BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
STRONG W-WNW GUST WELL PAST 50 MPH IN THE
WAKE OF COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE EARLY THIS MORNING
TEMPS. RISE OVERNIGHT TO 49F JUST AHEAD OF FRONT
 
A dry cold frontal passage brought increasingly
gusty west to west-northwest winds in its wake
early this morning.  Peak gusts reached 55 to 57 MPH
and sustained 2-minute speeds were near 40 MPH at
5:50 A.M.  Temperatures rose through last evening
through the 40's reaching 46F by midnight and then
on up to 49F by around 3 A.M. 
The winds continue very gusty today from west slowly
veering to west-northwest and peak speeds are
frequently over 40 MPH. Daytime temps. dropped to
33F after sunrise this morning and rose very little
to the middle 30's with 35F at 1 P.M. 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus forming NE-ENE, dense cirrus
layer extending distant ENE-S
Temperature: 36F, Dew point: 18F, Wind: W at 18G29 kts,
Wind: Peak wind gust 48 kts W at 6:01 A.M.,
Wind: Direction variable WSW to NNW 
Sea-level pressure: 29.63 inches Hg, RISING RAPIDLY 
Visibility: 55 miles, light distant haze
6-hour min. temp: 36F
24-hour precip: 0.03 inch
24-hour snowfall: zero
Snow depth: none
BHO SA 1155 CLR 55 033/36/18/2818G29/963/ FEW CUFRA FRMG NE-ENE
DNS CI LYR XTDNG ENE-S LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2848/01/ WND 25V33/
PRESRR/ 8/102 53054 MANUAL 70003 ASOS 70003 10049 20036
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, cumulus fractus forming all quadrants,
cumulus and few stratocumulus, few altocumulus lenticularis
to the distant ESE-SSE 
Temperature: 35F, Dew Point: 17F; Wind: W at 22G30 kts,
Wind: Peak wind gust 34 kts NW @ 9:10 A.M.
Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW
Sea-level pressure: 29.75 inches Hg, falling  
Visibility: 65 miles, mountain in cloud 70 miles NW
BHO SA 1455 CLR 65 074/35/17/2822G30/975/ CUFRA FRMG AND
CU/SC ALQDS FEW ACSL DSNT ESE-SSE MTN INCLD 70 NW
PK WND 3134/10/ WND 24V32/ 8/840 53038
 
1 P.M. 
Weather: Clear, cumulus fractus, cumulus, and few stratocumulus
Temperature: 35F, Dew Point: 14F; Wind: WNW at 24G39 kts,
Wind: Peak wind 40 kts from W at 12:03 P.M.,
Wind: Direction variable WSW to NW 
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 inches Hg, rising 
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze  
6-hour max. temp: 36F 
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 085/34/14/3024G39/978/ CUFRA/CU/FEW SC ALQDS
PK WND 2840/03/ WND 25V32/ 8/400 51011 10036 20033
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 17
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....46    NORMAL.....33
0MIN....31    NORMAL.....17
MEAN....39    NORMAL.....25
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+14
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+97 [+5.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............27   DEPARTURE........-12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............546   DEPARTURE........-84
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2326   DEPARTURE.......-660
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....2905   DIFFERENCE......-579
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............35 SW  AT  1:15 A.M.
                   AERO..................36 SW  AT  1:15 A.M.
                   DAVIS.................34 SW  AT  1:15 P.M. RMY N/A
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........28 SW  AT  1:16 A.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............28 SW  AT  1:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........29 SW  AT  1:16 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......16.3 SW 
                   ASOS................15.5
                   DAVIS...............15.1 SSW  [210 deg]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03  DEPARTURE..........-0.12
                         ASOS..............0.03
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.74  DEPARTURE..........-0.69
                         ASOS..............1.75
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.74  DEPARTURE..........-0.69
                        ASOS...............1.75
     
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE..........-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.3  DEPARTURE..........-6.2     
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............10.8  DEPARTURE.........-11.3     
 
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 33/16/25/0/0.00/0.0/.../..     36 WSW AERO 37 MPH WSW RMY 35
1/15 16/4/10/-15/0.00/0.0/.../..    36 NW  AERO 36 MPH NW  RMY 37
1/16 31/5/18/-7/0.11/1.2/.../..     32 SSW AERO 32 MPH SSW RMY N/A
1/17 46/31/39/+14/0.11/0.4/.../..   35 SW  AERO 36 MPH SW  RMY N/A
 
1/18 the morning low temp: 36F; the normal low is now 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 18
HIGH 62F IN 1973,1990
LOW -10F IN 1982
PRECIP 1.68 INS. IN 1915
SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1948
PEAK GUST 85 MPH SSE IN 2006
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 19
HIGH 59F IN 1973
LOW -11F IN 1887
PRECIP 2.34 INS. IN 1936
SNOWFALL 10.5 INS. IN 1936
PEAK GUST 93e MPH WNW IN 1943
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling