BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
YESTERDAY'S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FALLS
BELOW AVERAGE FOR FIRST TIME IN 3 WEEKS
 
Yesterday's average temperature of 21F finishes 6 degrees below the
average temperature for this time of year. This marks the first time in
over 3 weeks that the average temperature has fallen below the recorded
average. The last time this occurred was on January 22nd, when the
average temperature fell 5 degrees below normal.
 
Today has been another chilly morning at the summit, with a low of 12F
occurring around 2:00 AM. Gusty winds still remain, however with a more
westerly flow today as winds backed from the WNW shortly after midnight.
The peak gust so far today stands at 43 MPH occurring a little after
11:00 AM. Temperatures have warmed up a lot relatively speaking,
with a current temperature of 37F as of 1:00 PM. Skies were overcast this
morning but have since become scattered with cumulus clouds passing over
in addition to a few cirrus. Visibility was not so great to start off,
being only about 30 miles but since has improved to approx. 70 miles
as of early this afternoon.
 
This Arctic air mass will move out tonight as warmer temperatures will
return tomorrow and for most of the week with temperatures in the mid to
upper 40s.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, few small cumulus distant ENE-ESE below
stratocumulus layer, few thin spots in overcast, hazy, light distant fog
SW-NW
Temperature: 20F, Dew point: 13F, Wind: SSW at 13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.86 inches Hg, falling then steady
Visibility: 30 miles, 40 miles E-SSW, 20 miles WSW-NW, hazy, light
distant fog SW-NW
6-hour min. temp: 12F
BHO SA 1155 E60 OVC 30 112/20/13/2113/986/ FEW SM CU DSNT ENE-ESE BLO SC
LYR FEW THN SPTS IN OVC OVD HAZY LGT DSNT F SW-NW VSBY HIER E-SSW 40 VSBY
LWR WSW-NW 20/ 8/5// 56007 10020 20012
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered cirrus, few cirrus N-NNE, contrails
SW-W, light distant haze
Temperature: 32F, Dew Point: 16F; Wind: W at 16G25KT, 
Wind: Peak gust 31 kts WSW @ 9:37 EST,
Wind: Direction variable SSW-W
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 45 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 40 SCT 200 SCT 45 110/32/16/2616G25/985/ FEW CI N-NNE
CONTRAILS SW-W LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2531/37/ WND 20V28/ 8/201 58002
 
1 P.M. 
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered cirrus, few moderate cumulus all
quadrants, cirrus radiatus SE-SW, contrails all quadrants, light distant
haze
Temperature: 37F, Dew Point: 16F; Wind: W at 20G28KT,
Wind: Peak gust 34 kts W @ 12:25 EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.82 inches Hg, falling 
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze
6-hour max. temp: 37F
BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 200 SCT 70 099/37/16/2720G28/982/ FEW MDT CU ALQDS CI
RADIATUS SE-SW CONTRAILS ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2634/25/ 8/202 58011
10037 20020
 
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....28    NORMAL.....36
MIN.....13    NORMAL.....19
MEAN....21    NORMAL.....27
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+79 [+6.4 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............44   DEPARTURE..........+6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............383   DEPARTURE.........-79
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3164   DEPARTURE........-834
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3974   DIFFERENCE.......-810
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............46 WNW AT  2:40 P.M.
                   AERO..................48 WNW AT  2:41 P.M. *
                   ASOS..................47 WNW AT  2:42 P.M.
                   DAVIS.................48 WNW AT  2:40 P.M. RMY 50
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........36 WNW AT  2:45 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............36 WNW AT  2:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........34 WNW AT  2:44 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......17.8 WNW
                   ASOS................16.4
                   DAVIS...............15.6 NW (309 deg)
*...Last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE..........-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.15  DEPARTURE..........-1.48
                         ASOS..............0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.34  DEPARTURE..........-2.64
                        ASOS...............3.38
     
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE..........-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.6  DEPARTURE..........-7.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............17.1  DEPARTURE.........-20.0
 
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/0.0/000/00       25 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY N/A
2/3  37/22/30/+4/0.00/0.0/574/95    28 NW  AERO 28 MPH NW  RMY 29
2/4  43/24/34/+8/0.00/0.0/498/82    28 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 30
2/5  34/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/597/98     18 W   AERO 17 MPH W   RMY N/A
2/6  49/24/37/+11/0.00/0.0/599/98   33 WSW AERO 32 MPH WSW RMY 34
2/7  43/27/35/+8/0.00/0.0/596/97    24 NNW AERO 28 MPH NNW RMY 24
2/8  37/17/27/0/0.00/0.0/388/63     22 N   AERO 21 MPH N   RMY 24
2/9  45/26/36/+9/0.00/0.0/.../..    21 NW  AERO 21 MPH W   RMY 21
2/10 49/30/40/+13/.../0.0/.../..    32 SSW AERO 35 MPH SSW RMY 34
2/11 36/27/32/+5/.../0.6/.../..     33 NW  AERO 33 MPH NW  RMY N/A
2/12 28/13/21/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..    46 WNW AERO 48 MPH WNW RMY 50
 
2/13 morning low temp: 12F; the normal low is now 19F
 
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 13
HIGH 64F IN 1951
LOW -10F IN 1967
PRECIP 2.80 INCHES IN 2008
SNOWFALL 13.5 INCHES IN 1894
PEAK GUST 60 MPH SE IN 1972
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 14
HIGH 56F IN 1949
LOW -8F IN 1979
PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2007
SNOWFALL 11.0 INCHES IN 1914
PEAK GUST 83 MPH SSW IN 2000
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: George A. Tabeek/Patrick Peters