BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
SUNNY, WARM, AND DRY WITH PARTIAL CLEARING SHORTLY AFTER NOON
HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82 THUS FAR (3 DEGREES SHY OF TYING RECORD)
 
Today was much like yesterday, with low relative humidity values and
temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. Broken, dense cirrostratus has
been prevalent for most of the day, with partial clearing early this
afternoon. Visibility is down from yesterday, approximately 40 miles today.
An inversion was present this morning, with a dense smoke layer below it.
Winds have also been very calm today out of the southwest but have
recently backed south and picked up in speed . A very noticeable, but
light sea breeze began late this morning as Boston is 14 degrees cooler
than Blue Hill as of 2:00 EDT!
 
Clearing began around noon and diurnal cumulus have been seen forming
throughout the afternoon. This week will be on the mild side with a chance
of showers through Wednesday. Although May began on cooler side, this
week's stretch of mild temperatures should bring the monthly average back
to par if not slightly above.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken dense cirrostratus, broken thin cirrus, contrail overhead
and E, inversion present, dense smoke layer below inversion NW-NE, hazy
Temperature: 65F, Dew Point: 46F; Wind: W at 9 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 inches Hg, steady then rising
Visibility: 40 miles, SW-N 30 miles
6-hour min. temp: 57F
BHO SA 1155 E200 BKN 250 BKN 40 218/65/46/2609/017/ CONTRAIL OVD AND E
INVSN PRSNT DNS K LYR BLO INVSN NW-NE HAZY VSBY LWR SW-N 30/ 8/007 53010
10065 20057
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken dense cirrostratus, few altocumulus all quadrants, hazy
Temperature: 72F, Dew Point: 49F; Wind: WSW at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.18 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 40 miles
BHO SA 1455 E200 BKN 40 220/72/49/2406/018/ FEW AC ALQDS HAZY/ 8/067 51002
 
1 P.M. 
Weather: Scattered cumulus/cumulus fractus, scattered dense cirrus,
scattered thin cirrus, lone altocumulus distant SE, cumulus forming all
quadrants, hazy
Temperature: 81F, Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SW at 14 kts,
Wind: Direction variable S-W 
Sea-level pressure: 30.13 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 40 miles
6-hour max. temp: 82F
BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 200 SCT 250 SCT 40 202/81/48/2214/013/ LONE AC DSNT SE
CU FRMG ALQDS HAZY WND 17V26/ 8/141 58018 10082 20064
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MAY 12
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....77    NORMAL.....65
MIN.....46    NORMAL.....47
MEAN....62    NORMAL.....56
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................-18 [-1.7 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............3   DEPARTURE..........-7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............145   DEPARTURE..........+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4859   DEPARTURE.......-1305
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......6021   DIFFERENCE......-1162
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............30 W   AT  1:39 P.M.
                   AERO..................30 W   AT  1:39 P.M.
                   ASOS..................31 W   AT  1:40 P.M.
                   DAVIS.................28 WNW AT 12:11 P.M. RMY 29
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........22 W   AT  1:58 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............22 W   AT  1:41 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........20 W   AT  1:41 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......12.2 W
                   ASOS................11.9
                   DAVIS...............10.5 W [276 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..........2.35   DEPARTURE..........+0.88
                         ASOS..............2.29
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........11.96   DEPARTURE..........-8.06
                         ASOS.............12.02
     
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0    DEPARTURE...........0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0    DEPARTURE..........-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2    DEPARTURE.........-35.9
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MAY 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
 
5/1  47/42/45/-8/0.65/0.0/000/00    33 SE  AERO 36 MPH SE  RMY 37
5/2  50/43/47/-6/0.05/0.0/000/00    16 ENE AERO 16 MPH ENE RMY 17
5/3  51/44/48/-5/0.08/0.0/000/00    14 SSE AERO 16 MPH SSE RMY N/A
5/4  56/47/52/-2/0.01/0.0/000/00    21 SSW AERO 25 MPH SSW RMY 23
5/5  57/46/52/-2/0.04/0.0/034/04    14 NE  AERO 15 MPH NE  RMY 15
5/6  58/45/52/-2/0.00/0.0/532/62    21 ENE AERO 21 MPH ENE RMY 21
5/7  67/48/58/+3/0.00/0.0/740/86    23 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY 25
5/8  57/48/53/-2/0.18/0.0/000/00    40 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 46
5/9  61/54/58/+3/0.36/0.0/000/00    25 S   AERO 28 MPH S   RMY N/A
5/10 65/46/56/+1/0.98/0.0/.../..    33 W   AERO 36 MPH W   RMY 37
5/11 62/42/52/-4/T/0.0/.../..       30 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY 34
5/12 77/46/62/+6/0.00/0.0/.../..    30 W   AERO 30 MPH W   RMY 29
 
5/13 morning low temp: 57F; the normal low is now 47F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR MAY 2012
None so far.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MAY 13
HIGH 85F IN 1947
LOW 35F IN 1914, 2005
PRECIP 2.39 INCHES IN 2006
PEAK GUST 49 MPH NNW IN 1965
 
RECORDS FOR MAY 14
HIGH 85F IN 1961
LOW 33F IN 1895
PRECIP 1.93 INCHES IN 2006
PEAK GUST 53 MPH S IN 2009
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: George Tabeek