BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS MORNING; TEMPERATURES RUNNING ABOUT 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL The sky began the day with mostly clear conditions. At the 7 AM observation, a sharp-edged stratocumulus cloud deck was noted to the distant NW. That cloud deck progressively invaded the sky, placing the observatory in its shadow shortly before 9 AM. The sky became mostly cloudy by the 10 AM observation and mostly cloudy conditions have persisted into this afternoon. The wind direction early this morning was SW, but after a cold front passage the direction gradually became WNW by about 6 AM. The colder, Canadian air mass still lingering behind the front has yet to arrive, as the temperature on the summit has topped out several degrees above normal, in the lower 40s. A fair amount of moisture also remains in the air, with dew point temperatures in the mid to upper 20s, and visibility limited earlier in the day to a hazy 45 miles. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrus, stratocumulus layer distant WSW-NW-NE, few small altocumulus lenticularis distant ESE-S, few cirrus distant E, smoke layer along horizon NE-E and SE-W, distant haze Temperature: 32F, Dew point: 24F, Wind: WNW at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.94 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze 6-hour min. temp: 32F BHO SA 1155 40 SCT 120 SCT 250 –SCT 45 139/32/24/3010/994/ SC LYR DSNT WSW-NW-NE FEW SML ACSL DSNT ESE-S FEW CI DSNT E K LYR ALG HRZN NE-E AND SE-W DSNT HZ/ 8/541 53014 10038 20032 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, mostly clear sky distant ENE-SE-SSW, distant haze Temperature: 40F, Dew Point: 27F; Wind: NW at 10G17 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.99 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze BHO SA 1455 E40 BKN 45 157/40/27/3110G17/999/ MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT ENE-SE-SSW DSNT HZ WND 27V34/ 8/500 51018 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus (2 levels), few moderate stratocumulus/ cumulus distant N-NE, mostly clear sky distant SE-SW, distant haze Temperature: 41F, Dew Point: 26F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 30.01 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 60 miles, NW 65 miles, distant haze 6 hour max. temp: 43F BHO SA 1755 E40 BKN 45 BKN 65 163/41/26/3008/001/ FEW MDT SC/CU DSNT N-NE MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT SE-SW DSNT HZ VSBY NW 65 WND 27V34/ 8/500 51006 10043 20032 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....49 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....24 NORMAL.....18 MEAN....37 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+50 [+8.1 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............28 DEPARTURE.........-11 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............184 DEPARTURE.........-50 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2965 DEPARTURE........-805 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3734 DIFFERENCE.......-769 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............33 WSW AT 1:29 P.M. AERO..................32 WSW AT 1:42 P.M. ASOS..................33 W AT 1:29 P.M. DAVIS.................33 WSW AT 1:29 P.M. RMY 34 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........25 WSW AT 1:29 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............24 W AT 1:29 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........23 W AT 1:29 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......15.6 SW ASOS................15.1 DAVIS...............14.0 WSW (237 deg) 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..........-0.81 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.19 DEPARTURE..........-1.97 ASOS...............3.24 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE..........-0.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0 DEPARTURE..........-3.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............16.5 DEPARTURE.........-16.8 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 43/24/34/+8/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 30 2/5 34/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/.../.. 18 W AERO 17 MPH W RMY N/A 2/6 49/24/37/+11/0.00/0.0/.../.. 33 WSW AERO 32 MPH WSW RMY 34 2/7 our morning low temp: 32F; the normal low is now 18F 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 7 HIGH 51F IN 1951,1953 LOW -8F IN 1910 PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1983 SNOWFALL 17.1 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 87e MPH SSE IN 1951 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 8 HIGH 60F IN 1933 LOW -9F IN 1934 PRECIP 2.50 INS. IN 1945 SNOWFALL 11.0 INS. IN 1891 PEAK GUST 63e MPH NE IN 1945 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser