BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014      ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME SHOWERS ROLL THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY, BRINGING LIGHT RAINFALL TO GREAT BLUE HILL Light and fast moving showers that began before 6:00 AM EST brought 0.02 inches of new rainfall, before largely wrapping up by the 10:00 AM EST observation. A partial rainbow was observed  to the NW around 10:30 AM EST as the sun attempted to break through.  Yesterday's clear and sunny conditions were a big departure from an otherwise cloudy December, with an unseasonable  maximum of 50F recorded.  By today's 1:00 PM EST observation drier air began to work  in, with visibility improving drastically from W-NNE from 35 up to 70 miles. Numerous cloud layers were still in place with steady winds from the W, and a daytime maximum of 49F so far.  Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast alto/nimbostratus, showers distant SW Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 37F; Wind: SSW at 13 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, falling, then rising, but lower still   Visibility: 30 miles, obscured by showers and thin fog 6-hr max temp: 43F 6-hr min temp: 42F  24-hr precip.: Trace  BHO SA 1155 E80 BKN 100 OVC 30 111/43/37/2113/986/  SHWRS DSNT SW THN FG ALQDS/ 8/02/ 55011 MANUAL 6000/ 10043 20042 10 A.M.  Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast alto/nimbostratus, showers distant in all directions, altocumulus lenticularis distant S-W, few cumulus fractus in all directions Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 41F; Wind: SW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, falling, then steady Visibility: 30 miles, except 20 miles N, obscured by showers and thin fog in all directions 3-hr precip: 0.02 ins. BHO SA 1455 E65 BKN 100 OVC 30 104/44/41/2311/984/  SHWRS DSNT ALQDS VSBY N 20 MI ACSL DSNT S-W FEW CUFRA ALQDS  THN FG ALQDS/ 8/72/ 56007 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 60002  1 P.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, thin overcast with breaks overhead of altostratus, few cumulus fractus in all directions Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: W at 10 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, falling, then steady Visibility: 35 miles, except 70 miles W-NNE 6-hr max temp: 49F 6-hr min temp: 43F 6-hr precip: 0.02 ins. BHO SA 1755 30 SCT E100 BKN 140 -OVC 35 085/48/42/2810/978/  VSBY W-NNE 70 MI BIONVC OVHD FEW CUFRA ALQDS/  8/520 56019 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 60002 10049 20043 SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2014  TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....50   NORMAL.....36 MIN.....35   NORMAL.....20 MEAN....43   NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+15 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+108 [+3.8 DEGREES/DAY]  HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............22  DEPARTURE..........-15 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............767  DEPARTURE.........-125      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1926  DEPARTURE.........-228 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2137  DIFFERENCE........-211 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................21  SSW  AT  11:48 P.M. *                          ASOS.......................22  SW   AT  11:49 P.M.                          DAVIS......................21  SSW  AT  11:46 P.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................17  SSW  AT  11:48 P.M.       MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................17  SSW  AT  11:56 P.M.        MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................17  SSW  AT  11:49 P.M.        AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............11.2 W                     ASOS......................11.7                       DAVIS.....................9.8 WSW [250 degrees]   * last of several occurrences...                 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...TRACE  DEPARTURE.....-0.14                           ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........7.19  DEPARTURE.....+2.87                          ASOS..............7.41   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........54.95  DEPARTURE.....+2.10                          ASOS.............55.60    SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.3  DEPARTURE......-8.9  TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............11.0  DEPARTURE......-2.8   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/-1/0.00/0.0/505/91              29 WNW RMY N/A  12/5  42/23/33/-2/0.12/0.0/382/69              21 E   RMY 22 12/6  43/36/40/+5/0.99/0.0/000/00              25 NNW RMY N/A 12/7  36/18/27/-7/0.15/0.0/193/35              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/+4/0.00/0.0/377/69              20 NW  RMY 20 12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/536/98              17 NW  RMY 17 12/16 42/33/38/+7/T/T/011/02                   17 E   RMY N/A 12/17 45/37/41/+10/0.43/0.0/000/00             27 W   RMY N/A  12/18 41/32/37/+6/0.02/T/213/39                35 WNW RMY 38    12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/000/00               26 NW  RMY 29 12/20 32/24/28/-2/..../.../164/30              21 NNE RMY 23  12/21 31/29/30/+0/..../.../000/00              20 NNE RMY 22 12/22 42/29/36/+7/..../0.0/.../..              23 E   RMY N/A 12/23 44/39/42/+13/..../0.0/000/00             28 ENE RMY 30  12/24 61/40/51/+22/..../0.0/000/00             32 SSW RMY 41  12/25 61/41/51/+23/..../0.0/.../..             37 W   RMY 43 12/26 47/35/41/+13/0.00/0.0/.../..             24 WSW RMY 28 12/27 50/35/43/+15/0.00/0.0/.../..             21 SSW RMY N/A 12/28 morning low temp: 41F since midnight; normal low is now 20F 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 TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR DECEMBER 24 2014       Old record of 58F set in 1996,       replaced with new record of 61F. DAILY EXTREMES  Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):      RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 28 HIGH 60 IN 1982 LOW -2 IN 1933 PRECIP 2.16 INS. IN 1967 SNOWFALL 9.5 INS. IN 1967 PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1983 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 29 HIGH 72 IN 1984 LOW -19 IN 1933 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1945 SNOWFALL 18.4 INS. IN 1945 PEAK GUST 95 MPH S IN 1966 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald