BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME COLDER AIR TODAY BEHIND DEPARTING STORM... MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES ARRIVING TONIGHT... The last of the precipitation on Friday occurred as brief snow flurries between 3 and 5 PM. After a low of 25 this morning the temperature has climbed to near average for mid-January in the low 30s. The local ponds remain open water as of this morning, with only minor traces of ice along the edge. We are already past the latest date for Ponkapoag Pond to freeze,which was January 4, 1973. The latest freeze for Houghton's pond was on January 18, 2006. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrus, few cumulus fractus, hazy Temperature: 25F, Dew point: 16F, Wind: SW at 13G20 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.74 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 40 miles 24-hour precip: Trace 24-hour snowfall: Trace 6-hour min. temp: 25F BHO SA 1155 100 SCT 200 SCT 40 072/25/16/2313G20/974/ FEW CUFRA HAZY/ 8/171 53017 70006 10027 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus Temperature: 29F, Dew Point: 16F; Wind: W at 13G22 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.80 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 35 SCT E40 BKN 100 BKN 75 092/29/16/2713G22/980/ 8/53/ 51020 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, few lower altocumulus distant SW, few cirrus distant NW-N Temperature: 33F, Dew Point: 15F; Wind: W at 14G23 kts, Wind: Direction variable WSW-WNW, Sea-level pressure: 29.78 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 70 miles 6-hour max. temp: 33F BHO SA 1755 35 SCT 100 SCT 70 083/33/15/2714G23/978/ FEW LWR AC DSNT SW FEW CI DSNT NW-N WND 24V30/ 8/130 58009 10033 20025 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 12 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....50 NORMAL.....34 MIN.....27 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....39 NORMAL.....25 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+105 [+7.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............26 DEPARTURE........-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............404 DEPARTURE........-97 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2157 DEPARTURE.......-673 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....2719 DIFFERENCE......-562 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............63 SW AT 12:05 P.M. AERO..................67 SW AT 12:05 P.M. ASOS..................63 SW AT 12:05 P.M. DAVIS.................64 SW AT 12:04 P.M. RMY 67 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........45 SSW AT 12:06 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............45 SSW AT 12:06 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........45 SSW AT 12:08 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......21.3 WSW ASOS................19.6 DAVIS...............18.6 SSW [212 deg] * Last of several occurrences. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.06 DEPARTURE..........-0.09 ASOS..............0.07 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.52 DEPARTURE..........-0.33 ASOS..............1.53 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.52 DEPARTURE..........-0.33 ASOS...............1.53 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.7 DEPARTURE..........-5.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............9.2 DEPARTURE.........-10.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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 1/1 51/35/42/+16/0.01/0.0/494/90 35 S AERO 35 MPH S RMY 37 1/2 48/30/39/+12/0.02/T/346/63 36 W AERO 36 MPH W RMY 37 1/3 30/11/21/-5/0.00/0.0/446/81 39 NW AERO 38 MPH NW RMY 39 1/4 26/7/17/-9/0.00/0.0/468/85 28 NW AERO 25 MPH NW RMY N/A 1/5 35/20/28/+2/T/T/166/30 27 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 26 1/6 47/23/35/+9/0.01/0.1/.../.. 26 S AERO 25 MPH S RMY 27 1/7 59/39/49/+23/0.00/0.0/477/86 29 WSW AERO 29 MPH SW RMY 30 1/8 43/26/35/+9/0.00/0.0/367/66 28 W AERO 27 MPH W RMY N/A 1/9 39/21/30/+4/0.00/0.0/.../.. 22 S AERO 21 MPH S RMY 24 1/10 43/28/36/+11/0.05/0.5/.../.. 29 WNW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/11 38/27/33/+8/0.00/0.0/.../.. 24 E AERO 24 MPH E RMY N/A 1/12 40/31/36/+11/1.37/0.1/000/00 52 ENE AERO 52 MPH NE RMY 49 1/13 50/27/39/+14/0.06/T/.../.. 63 SW AERO 67 MPH SW RMY 67 1/14 morning low temp: 25F; the normal low is 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2012 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 14 HIGH 65F IN 1995 LOW -12F IN 1914 PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 2008 SNOWFALL 10.3 INS. IN 2008 PEAK GUST 68 MPH WNW IN 1976, S IN 2005 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 15 HIGH 64F IN 1995 LOW -16F IN 1957 [RECORD FOR MONTH] PRECIP 2.63 INS. IN 1958 SNOWFALL 8.8 INS. IN 1983 PEAK GUST 69e MPH SE IN 1940 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono