BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME EARLY MORNING COLD FRONT BRINGS CHILLY, DRY AIR MASS; NOVEMBER ENDING AS A COOL, DRY MONTH A cold front moved through the area shortly after 2 AM EST this morning. With it, a cooler and drier air mass has invaded the region. The temperature slid steadily after the frontal passage to a low of 29F around 9 AM. The temperature has struggled to reach the freezing mark this afternoon. A mostly cloudy sky has also prevented much of a rise in temperature today. Indicative of the very dry air mass filtering into the region, the dew point has fallen into the single digits this afternoon. Consequently, the relative humidity has fallen into the 30-40% range. November is ending on a chilly note. In fact, the month of November has averaged nearly 2 degrees below the 30-year normal. The prevailing wind direction for the month is N, certainly a cold direction for New England. The month has also been quite dry, with only 1.68 inches of precipitation through November 29. With little in the way of precipitation in the forecast for the remainder of today, the monthly total will likely be only 35% of the 30-year normal. November 2012 will likely end as the 14th driest on record (records back to 1886). In the coming days, statistics on the month of November and meteorological fall will be provided. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, lower stratocumulus layer along/offshore distant NNE-ENE, few altocumulus lenticularis distant WNW-N, light distant haze, few small patches of snow on the ground Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: N at 11 kts, Wind: Direction variable NW-N Sea-level pressure: 30.40 ins. Hg, rising then more rapidly Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 35F 6-hour min. temp: 30F Snow on ground: Trace BHO SA 1155 40 SCT 60 SCT E160 BKN 200 BKN 65 293/30/25/3511/040/ LWR SC LYR ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE-ENE FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-N LGT DSNT HZ FEW SML PTCHS SNW ON GRND WND 32V02/ 8/547 53030 10034 20030 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus (2 levels), broken cirrostratus, lower stratocumulus layer along/offshore distant NNE-SE, stratocumulus layer E-SSW, lower altocumulus and a few altocumulus lenticularis distant WSW-NW, light distant haze Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: N at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable NW-N Sea-level pressure: 30.47 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 40 SCT 60 SCT E120 BKN 160 BKN 200 BKN 75 318/30/14/3508/047/ LWR SC LYR ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE-SE SC LYR E-SSW LWR AC AND FEW ACSL DSNT WSW-NW LGT DSNT HZ WND 31V02/ 8/547 51025 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, lower stratocumulus/cumulus layer along/offshore distant NE-SSE, few altocumulus/altocumulus lenticularis distant WNW-NW, cirrostratus distant SE-W, light distant haze Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: NNW at 5 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.46 ins. Hg, falling then rising Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 32F 6-hour min. temp: 29F BHO SA 1755 E30 BKN 60 BKN 200 BKN 70 316/31/9/3405/046/ LWR SC/CU LYR ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NE-SSE FEW AC/ACSL DSNT WNW-NW CS DSNT SE-W LGT DSNT HZ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/547 55002 10032 20029 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....41 NORMAL.....45 MIN.....27 NORMAL.....29 MEAN....34 NORMAL.....37 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................-3 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................-40 [-1.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............31 DEPARTURE........+3 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........709 DEPARTURE.......+39 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........1117 DEPARTURE......-116 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....894 DIFFERENCE.....+223 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............28 SW AT 9:51 P.M. * AERO...................31 SW AT 9:51 P.M. * ASOS...................32 SW AT 9:45 P.M. DAVIS..................31 SW AT 8:51 P.M. RMY 33 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............25 SW AT 8:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............23 SW AT 8:52 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............24 SW AT 8:52 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........15.2 W ASOS.................14.3 DAVIS................13.4 WSW [249 deg] * last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.16 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.68 DEPARTURE..........-2.92 ASOS..............1.71 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........34.88 DEPARTURE.........-13.49 ASOS.............34.89 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.0 DEPARTURE..........-0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............6.0 DEPARTURE..........+3.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............6.0 DEPARTURE..........+3.6 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 2012 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust 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 11/1 56/42/49/+3/0.00/371/60 28 SW AERO 28 MPH SW RMY 27 11/2 51/41/46/0/0.02/000/00 24 WNW AERO 22 MPH WNW RMY 22 11/3 52/37/45/-1/0.00/319/52 29 NW AERO N/A RMY 28 11/4 52/34/43/-2/0.00/587/96 27 NW AERO 25 MPH NW RMY 26 11/5 45/28/37/-8/0.00/292/48 25 NW AERO 25 MPH NW RMY 25 11/6 40/25/33/-12/0.00/600/99 22 ENE AERO 20 MPH ENE RMY N/A 11/7 42/29/36/-9/0.78/3.5/000/00 48 NNE AERO 52 MPH NNE RMY 51 11/8 36/29/33/-11/0.26/0.5/000/00 43 N AERO 50 MPH N RMY 44 11/9 51/34/43/-1/0.00/0.0/569/95 33 NW AERO 35 MPH NW RMY 32 11/10 53/36/45/+1/0.00/0.0/561/94 25 W AERO 23 MPH W RMY 23 11/11 62/40/51/+8/0.00/0.0/357/60 28 SSW AERO 27 MPH SSW RMY 28 11/12 66/50/58/+15/0.00/0.0/385/65 33 SSW AERO 33 MPH S RMY N/A 11/13 63/37/50/+7/0.43/0.0/000/00 45 S AERO 45 MPH S RMY N/A 11/14 44/33/39/-3/0.00/0.0/559/95 27 NNE AERO 23 MPH N RMY 24 11/15 39/32/36/-6/0.00/0.0/082/14 23 N AERO 21 MPH N RMY 25 11/16 45/31/38/-4/0.00/0.0/216/37 18 NNW AERO 17 MPH NNW RMY 19 11/17 47/32/40/-1/0/00/0/0/553/95 20 N AERO 20 MPH N RMY N/A 11/18 46/30/38/-3/0.00/0.0/487/84 22 ENE AERO 21 MPH ENE RMY 20 11/19 47/30/39/-2/0.00/0.0/451/78 20 NNE AERO 16 MPH NNE RMY N/A 11/20 48/32/40/0/0.00/0.0/415/72 18 ENE AERO 15 MPH ENE RMY 17 11/21 49/35/42/+2/0.00/0.0/184/32 21 NE AERO 17 MPH ENE RMY 18 11/22 52/37/45/+5/0.00/0.0/549/96 16 S AERO 16 MPH SSE RMY 15 11/23 52/37/45/+6/0.00/0.0/200/35 26 S AERO 24 MPH S RMY N/A 11/24 44/30/37/-2/T/0.0/364/64 42 W AERO 39 MPH W RMY 41 11/25 38/27/33/-6/0.00/0.0/323/57 40 W AERO 38 MPH W RMY 39 11/26 44/29/37/-1/0.00/0.0/526/93 37 W AERO 37 MPH W RMY 37 11/27 35/31/33/-5/0.19/2.0/000/00 18 WNW AERO 15 MPH WNW RMY N/A 11/28 34/27/31/-7/T/T/000/00 23 NNE AERO 22 MPH NNE RMY 23 11/29 41/27/34/-3/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 SW AERO 31 MPH SW RMY 33 11/30 morning low temp: 29F; the normal low is now 29F DAILY RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2012 11/7 - NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 3.5 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 1.0 inch in 1967 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 30 HIGH 67 IN 2006 LOW 7 IN 1887, 1929 PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1944 SNOWFALL 10.2 INS IN 1945 PEAK GUST 90 SSW IN 1963 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 1 HIGH 70 IN 2001 LOW 3 IN 1887 PRECIP 1.46 INS. IN 1917 SNOW 2.0 INS. IN 1902 PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1964 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser