BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA   DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   THE SUN FINALLY MAKES AN APPEARANCE! WRAPPING UP METEOROLOGICAL FALL AND NOVEMBER 2013   The sun has not made an appearance since Saturday (Nov 30) due to extensive clouds and fog that has been plaguing the area.  Fog reduced visibility to near zero this morning.  The fog began dissipating right around the 10 a.m. observation.  The sun finally made its first appearance in more than 2 days late this morning.  With the sunshine temperatures are moderating, rising into the mid 40s this afternoon.   Winds continue to be rather light, only averaging 4.4 mph yesterday, and averaging close to 8 mph today.   November, overall, ended up being a cool and relatively dry month compared to the 30-year normals.  Statistics can be found below.   Meteorological autumn came to a close at the end of November.  The mean temperature for the September through November period was 51.7F, which was slightly warmer (+0.7F) than the 120-year mean, and slightly cooler (-0.2F) than the 30-year mean.  It has been a while since since there has been a whole season below the 30-year normal.  It appears as though winter 2010-2011 was the last time a season finished below the 30-year normal. The autumn precipitation of 8.59 inches was the 20th driest on record.   For the Jan 1 through Nov 30 period, the mean temperature is tied for 13th warmest on record.  This year cannot make it into the top ten warmest unless December has better than record warmth.  The average wind speed for the Jan 1 through Nov 30 period of 12.2 is tied for second slowest.    NOVEMBER 2013 PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: (departures relative to 1981-2010 average)   TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 48.4F [-1.6F] Average Min Temp: 31.2F [-2.3F] Mean Temp: 39.8F [-1.9F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 39.7F [-2.4F] Max Temp: 68F on 1st Min Temp: 14F on 25th   Total heating degree day units (month):    747 [+49] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 1,224 [-37] *start July 1 (NCDC)   PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 3.59 inches [-1.17 inch] Greatest 24-hr precipitation: 2.31 inches on 26th and 27th Total snowfall: 0.2 inch [-2.1 inches]   WIND: Avg wind speed: 13.6 MPH Avg corrected wind speed: 13.9 MPH Prevailing wind direction: WNW [18%] Peak gust: 63 MPH SSE on 27th Peak fastest mile: 49 MPH SSE on 7th   SUNSHINE: Total astronomical minutes: 10,313 of possible 17,650 or 58% Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 9,966 of possible 17,010 or 59% * Long term November average is 47%   BHO Highest November Sea Level Pressure, inches (1885-1895, 1942-present) 1. 30.86 in 1887 2. 30.82 in 1891 3. 30.80 in 1996 4. 30.79 in 2013 5. 30.75 in 1888    30.75 in 1993 7. 30.73 in 1986   BHO Greatest November Sunshine, hours (1885-2013) 1) 182.3 in 1939     (64%) 2) 181.5 in 1917     (64%)    181.5 in 1976     (64%) 4) 173.9 in 1905     (61%) 5) 171.3 in 1964     (60%) 6) 170.8 in 1941     (60%) 7) 169.6 in 2011     (60%) 8) 169.4 in 1975     (60%) 9) 166.5 in 1994     (59%) 10) 166.1 in 2013     (59%) 11) 161.4 in 1965     (57%)   BHO Greatest Sep-Nov Sunshine, hours (1885-2013) 1) 623.3 in 2001     (63%) 2) 610.7 in 1941     (62%) 3) 605.1 in 1973     (62%) 4) 599.4 in 1966     (61%) 5) 594.5 in 1952     (60%) 6) 592.4 in 1916     (60%) 7) 590.0 in 1978     (60%) 8) 587.8 in 2013     (60%) 9) 587.6 in 1967     (60%)   Today's Observations:   7 A.M. Weather: Sky obscured by dense fog, condensation on all surfaces Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: NW at 9 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.91 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 1/16 mile, dense fog 6-hr min temp: 33F 24-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1155 W2 X 1/16F 128/33/33/3209/991/ CONDENSATION ALL SFCS/ 8//// 58001 10034 20033   10 A.M.  Weather: Sky obscured by dense fog, stratus drifting over summit, sun/blue sky occasionally visible, fog dissipating, visibility increasing Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: NW at 5 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.91 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 1/2 mile, increasing, variable 1/4 to 1 mile, NW-E 1/4 mile, SSE 1 mile, S-NNW 1/2 mile BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/2VF 130/35/35/3205/991/ STRA DRFTNG OVR SMT SUN/BLUE SKY OCNLY VSBL FG DSSPTNG VSBY INCRSNG VSBY 1/4V1 NW-E 1/4 SSE 1 S-NNW 1/2/ 8//// 50002   1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, broken thin cirrus, few altocumulus lenticularis distant NE-ESE and distant W-WNW, cirrostratus distant SSW-NW invading the sky, cirrus all quadrants, parahelion, hazy, thin smoke layer distant W-N-SE Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: NW at 7 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.87 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 25 miles, hazy 6-hr max. temp: 44F BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 250 –BKN 25 114/43/36/3107/987/ FEW ACSL DSNT NE-ESE AND DSNT W-WNW CS DSNT SSW-NW INVADING CI ALQDS PARAHELION HAZY THN K LYR DSNT W-N-SE WND 28V34/ 8/044 57016 10044 20033   WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....38    NORMAL.....44 MIN.....34    NORMAL.....28 MEAN....36    NORMAL.....36   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................0 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+1 [+0.3 DEGREE/DAY]   HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............29  DEPARTURE..........0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............56  DEPARTURE.........-2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1280  DEPARTURE........-39 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1208  DIFFERENCE.......+72   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................15 NW  AT  2:11 A.M. *                    AERO.......................15 NW  AT  3:06 A.M. *                    ASOS.......................15 NNW AT  2:11 A.M.                    DAVIS......................13 N   AT 12:51 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................11 NW  AT  2:14 A.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................12 NNW AT  3:18 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................10 N   AT 12:52 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............4.4 NW                    ASOS......................4.6                    DAVIS.....................3.8 NW [326 degrees] * last of several occurrences   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace  DEPARTURE.............-0.16                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.28  DEPARTURE.............-0.04                          ASOS..............0.28 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........46.88  DEPARTURE.............-1.97                          ASOS..............N/A** ** ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.......0.0     DEPARTURE.............-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...........Trace     DEPARTURE.............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON............0.2     DEPARTURE.............-2.9   PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2013 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 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  68/56/62/+16/0.10/0.0/012/02        60 SSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 66 11/2  65/49/57/+11/0.00/0.0/296/48        22 WSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 23 11/3  49/30/40/-6/0.06/T/135/22           23 N   AERO N/A N/A    RMY N/A 11/4  42/27/35/-10/0.00/0.0/588/96        24 NNE AERO N/A N/A    RMY 25 11/5  50/29/40/-5/0.00/0.0/487/80         16 SSW AERO N/A N/A    RMY 17 11/6  59/40/50/+5/0.00/0.0/419/69         30 SSW AERO 31 MPH SSW RMY 33 11/7  65/37/51/+6/0.31/0.0/079/13         33 SW  AERO 37 MPH SW  RMY 37 11/8  48/31/40/-4/T/T/0.0/421/70          37 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 39 11/9  44/29/37/-7/0.00/0.0/366/61         25 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY 29 11/10 52/40/46/+2/0.08/0.0/108/18         31 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY N/A 11/11 51/36/44/+1/0.00/0.0/500/84         36 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 37 11/12 48/24/36/-7/0.11/0.2/000/00         42 SW  AERO 43 MPH SW  RMY 43 11/13 35/21/28/-15/0.00/0.0/591/100       29 NW  AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 30 11/14 49/26/38/-4/0.00/0.0/536/91         25 SW  AERO 25 MPH SW  RMY 28 11/15 59/38/49/+7/0.00/0.0/393/67         24 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY 26 11/16 59/40/50/+8/0.00/0.0/363/62         20 WSW AERO 20 MPH WSW RMY N/A 11/17 59/42/51/+10/0.07/0.0/000/00        23 SSE AERO 25 MPH SSE RMY N/A 11/18 65/46/56/+15/0.28/0.0/400/69        40 SSW AERO 40 MPH S   RMY N/A 11/19 46/28/37/-4/0.00/0.0/428/74         46 WNW AERO 46 MPH WNW RMY 46 11/20 40/25/33/-7/0.00/0.0/565/98         23 NW  AERO 22 MPH NW  RMY 22 11/21 46/26/36/-4/0.00/0.0/460/80         16 SW  AERO 16 MPH SW  RMY N/A 11/22 46/39/43/+3/0.22/0.0/000/00         17 WSW AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY 19 11/23 46/27/37/-2/0.00/0.0/451/79         40 WNW AERO 44 MPH WNW RMY 48 11/24 27/17/22/-17/0.00/0.0/552/97        53 NW  AERO 59 MPH NW  RMY 57 11/25 32/14/23/-16/0.00/0.0/568/100       29 W   AERO 29 MPH WNW RMY N/A 11/26 42/29/36/-2/0.13/T/000/00           25 SW  AERO 27 MPH SW  RMY 28 11/27 61/34/48/+10/2.23/0.0/000/00        63 SSE AERO 68 MPH SSE RMY 67 11/28 35/21/28/-10/0.00/0.0/557/99        43 W   AERO 46 MPH W   RMY 45 11/29 33/19/26/-11/0.00/0.0/527/94        23 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY 24 11/30 32/15/24/-13/0.00/0.0/510/91        18 SE  AERO 19 MPH SE  RMY N/A   12/1  45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00           22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23 12/2  38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00             15 NW  AERO 15 MPH NW  RMY N/A   12/3  morning low temp: 33F; the normal low is now 28F   DAILY RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2013 11/27 - NEW RECORD MAXIMUM DAILY PRECIPITATION OF 2.23 INCHES;         surpasses the previous record of 1.92 inches in 1898   DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013 None so far.   DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 3 HIGH 67 IN 2009 LOW  -1 IN 1890 PRECIP 2.10 INS. IN 1986 SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1963 PEAK GUST 73e MPH W IN 1942   RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 4 HIGH 67 IN 1998 LOW -4 IN 1940 PRECIP 1.87 INS. IN 1968 SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1907 PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1980   TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser / Mike Iacono