BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014    
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
RAINFALL FROM STRONG NOR'EASTER FINALLY ENDS
AS LIGHT DRIZZLE EARLY THIS MORNING...
LIGHT SNOW BEGINS BEFORE DAWN AND LEAVES 0.1 INCH
BY 7 A.M. OBSERVATION TIME
ANOTHER 0.4 INCH SNOW BY 1 P.M.
 
The strong 3-day nor'easter finally ended with 0.01 inch
in light drizzle in the first hour of today just after midnight
very early this morning. This brought the final precipitation
total to 3.72 inches. Yesterday's precipitation fell a little
short of a half inch in drizzle and intermittent rain and/or
light showers. Snow began again around mid-morning and accumulated
to 0.4 inch by 1 P.M. today.  
 
3.23 inches of rain easily beats the old record for December 9,
1.52 inches, set back in 1956. This new record also moves into
third place for wettest December calendar day here at Blue Hill:
 
BHO Wettest December Calendar Days, inches (1885-2014)
 
1) 3.94 on Dec 12, 1992
2) 3.64 on Dec 26, 1969
3) 3.23 on Dec 9,  2014
4) 3.03 on Dec 17, 1888
5) 2.93 on Dec 17, 1973
6) 2.87 on Dec 17, 2000
7) 2.86 on Dec 5,  1993
8) 2.78 on Dec 6,  2003
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, light snow and fog
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 31F; Wind: SW at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.55 ins. Hg, rising then more quickly                   
Visibility: 3 miles, light snow and fog
6-hr max temp: 35F
6-hr min temp: 31F
24-hr precip:  0.37 in.
24-hr snowfall: 0.1 inch
BHO SA 1155 E4 OVC 3S-F 007/31/31/2212/955/
TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3/24 HRS 0.1 IN/ 8/6// 53021 MANUAL 6001/
MANUAL 70037 ASOS 70035 10035 20031 
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: SSW at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.61 ins. Hg, rising then more quickly   
Visibility: 40 miles
3-hour precip: trace
3-hour snowfall: trace
BHO SA 1455 E12 OVC 40 027/31/29/2111/961/ MTN INCLD 45 WNW/
8/6// 53020 MANUAL 6000/ ASOS 60001 TOTAL NEW SNW 3 HRS TRACE
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Partial obscured, overcast stratus fractus, snow and fog
obscuring 3/10 of sky, light snow and fog  
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: SSW at 13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.63 ins. Hg, rising slightly but more quickly
Visibility: 1 mile, light snow and fog
6-hr max temp: 31F
6-hr min temp: 30F
6-hour precip: 0.03 in.
6-hour snowfall: 0.4 in. 
BHO SA 1755 –X E12 OVC 1S-F 033/30/30/2113/963/ SF3 TOTAL
NEW SNW 6 HRS 0.4 IN/ 8/7// 53006 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 6004/
10031 20030
 
SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....47   NORMAL.....41
MIN.....35   NORMAL.....26
MEAN....41   NORMAL.....33
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+10 [+0.8 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............24  DEPARTURE...........-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............291  DEPARTURE..........-10    
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1450  DEPARTURE.........-112
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1516  DIFFERENCE.........-66
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................35 NNE AT 10:17 A,M.   
                   ASOS.......................37 NNE AT 10:17 A.M. 
                   DAVIS......................34 N   AT 10:17 A.M. RMY 37
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................23 N   AT 10:17 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................23 N   AT 10:17 A.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................22 N   AT 10:17 A.M. 
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............13.1 NNE   
                   ASOS......................13.1  
                   DAVIS.....................11.6 N (010 degrees) 
* Last of several occurrences...
               
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.37  DEPARTURE.....+0.20
                         ASOS..............0.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.36  DEPARTURE.....+3.71       
                         ASOS..............5.51 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........53.12  DEPARTURE.....+2.94
                         ASOS.............53.70  
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.1  DEPARTURE......-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.2  DEPARTURE......-3.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............8.9  DEPARTURE......+3.1 
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY GUST
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
12/1  63/37/50/+13/0.01/0.0/.../..             28 WNW RMY 31
12/2  37/30/34/-2/0.10/T/000/00                26 E   RMY 29
12/3  49/34/42/+6/0.31/0.0/000/00              40 W   RMY 43
12/4  41/27/34/-1/..../0.0/.../..              29 WNW RMY N/A
12/5  42/23/33/-2/..../0.0/.../..              21 E   RMY 22
12/6  43/36/40/+5/..../0.0/000/00              25 NNW RMY N/A
12/7  36/18/27/-7/..../0.0/000/00              31 N   RMY 34
12/8  25/16/21/-13/0.01/0.1/000/00 *           24 N   RMY N/A
12/9  48/25/37/+3/3.23/0.0/000/00              48 ENE RMY 52
12/10 47/35/41/+8/..../0.0/000/00              35 NNE RMY 37
 
12/11 morning low temp: 31F since midnight; the normal low is now 26F
 
* 8TH--A tenth of an inch of snow estimated and added in the evening hours......
DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2014:
    
-DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR DECEMBER 9 2014
     Old record of 1.51 inches set in 1952,
     replaced with new record of 3.23 inches.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):    
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 11
HIGH 63 IN 1911
LOW -1 IN 1988
PRECIP 2.36 INS. IN 1992
SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1894
PEAK GUST 78 S IN 1969
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 12
HIGH 67 IN 1979
LOW -3 IN 1988
PRECIP 3.94 INS. IN 1992
SNOWFALL 20.3 INS. IN 1960
PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSE IN 2008
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling