BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARMER THAN AVERAGE ONCE AGAIN TODAY... The morning low temperature of 29 was well above the average for early February of 17. As of early afternoon, the high temperature has reached 43 degrees, which is also warmer than average. The sky has been mostly sunny with a few cumulus and thin broken high clouds throughout the day. The visibility has improved from 40 miles to better than 70 miles early this afternoon. The three month average temperature for November-January tied for the second warmest on record. Warmest November-January, 1885-2012 (deg F) 1) 40.3 in 2001-2002 2) 39.7 in 2006-2007 39.7 in 2011-2012 4) 38.9 in 1949-1950 5) 38.8 in 1912-1913 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, few lower stratocumulus distant offshore E-ESE, few cumulus fractus, few cirrus distant S-SW, light haze W-NW Temperature: 30F, Dew point: 22F, Wind: W at 13 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.22 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 40 miles, visibility W-WNW 30, light haze W-NW 6-hour min. temp: 29F 24-hour precip: 0.00 BHO SA 1155 45 SCT 150 SCT 40 233/30/22/2613/022/ FEW LWR SC DSNT OFFSHR E-ESE FEW CUFRA FEW CI DSNT S-SW VSBY W-WNW 30 LGT HZ W-NW/ 8/571 56007 10033 20029 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, thin broken cirrus, few cumulus fractus Temperature: 38F, Dew Point: 25F; Wind: WNW at 12G18 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NW Sea-level pressure: 30.20 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 65 miles BHO SA 1455 35 SCT 200 –BKN 65 228/38/25/2912G18/020/ FEW CUFRA WND 26V32/ 8/101 58005 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, thin broken cirrus, few dense cirrus SE-SW Temperature: 40F, Dew Point: 21F; Wind: NW at 10G17 kts, Wind: Direction variable WNW-N Sea-level pressure: 30.14 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 75 miles 6 hour max. temp: 43F BHO SA 1755 35 SCT 220 -BKN 75 206/40/21/3210G17/014/ FEW DNS CI SE-SW WND 29V35/ 8/101 58022 10043 20030 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....37 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....22 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....30 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+31 [+10.1 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............35 DEPARTURE..........-4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............86 DEPARTURE.........-31 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2867 DEPARTURE........-786 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3632 DIFFERENCE.......-765 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............28 NW AT 3:35 P.M. AERO..................28 NW AT 3:43 P.M. ASOS..................28 NW AT 3:44 P.M. DAVIS.................27 WNW AT 3:43 P.M. RMY: 29 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........19 NW AT 3:34 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............18 NW AT 4:07 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........19 WNW AT 3:26 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......12.0 NW ASOS................11.1 DAVIS...............10.4 NW (311 deg) * Last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.13 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.40 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.19 DEPARTURE..........-1.56 ASOS...............3.24 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE..........-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0 DEPARTURE..........-1.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............16.5 DEPARTURE.........-14.7 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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 2/1 58/31/45/+19/T/0.0/174/29 39 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW RMY 41 2/2 40/28/34/+8/T/0.0/.../.. 25 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY N/A 2/3 37/22/30/+4/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 NW AERO 28 MPH NW RMY 29 2/4 morning low temp: 29F; the normal low is now 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2012 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 4 HIGH 63F IN 1991 LOW -4F IN 1886, 1908 PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1926 SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1961 PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1972 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5 HIGH 65F IN 1991 LOW -14F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907 PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono