AERO 20 MPH SSW RMY N/A
4/2  51/35/43/+2/0.04/T/353/46      35 NNW AERO 33 MPH NNW RMY 35
4/3  57/31/44/+2/0.00/0.0/724/94    36 NW  AERO 37 MPH NW  RMY 40
4/4  62/38/50/+8/T/0.0/688/89       40 NW  AERO 39 MPH NW  RMY 43
4/5  51/33/42/-1/0.00/0.0/660/85    29 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY 30
4/6  51/31/41/-2/0.00/0.0/623/80    26 NNW AERO 26 MPH NNW RMY 28
4/7  54/32/43/0/0.00/0.0/305/39     31 NW  AERO 32 MPH NW  RMY 32
4/8  51/37/44/0/0.00/0.0/086/11     32 NW  AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 33
4/9  57/43/50/+6/T/0.0/323/41       44 W   AERO 42 MPH W   RMY 44
4/10 61/40/51/+6/0.00/0.0/600/76    32 W   AERO 31 MPH W   RMY 34 
4/11 57/40/49/+4/0.00/0.0/397/50    21 NE  AERO 20 MPH NE  RMY 22
4/12 54/39/47/+2/0.16/0.0/127/16    25 NNW AERO 24 MPH NNW RMY 28
4/13 63/36/50/+4/0.00/0.0/782/98    24 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 25
4/14 70/44/57/+11/0.00/0.0/617/77   25 SSW AERO 27 MPH SSW RMY 28
4/15 75/52/64/+17/T/0.0/426/53      23 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 25
4/16 89/57/73/+26/0.01/0.0/678/84   28 SSW AERO 30 MPH SSW RMY 32
4/17 83/53/68/+21/0.00/0.0/777/96   28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 32 
4/18 61/45/53/+5/0.00/0.0/.../..    27 NNW AERO 27 MPH NNW RMY N/A
4/19 70/44/57/+9/0.00/0.0/.../..    23 S   AERO 22 MPH S   RMY 25
4/20 75/46/61/+12/0.00/0.0/.../..   30 S   AERO 31 MPH S   RMY 33
4/21 75/51/63/+14/T/0.0/.../..      32 S   AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38
4/22 59/41/50/+1/1.16/0.0/000/00    50 NE  AERO 51 MPH NE  RMY 52
4/23 61/42/52/+2/1.99/0.0/.../..    46 NE  AERO 47 MPH NE  RMY 48

4/24 the morning low temp: 43F; the normal low is now 41F

DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2012
4/16 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 89F;
surpasses the previous record of 87F in 1896.
4/23 - NEW DAILY RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 1.99 INCHES;
surpasses the previous record of 1.51 inches in 1998. 

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR APRIL 24
HIGH 82 IN 2001
LOW 22 IN 1930
PRECIP 2.51 INS IN 1898
SNOWFALL 1.2 INS IN 1967
PEAK GUST 59 MPH NW IN 1962

RECORDS FOR APRIL 25
HIGH 83 IN 2009
LOW 24 IN 1892
PRECIP 1.38 IN. IN 1901
SNOWFALL 0.7 IN. IN 2002.
PEAK GUST 66 MPH SE IN 1968

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser