BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014      ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME RAIN, FALLING MODERATELY FOR A TIME, CLEARS  BY MID MORNING, THICK FOG LEFT IN PLACE Rain fell moderately at times between 3:00 and  7:00 AM EST this morning, dropping 0.42 inches by the 7:00 AM EST observation, and adding to an already wetter-than-average December. Visibility this morning was extremely poor at just 1/16 of a mile with barely 100 feet of  vertical visibility. Today's maximum temperature may have already been recorded prior to 5:00 AM EST at 45F. By the 1:00 PM EST observation fog was thinning and attempting to lift. Visibility was improving to 3/4 of a mile, except lower N-E at 1/4 of a mile.      Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Light rain, thick fog   Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 41F; Wind: NNW at 9 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly                     Visibility: 1/16 of a mile, obscured by thick fog 6-hr max temp: 44F 6-hr min temp: 41F  24-hr precip:  0.42 24-hr snowfall: none  BHO SA 1155 W1 X 1/16R-F 072/41/41/3309/974/  8//// 56021 ASOS 60043 70043 MANUAL 70042 10044 20041  10 A.M.  Weather: Thick fog Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 39F; Wind: NW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, about the same      Visibility: 1/16 of a mile, obscured by thick fog 3-hr precip: 0.01 BHO SA 1455 W1 X 1/16F 072/39/39/3211/974/ R-E29  8//// 55000 ASOS 60002 MANUAL 60001   1 P.M. Weather: Fog Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: WNW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.70 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly    Visibility: 3/4 of a mile, except 1/4 of a mile N-E, obscured by fog 6-hr max temp: 43F  6-hr min temp: 39F 6-hr precip: 0.01  BHO SA 1755 W3 X 3/4F 057/42/42/2911/970/ VSBY N-E 1/4 MI/  8//// 56015 ASOS 60002 MANUAL 60001 10043 20039   SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014  TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....42   NORMAL.....39 MIN.....33   NORMAL.....24 MEAN....38   NORMAL.....31 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+23 [+1.2 DEGREES/DAY]  HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............27  DEPARTURE...........-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............475  DEPARTURE..........-24      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1634  DEPARTURE.........-127 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1773  DIFFERENCE........-139 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................17 E   AT 10:19 P.M.                        ASOS.......................16 E   AT 10:20 P.M.                        DAVIS......................15 E   AT  6:33 P.M. RMY 18 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................14 E   AT  7:31 P.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................14 E   AT  7:34 P.M.     MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................13 E   AT  7:34 P.M.     AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............5.6 ESE                         ASOS.....................6.2                        DAVIS....................5.2 ESE (114 degrees)   * Last of several occurrences...                  PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.42  DEPARTURE.....+0.26                           ASOS..............0.43 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.82  DEPARTURE.....+3.20                             ASOS..............5.97   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........53.58  DEPARTURE.....+2.43                          ASOS.............54.16    SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.6  DEPARTURE......-5.2  TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............9.3  DEPARTURE......+0.9   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/+13/0.01/0.0/391/70             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/..../0.0/505/91              29 WNW RMY N/A  12/5  42/23/33/-2/..../0.0/382/69              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/..../0.0/193/35              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/+8/0.43/0.0/000/00              35 NNE RMY 37  12/11 35/29/32/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00              27 SW  RMY 27   12/12 36/26/31/-2/0.00/0.0/230/42              23 WNW RMY 25 12/13 40/27/34/+2/0.00/0.0/191/35              28 NW  RMY 28  12/14 43/28/36/+4/0.00/0.0/.../..              20 NW  RMY 20 12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/.../..              17 NW  RMY 17 12/16 42/33/38/+7/..../0.0/.../..              17 E   RMY N/A 12/17 morning low temp: 41F since midnight; the normal low is now 23F 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 17 HIGH 63 IN 2000 LOW -10 IN 1942 PRECIP 3.03 INS. IN 1888 SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1988 PEAK GUST 78 MPH SSE IN 2000 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 18 HIGH 59 IN 1928 LOW -11 IN 1919 PRECIP 1.44 INS. IN 1915 SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1904 PEAK GUST 76e W IN 1978 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald