BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

EARLY MORNING LOW TEMPERATURES DROP TO 40'S BELOW SUMMIT
SUNNY WARMER AND STILL VERY DRY AIR TODAY 
HAZE LAYER SPREADS IN ALOFT BUT SURFACE VISIBILITY 
STILL UP TO 70 TO 75 MILES
A VERY SUNNY AUGUST NOT FAR BELOW SUNNIEST ON RECORD 

Low temperatures were 48F at nearby Norwood Airport and 47F at
Taunton Airport and maximum cooling occurred overnight last night with
dew points in the 40's.  Here at the summit our low was 56F or the same
as yesterday and 4 degrees cooler than normal.  Warmer air is arriving
today but it's still dry with the dew point near 50 degrees. After 29
days the averaged monthly corrected temperature is 0.3 degrees above
the warmest August of 72.5 in 1988.  We may have our warmest August
as the temperatures rise today and very warm to hot comes in tomorrow
to finish August and the meteorological summer. 

August has been a very suuny month with 67% of the possible bright
sunshine through 29 days.  The record sunniest August had 74% of the
possible bright sunshine. A haze layer has spread over the whole sky
by early this afternoon but surface visibility is still up around 70
to 75 miles but down from the 80 to 85 miles of Wednesday. 
 
A list of the warmest August records record can be viewed below.

BHO Warmest Augusts (deg F), 1885-2011:
1) 72.5 in 1988
2) 72.3 in 2005
3) 72.1 in 2002
4) 72.0 in 2001
The corrected mean temperature for August through the 29th is 72.8F.

Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather:  Sky perfectly clear, [SKC]  
Temperature: 61F; Dew Point: 50F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising then more rapidly     
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 
6-hour min. temp: 56F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 175/61/50/2908/005/ SKC LGT DSNT HZ/ 53018 10061
20056  

10 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, patch cirrus vicinity NW and patch cirrus distant
WSW and few cirrus distant WNW, partial haze layer aloft  
Temperature: 74F; Dew Point: 50F; Wind: WSW @ 8 kts, 
Wind: Direction variable SSW-WNW 
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising slightly     
Visibility: 75 miles, increasing light haze  
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 177/74/50/2508/005/ PTCH CI VC NW AND PTCH CI DSNT
WSW AND DSNT WNW PARTIAL HZ LYR ALF LGT DSNT HZ INCRSNG WND 20V30/
8/001 53002 

1 P.M.  
Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant WSW and WNW, haze layer aloft 
all quadrants  
Temperature: 79F; Dew Point: 49F; Wind: WSW at 10 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SSW-WNW 
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, falling
Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze  
6-hour max. temp: 79F  
BHO SA 1755 CLR 75 162/79/49/2510/001/ FEW CI DSNT WSW AND NW 
HZ LYR ALF ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ WND 20V29/ 8/001 58015 10079 20061 
10079 20061

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....74    NORMAL.....77
MIN.....56    NORMAL.....60
MEAN....65    NORMAL.....69
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+93 [+3.0 DEGREES/DAY]

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............22 NNW AT  8:51 A.M.  
                   AERO..................21 NNW AT  8:51 A.M.  
                   ASOS..................21 NNW AT  8:55 A.M.  
                   DAVIS.................20 NW  AT  1-2  A.M. RMY 21 
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........15 N   AT  1:14 A.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............15 N   AT  1:15 A.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........14 N   AT  1-2  A.M.  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........8.6 WNW 
                   ASOS.................8.3 
                   DAVIS................7.8 NW [320 deg] 

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00   DEPARTURE...........-0.11
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.74   DEPARTURE...........-0.07
                         ASOS..............3.71
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........25.35   DEPARTURE...........-9.45
                         ASOS.............25.26

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 2012 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
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

8/1  82/66/74/+2/0.58/390/45        33 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 35
8/2  87/67/77/+5/T/648/75           20 W   AERO 20 MPH W   RMY 20
8/3  90/70/80/+8/0.00/707/82        23 SW  AERO 23 MPH SW  RMY 23
8/4  91/72/82/+10/0.00/713/83       22 S   AERP 21 MPH S   RMY 23
8/5  87/72/80/+8/0.14/660/77        37 S   AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 37
8/6  82/67/75/+3/0.00/710/83        25 WNW AERO 27 MPH WNW RMY 26
8/7  84/65/75/+3/0.00/725/85        23 S   AERO 21 MPH S   RMY 23 
8/8  87/68/78/+6/0.00/578/68        20 S   AERO 18 MPH S   RMY 18
8/9  89/68/79/+7/0.00/630/77        25 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY 25
8/10 84/70/77/+6/0.87/228/27        32 SE  AERO 32 MPH SE  RMY 32 TSTM
8/11 84/69/77/+6/0.00/464/55        25 S   AERO 27 MPH S   RMY 27
8/12 83/70/77/+6/0.03/420/50        24 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY 23 
8/13 84/66/75/+4/0.00/787/94        21 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY 19
8/14 81/64/73/+2/0.00/451/54        18 W   AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY 19
8/15 83/63/73/+2/0.89/358/43        33 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 32 TSTM
8/16 82/64/73/+2/T/714/86           23 WNW AERO 22 MPH WNW RMY 21
8/17 84/65/75/+4/T/729/88           26 S   AERO 26 MPH SSW RMY 27
8/18 69/62/66/-5/0.22/0/0           18 WNW AERO 17 MPH WNW RMY 16
8/19 73/56/65/-5/T/353/43           17 N   AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY 16
8/20 77/61/69/-1/0.00/312/38        16 SSW AERO 15 MPH SSW RMY 16
8/21 81/62/72/+2/0.01/539/66        21 W   AERO 20 MPH W   RMY 19  
8/22 82/62/72/+2/0.00/766/94        17 W   AERO 17 MPH SW  RMY N/A
8/23 85/63/74/+4/0.00/771/95        21 SSW AERO 21 MPH SSW RMY 21
8/24 80/65/73/+3/0.00/648/80        18 W   AERO 16 MPH W   RMY 16
8/25 80/64/72/+3/0.00/492/61        20 ESE AER0 18 MPH ESE RMY 18
8/26 80/63/72/+3/0.00/675/84        17 SW  AERO 15 MPH SW  RMY 16
8/27 84/61/73/+4/0.00/650/81        28 S   AERO 29 MPH S   RMY N/A
8/28 82/66/74/+5/1.00/327/41        29 SSW AERO 30 MPH SSW RMY 30
8/29 74/56/65/-4/0.00/795/100       22 NNW AERO 21 MPH NNW RMY 21

8/30 our morning low temp: 56F; the normal low is now 60F 

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2012
8/4 - DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 72F;
      ties the current record of 72F in 1974.

DAILY EXTREMES 
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 30
HIGH 94F IN 1953
LOW 39F IN 1965
PRECIP 2.75 INCHES IN 1936
PEAK GUST 43 MPH NW IN 1965

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 31
HIGH 94F IN 1953
LOW 42F IN 1976
PRECIP 2.46 INCHES IN 1954
PEAK GUST 125 MPH SE IN 1954 [CAROL - RECORD FOR MONTH]

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling/Peter Volpe