BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
SUNRISE AT 7:00 A.M. EDT THIS MORNING  
HIGH CLOUDS ALONG WESTERN EDGE OF HURRICANE RAFAEL
WERE VISIBLE ON OUR EASTERN HORIZON
 
The sunrise this morning at 7 A.M. EDT was clouded
over by dense high clouds on the far western cloud
shield of Hurricane Rafael.  The sunshine for the
day began about 20 minutes after sunrise and has
continued despite some high mostly thin clouds. 
Hurricane Rafael's center passed 135 miles to the
east of Bermuda late yesterday. Highest wind gusts
recorded on the Island were just over 50 MPH from
the north and north-northeast. 
 
Temperatures today will average out several degrees
cooler than normal after an early morning low of
35 degrees, well below the average of 42 degrees.
This will return a slightly warmer than normal October
to very close to normal. Temperatures as low as 28
degrees were recorded at nearby Norwood Airport
this morning.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, (2 levels), few lower dense cirrus
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 34F; Wind: NW at 8 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 29.96 ins. Hg, rising then more rapidly 
Visibility: 60 miles, NW 75 miles, light distant haze
24-hour precip: 0.0 inch
6-hour max. temp: 39F
6-hour min. temp: 35F
BHO SA 1155 250 –SCT 300 –SCT 60 145/38/34/3208/996/
FEW LWR PTCHS DNS CI SML PTCHS STEAM FG OVR PONDS VC SE
AND SML DNS PTCHS SHLW FG MSTLY DSNT SE AND DSNT SW-WNW
ALL DSSPTNG VSBY NW 75 DSNT LGT HZ/
8/001 53014 10039 20035
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, thin broken cirrus,
cirrus radiatus all quadrants, few lower cirrus   
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: NW at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, rising then falling 
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze, thin smoke layer
extending WNW-N-ENE    
BHO SA 1455 250 –SCT 300 –BKN 70 152/50/35/3206/998/ FEW LWR CI
THN K LYR WNW-N-ENE LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/001 50007
  
1 P.M. 
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, thin broken cirrus, few radiatus  
Temperature: 58F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: N at 3 kts,
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly
Visibility:  75 miles, light distant haze, smoke layer along
and above horizon NE-ESE
6-hour max. temp: 58F
6-hour min. temp: 38F 
BHO SA 1755 250 –SCT 300 –BKN 75 138/58/33/3603/994/
K LYR ALG/ABV HRZN NE-ESE LGT DSNT HZ WND L/V/ 8/001
58014 10058 20038
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....61   NORMAL.....60
MIN.....40   NORMAL.....43
MEAN....51   NORMAL.....51
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+11 [+0.5 DEGREE/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............14    DEPARTURE.........0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........163    DEPARTURE.......-15
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........262    DEPARTURE.......-58
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....176    DIFFERENCE......+86
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............38 WNW AT 12:39 P.M.
                   AERO..................36 WNW AT 12:39 P.M.
                   ASOS..................37 NW  AT 12:40 P.M.
                   DAVIS.................38 NW  AT 12:39 P.M. RMY 38
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........27 WNW AT 11:06 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............26 WNW AT 11:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........25 WNW AT  9:34 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......14.1 WNW 
                   ASOS................13.6
                   DAVIS...............12.3 WNW [290 deg]
* last of several occurrences..
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00   DEPARTURE...........-0.15
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.98   DEPARTURE...........-1.39
                         ASOS..............0.93
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........29.60   DEPARTURE..........-11.85
                         ASOS.............29.48
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 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
 
10/1  66/47/57/0/T/429/61             36 W   AERO 35 MPH WSW RMY 36
10/2  69/53/61/+4/0.12/098/14         18 W   AERO 16 MPH W   RNT 16
10/3  62/58/60/+4/0.02/000/00         20 NE  AERO 18 MPH NE  RMY 18
10/4  61/58/60/+4/0.08/000/00         17 NNE AERO 14 MPH NE  RMY 14
10/5  75/57/66/+10/0.00/623/90        20 SW  AERO 19 MPH SW  RMY 21
10/6  77/48/63/+8/0.20/269/39         36 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 36 TSTM
10/7  57/44/51/-4/0.15/185/27         21 WNW AERO 18 MPH WNW RMY 19
10/8  55/40/48/-6/0.00/328/48         17 WNW AERO 15 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/9  56/49/53/-1/T/000/00            27 E   AERO 25 MPH ENE RMY 25
10/10 60/47/54/0/0.22/000/00          36 WNW AERO 36 MPH WNW RMY 31
10/11 58/41/50/-3/0.00/668/99         35 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY 34
10/12 51/34/43/-10/0.04/.../..        32 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 30
10/13 52/29/41/-12/0.00/.../..        22 SSW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/14 66/43/55/+3/0.09/.../..         40 SW  AERO 39 MPH SW  RMY 39
10/15 73/58/66/+14/0.03/.../..        43 SSW AERO 43 MPH SSW RMY 43
10/16 61/40/51/0/0.03/.../..          38 WNW AERO 36 MPH WNW RMY 38
 
10/17 morning low temp: 35F; the normal low is now 42F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2012
10/13 - NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 29F;
        surpasses previous record of 30F set in 1934, 1936, 1988
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 17
HIGH 86F IN 1947
LOW 25F IN 1886
PRECIP 1.87 INCHES IN 1989
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1970
PEAK GUST 55 MPH NE IN 1964
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 18
HIGH 82F IN 1908
LOW 26F IN 1939
PRECIP 2.79 INCHES IN 1975
SNOWFALL 3.0 INCHES IN 2009
PEAK GUST 66 MPH S IN 1967
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling