BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014      ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME SKIES CLEAR BY MONDAY MORNING, COOL,  DRY AIR WORKS INTO THE REGION Following Sunday's numerous light showers totaling 0.02 inches,  clouds were slow to clear. By this morning's 7:00 AM EST  observation, scattered cirrus, altocumulus to the south, and stratocumulus over the ocean began to slowly dissipate. Yesterday's mean temperature of 42F was 14 degrees above the daily norm, adding to an already warm December. Following Sunday, temperatures were averaging 4.2F degrees above normal. By today's 1:00 PM EST observation high cirrus and small cumulus were allowing sunshine to continue into the afternoon, with a  maximum of 41F recorded so far. Visibility had improved to 80 miles in all directions with a clear line of sight into SW New Hampshire.  Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus/cumulus distant offshore NE-ESE, few altocumulus distant SE-SW Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: W at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, increasing, then more slowly                       Visibility: 70 miles, except 50 miles SE-SW 6-hr max temp: 34F 6-hr min temp: 30F  24-hr precip.: 0.02 ins  BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 70 195/30/21/2608/011/ VSBY SE-SW 50 MI  FEW SC/CU DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE FEW AC DSNT SE-SW/  8/832/ 51013 ASOS 70003 MANUAL 70002 10034 20030 10 A.M.  Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant WSW-N, few altocumulus and cirrus distant E-SW Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: W at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.14 ins. Hg, rising steadily Visibility: 80 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 207/36/22/2808/014/  FEW CU DSNT WSW-N FEW AC AND CI DSNT E-SW/ 8/132/ 52012 1 P.M. Weather: Broken cirrus, few small cumulus in all directions Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: WNW at 12G20 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, falling, then steady Visibility: 80 miles 6-hr max temp: 41F 6-hr min temp: 30F BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 80 189/39/21/2912G20/009/  FEW SML CU ALQDS/ 8/102 56018 10041 20030 SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014  TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....49   NORMAL.....36 MIN.....35   NORMAL.....20 MEAN....42   NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+122 [+4.2 DEGREES/DAY]  HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............23  DEPARTURE..........-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............790  DEPARTURE.........-140      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1949  DEPARTURE.........-242 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2166  DIFFERENCE........-217 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................31  W    AT   1:44 P.M.                           ASOS.......................37  W    AT   1:45 P.M.                          DAVIS......................35  W    AT   1:44 P.M. RMY 36 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................26  W    AT   1:43 P.M.       MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................26  W    AT   1:46 P.M.        MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................23  W    AT   1:46 P.M.        AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............15.4 W                     ASOS......................15.0                       DAVIS.....................13.7 WSW [244 degrees]   * last of several occurrences...                 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.02  DEPARTURE.....-0.13                           ASOS..............0.03 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........7.21  DEPARTURE.....+2.74                          ASOS..............7.44   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........54.97  DEPARTURE.....+1.97                          ASOS.............55.63    SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE......-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.3  DEPARTURE......-9.5  TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............11.0  DEPARTURE......-3.4   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 49/35/42/+14/0.02/0.0/.../..             31 W   RMY 36 12/29 morning low temp: 30F 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 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) RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 30 HIGH 60 IN 1984 LOW -18 IN 1933 PRECIP 1.48 INS. IN 1891 SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 81 MPH WNW IN 1962 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald