BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 0.1 INCH LIGHT SNOW FELL OVERNIGHT AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR MONTH IS NEARLY 6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL COLD TEMPERATURES ON THE WAY Following yesterday's unseasonably warm temperatures, today was on the cooler side, with temperatures struggling to reach even the mid 30's. The current high temperature so far is 34F, with mostly clear skies and prevalent northwesterly flow. A tenth of an inch of snowfall was observed this morning, which fell before midnight as temperatures dropped into the mid to low 20's for some areas as the last of the precipitation passed through. Yesterday's average temperature was 10 degrees above normal, which now puts the month nearly 6 degrees above normal. Ponkapog Pond was covered in a thin sheet of ice this morning, however has thawed out since. Nearby Houghton's Pond was about 9/10 covered in thin ice this morning but has thawed out since as well. Seasonably cold temperatures are going to be sticking around through year's end, which may reduce the high departure we have for this month. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus distant NE-SSW, stratocumulus layer along horizon NNE-SSW, few altocumulus cumulogenitus distant NNE-E and SW-NW, few altocumulus standing lenticularis NNE-E and S-SW, icy surfaces, hazy Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: NW at 16G24 kts, Peak Wind: 36 mph MW @ 6:23 AM Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg, increasing steadily Visibility: 40 miles, hazy 6-hour min. temp: 24F 24-hour precip: 0.66 inch 24-hour snowfall: 0.1 inch BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 103/24/20/3116G24/983/ FEW CUFRA DSNT NE-SSW SC LYR ALNG HRZN NNE-SSW FEW ACCU DSNT NNE-E AND SW-NW FEW ACSL NNE-E AND S-SW ICY SFCS HAZY PK WND 3127/23 WND 27V35/ 8/560 52030 ASOS 70068 MANUAL 70066 10029 20024 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus all quadrants except N, stratocumulus layer distant all quadrants except N-NNE, few altocumulus cumulogenitus distant offshore NNE-E, few cirrus SE-NW, light distant haze W-NW Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: NW at 14G24 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-N Peak Wind: 30 mph WNW @ 9:04 AM Sea-level pressure: 29.88 ins. Hg, increasing then steady Visibility: 50 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 50 132/29/24/3214G24/988/ FEW CUFRA ALQDS XCPT N SC LYR DSNT ALQDS XCPT N-NNE FEW ACCU DSNT OFFSHR NNE-E FEW CI SE-NW LGT DSNT HZ W-NW PK WND 3026/04 WND 27V36/ 8/562 51029 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered dense cirrus, few cumulus fractus all quadrants, stratocumulus layer along horizon distant NNE-SE, few dense cirrus SSE-W Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: WNW at 15G24 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.88 ins. Hg, steady then decreasing Visibiity: 65 miles 6-hour max: 34F 6-hour min: 24F BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 200 SCT 132/34/24/3015G24/988/ FEW CUFRA ALQDS SC LYR ALNG HRZN DSNT NNE-SE FEW DNS CI SSE-W WND 26V34/ 8/102 58000 10034 20024 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....45 NORMAL.....36 MIN.....30 NORMAL.....20 MEAN....38 NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+10 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+166 [+5.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............27 DEPARTURE........-10 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........724 DEPARTURE.......-168 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........1874 DEPARTURE.......-280 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....1626 DIFFERENCE......+248 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............70 E AT 3:17 A.M. AERO....................71 E AT 3:17 A.M. ASOS....................74 ENE AT 3:18 A.M. DAVIS...................65 ENE AT 3:17 A.M. RMY: 67 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............51 E AT 3:18 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............49 E AT 3:19 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............46 ENE AT 3:19 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........21.8 NNW ASOS..................19.7 DAVIS.................18.4 NNE [035 deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.66 DEPARTURE..........+0.52 ASOS..............0.68 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.50 DEPARTURE..........+1.18 ASOS..............5.54 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........40.38 DEPARTURE.........-12.47 ASOS.............40.43 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.1 DEPARTURE..........-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............3.0 DEPARTURE..........-8.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............9.0 DEPARTURE..........-4.8 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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 12/1 34/25/30/-7/0.08/0.8/000/00 16 E AERO 14 MPH E RMY 16 12/2 52/32/42/+6/0.00/0.0/006/01 32 SSW AERO 32 MPH SSW RMY 34 12/3 57/43/50/+14/0.00/0.0/523/94 31 NW AERO 30 MPH NW RMY 32 12/4 56/40/48/+13/0.03/0.0/000/00 37 S AERO 39 MPH S RMY 38 12/5 56/31/44/+9/0.03/0.0/310/56 38 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 40 12/6 38/25/32/-3/0.00/0.0/519/94 31 NW AERO 30 MPH NW RMY N/A 12/7 42/30/36/+2/0.02/0.0/000/00 18 SSW AERO 16 MPH SSW RMY 18 12/8 45/41/43/+9/0.35/0.0/000/00 21 ENE AERO 18 MPH ENE RMY N/A 12/9 45/38/42/+8/0.10/0.0/181/33 24 NNW AERO 24 MPH NNW RMY 25 12/10 59/39/49/+16/0.51/0.0/000/00 32 SSW AERO 33 MPH SSW RMY 35 12/11 54/30/42/+9/0.01/0.0/351/64 25 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 23 12/12 38/26/32/-1/0.00/0.0/126/23 20 NW AERO 18 MPH NW RMY N/A 12/13 42/29/36/+4/0.00/0.0/416/76 18 NW AERO 15 MPH NW RMY N/A 12/14 47/29/38/+6/0.00/0.0/535/98 28 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 27 12/15 40/31/36/+4/0.00/0.0/530/97 24 NNW AERO 22 MPH NNW RMY 21 12/16 36/31/34/+3/0.25/0.1/000/00 25 E AERO 22 MPH E RMY N/A 12/17 44/36/40/+9/0.65/0.0/000/00 31 ENE AERO 29 MPH ENE RMY 30 12/18 50/40/45/+14/0.61/0.0/000/00 28 E AERO 24 MPH E RMY N/A 12/19 44/35/40/+10/T/0.0/087/16 42 WNW AERO 40 MPN WNW RMY 43 12/20 42/30/36/+6/T/0.0/262/48 25 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY N/A 12/21 53/35/44/+14/0.00/0.0/000/00 58 E AERO 53 MPH E RMY 57 12/22 37/26/32/+3/T/T/136/25 47 W AERO 47 MPH W RMY 43 12/23 37/25/31/+2/0.00/0.0/305/56 44 WNW AERO 44 MPH WNW RMY N/A 12/24 39/28/34/+5/0.01/0.2/452/83 25 W AERO 23 MPH W RMY 22 12/25 33/25/29/+1/0.02/0.4/000/00 21 NNW AERO 21 MPH NNW RMY 19 12/26 35/20/28/+0/..../1.0/228/43 39 E AERO 39 MPH E RMY N/A 12/27 45/30/38/+10/..../0.3/.../.. 70 E AERO 71 MPH E RMY 67 12/28 morning low temp: 24F; the normal low is now 2OF DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2012 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 28 HIGH 60 IN 1982 LOW -2 IN 1933 PRECIP 2.16 INS. IN 1967 SNOWFALL 9.5 INS. IN 1967 PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1983 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 29 HIGH 72 IN 1984 LOW -19 IN 1933 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1945 SNOWFALL 18.4 INS. IN 1945 PEAK GUST 95 MPH S IN 1966 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: George Tabeek/Forrest Iwanik/Peter Volpe