BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME PEAK WIND GUST FROM SANDY REACHES 76 MPH, STORM TOTAL RAINFALL REACHES 2.93 INCHES; CONTINUED WARM, BUT MUCH, MUCH CALMER TODAY PEAK WIND GUSTS AT BLUE HILL ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE SANDY All times in EST, gusts in mph. 420 C..........76 E at 4:35 P.M. (official station gust) Aerovane.......82 E at 4:35 P.M. Merlin.........80 ESE Davis..........78 at 5:34 P.M. Maestro........76 ASOS...........74 E at 2:32 P.M. R.M. Young.....N/A (erroneous reading of 113 mph) On Monday, a strong pressure gradient developed between Hurricane Sandy and an area of high pressure over eastern Canada. The result was very strong and damaging wind gusts across our area, especially Monday afternoon and evening. The official station peak wind gust from the 420 C gust recorder for Monday, October 29 was 76 mph from the E at 4:35 P.M. EST. This breaks the previous record wind gust for the date of 69 mph from the S in 2003. The average wind speed from 1 PM to 7 PM EST Monday was 43.5 mph! Through this afternoon, the storm total rainfall since Sunday has reached 2.93 inches. Of that, 2.42 inches fell yesterday, setting a new daily record rainfall. The previous record was 2.27 inches in 1953. Conditions are much calmer today with a SE wind reaching gusts of 20-30 mph occasionally. Temperatures continue to be quite warm with today likely finishing close to 15 degrees above the 30 year normal. Today is the 13th consecutive day of above normal temperatures. The month of October is now about 3 degrees above normal. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Light rain shower, scattered cumulus, broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, few stratocumulus lenticularis WSW-W, few altocumulus lenticularis distant NNW, breaks distant NNW and distant ENE, thin fog all quadrants, light rain shower began at unknown time and continued Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 57F; Wind: ESE 14 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.49 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 10 miles, light rain shower, thin fog all quadrants 6-hour precip: 0.12 inch 24-hour precip: 2.21 inches 6-hour min. temp: 57F BHO SA 1155 25 SCT E50 BKN 100 BKN 10RW- 985/57/57/1114/949/ FEW SCSL WSW-W FEW ACSL DSNT NNW BRKS DSNT NNW AND DSNT ENE THN FG ALQDS RW- BUKN CTD/ 8/870 51030 MANUAL 70221 ASOS 70230 MANUAL 60012 ASOS 60013 10059 20057 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, few moderate cumulus NNW-NNE and SW, hazy, rain shower ESE-S moving NNW Temperature: 62F; Dew Point: 57F; Wind: SE at 11G23 kts, Wind: Peak wind 27 kts. from the SE at 9:10 A.M. EST Wind: Direction variable ESE-S Sea-level pressure: 29.55 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 25 miles, hazy 3-hour precip: 0.03 inch BHO SA 1455 10 SCT E50 BKN 100 BKN 25 008/62/57/1411G23/955/ FEW MDT CU NNW-NNE AND SW HAZY SHRA ESE-S MOVG NNW PK WND 1427/10 WND 12V18/ 8/870 51028 MANUAL 60003 ASOS 60003 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus (2 levels), few moderate cumulus distant SSW-WNW, hazy, rain shower NW-NE-SE moving NNW, light rain shower began at 12:29 P.M. EST and became light and intermittent at unknown time and ended at 12:51 P.M. EST Temperature: 62F; Dew Point: 56F; Wind: SSE at 11 kts, Wind: Peak wind 27 kts from the SSE at 12:01 P.M. EST Wind: Direction variable ESE-S Sea-level pressure: 29.56 ins. Hg, rising slightly Visibility: 25 miles, hazy 6-hour precip: 0.04 6-hour max. temp: 66F BHO SA 1755 25 SCT E60 BKN 80 BKN 100 BKN 25 010/62/56/1511/956/ FEW MDT CU DSNT SSW-WNW HAZY SHRA NW-NE-SE MOVG NNW PK WND 1627/01 WND 12V18 RW-B29 BCMG LGT AND INTMT UKN E51/ 8/870 51002 MANUAL 60004 ASOS 60003 10066 20057 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 29 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....61 NORMAL.....56 MIN.....51 NORMAL.....39 MEAN....56 NORMAL.....47 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+9 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+91 [+2.9 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............9 DEPARTURE........-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........289 DEPARTURE.......-96 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........388 DEPARTURE......-139 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....373 DIFFERENCE......+15 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............76 E AT 4:35 P.M. AERO..................82 E AT 4:35 P.M. ASOS..................74 E AT 2:32 P.M. DAVIS.................78 E AT 4:31 P.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........58 E AT 4:35 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............48 E AT 4:22 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........46 E AT 5:20 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......31.4 NE ASOS................27.7 DAVIS...............27.1 ENE [072 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....2.21 DEPARTURE..........+2.05 ASOS..............2.30 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.18 DEPARTURE..........-0.20 ASOS..............4.24 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........32.80 DEPARTURE.........-10.66 ASOS.............32.79 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/-10/0.04/296/44 32 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW RMY 30 10/13 52/29/41/-12/0.00/582/87 22 SSW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A 10/14 66/43/55/+3/0.09/167/25 40 SW AERO 39 MPH SW RMY 39 10/15 73/58/66/+14/0.03/279/42 43 SSW AERO 43 MPH SSW RMY 43 10/16 61/40/51/0/0.03/522/79 38 WNW AERO 36 MPH WNW RMY 38 10/17 60/35/48/-3/0.00/612/93 22 NW AERO 18 MPH NW RMY N/A 10/18 66/46/56/+5/0.00/636/97 25 ESE AERO 23 MPH ESE RMY 25 10/19 66/51/59/+9/0.20/007/01 39 SSE AERO 38 MPH SSE RMY 39 10/20 73/53/63/+13/0.11/377/58 33 SSW AERO 32 MPH SSW RMY 34 TSTM 10/21 63/45/54/+4/0.00/564/87 36 WNW AERO 32 MPH WNW RMY 34 10/22 65/46/56/+7/0.00/632/98 37 WNW AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 36 10/23 64/46/55/+6/0.00/398/62 27 NW AERO 24 MPH NW RMY 26 10/24 53/46/50/+1/T/000/00 21 NNE AERO 20 MPH NNE RMY N/A 10/25 62/46/54/+5/0.00/.../.. 17 S AERO 16 MPH SW RMY 17 10/26 67/49/58/+10/0.00/.../.. 17 S AERO 16 MPH S RMY 16 10/27 65/50/58/+10/0.00/.../.. 22 NNE AERO 20 MPH NNE RMY 22 10/28 54/49/52/+4/0.35/000/00 45 ENE AERO 46 MPH ENE RMY N/A 10/29 61/51/56/+9/2.42/000/00 76 E AERO 82 MPH E RMY N/A 10/30 morning low temp: 57F; the normal low is now 38F 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 10/29 - NEW DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 76 MPH E; surpasses previous record of 69 mph S in 2003 10/29 - NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION OF 2.42 INCHES; surpasses previous record of 2.27 inches in 1953 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 30 HIGH 75F IN 1946,1989 LOW 21F IN 1928 PRECIP 1.85 INCHES IN 1917 SNOWFALL 2.0 INCHES IN 2011 PEAK GUST 66 NW IN 1963 RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 31 HIGH 79F IN 1946 LOW 22F IN 1904 PRECIP 3.74 INCHES IN 1991 SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1906 PEAK GUST 70e S IN 1945 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser