BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA   DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   HEAVY SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITY THIS MORNING CONTINUES TO ADD TO AN ALREADY SNOWY WINTER...SEASONAL SNOW TOTAL NOW APPROACHING NORMAL SEASONAL AVERAGE OF 61 INCHES...   Snow began after 5:00 AM this morning, quickly transitioning to moderate to heavy snow for several hours. By 7:00 AM new snow had totaled 2.8 inches with 0.26 inches of liquid equivalent. Visibility of only 1/8 of a mile was reduced significantly by snow and fog.     By 1:00 PM this afternoon snow had changed over to snow grains mixed with light snow, then transitioned to ice pellets. At 1:00 PM the snow storm totaled 8.7 inches so far with a total liquid equivalent of 1.04 inches of water.   All monthly data below is preliminary. Keep posted for a monthly discussion on our website, bluehill.org.   THE PRELIMINARY JANUARY 2014 STATS   [Departures are relative to the 1981-2010 averages]   TEMPERATURE: Deg. F Avg. Max. 33.2 [-0.6] Avg. Min. 16.7 [-0.4] Mean      25.0 [-0.5] 24-hr. corrected mean: 24.8 Max. temp: 57F on 6th and 11th Min. temp: -4F  on 4th Total heating degree day units: 1240 [+14] Total seasonal heating units:   3517 [-14 less than average] [Season starts 7/1]  Seasonal total this date 2012:  3126 [391 more than last season]   PRECIPITATION: Inches Total: 4.62 [+0.27] Greatest in 24 hours: 1.26 inches (2nd-3rd) Total snowfall: 33.1 [+16.0] Greatest in 24 hours: 14.3 inches (2nd-3rd)   WIND Av. speed (uncorrected): 14.3 mph (corrected) Av. speed (corrected):   14.5 mph Prevailing direction: W 25%   SUNSHINE Total astronomical minutes: 8538 of possible 17702 or 48% Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 8202 of possible 17130 or 48% [+2%]   BHO Snowiest January’s, inches (1886-2014)   1) 56.3 in 1948 2) 48.2 in 2011 3) 48.0 in 1904 4) 47.6 in 1996 5) 46.0 in 1966 6) 44.8 in 2005 7) 44.5 in 1923 8) 38.3 in 1987 9) 35.6 in 1978 10) 33.1 in 2014   Today's Observations:   7 A.M. Weather: Moderate snow and fog, overcast nimbostratus Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: NE at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, decreasing, then rapidly Visibility: 1/8 of a mile, reduced by snow and fog 6-hr. min temp: 26F Total precip. past 24 hours: 0.26 inch Total snowfall past 24 hours: 2.8 inches Total snow on the ground: 5 inches BHO SA 1155 W5 OVC 1/8SF 197/27/26/0508/011/ NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 2.8 INS PRESFR/ 8//// 4/005 58027 ASOS 60026 70026 MANUAL 60026 70026 10027 20026   10 A.M.  Weather: Light snow and fog, overcast nimbostratus, snow occasionally moderate to heavy Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: NNE at 10 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly  Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, reduced by snow and fog BHO SA 1455 W5 OVC 1/4S-F 163/29/28/0310/001/ SNW OCNLY MDT AND HVY 8//// 58034 ASOS 60062   1 P.M.   Weather: Snow grains and light snow with fog Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: ENE at 15G22 kts, Wind: Peak Gust 28 kts ENE @ 12:48 PM Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, falling, then rapidly   Visibility: 3/4 of a mile 6-hr max. temp: 31F BHO SA 1755 W5 OVC 3/4SGS-F 065/31/30/0615G22/972/ NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 5.9 INS NEW SNW PST 12 HRS 8.7 INS PRESFR PK WND 0728/48/ 8//// 4/010 58098 ASOS 60085 MANUAL 60078 10031 20026   WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....33    NORMAL.....35 MIN.....18    NORMAL.....17 MEAN....26    NORMAL.....26   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+/-0 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+32 [+7.8 DEGREES/DAY]   HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............39  DEPARTURE...........0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............124  DEPARTURE.........-32      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3641  DEPARTURE.........-85 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3291  DIFFERENCE.......+350   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................20 NW  AT  3:03 A.M.                             AERO.......................16 NW  AT  3:04 A.M.                                  ASOS.......................19 NNW AT  3:05 A.M.                               DAVIS......................16 NW  AT  2:45 A.M. RMY 17 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................14 NW  AT  2:50 A.M.  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................15 NW  AT  3:05 A.M.              MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................12 NW  AT  3:04 A.M.            AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............  7.3 NW                               ASOS.......................7.6                     DAVIS......................6.5 NW [306 deg.]   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.26 DEPARTURE.............+0.12                          ASOS..............0.26 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH......... 0.58  DEPARTURE.............+0.04                            ASOS..............0.58 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.20  DEPARTURE.............+0.31                          ASOS..............5.51   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........2.8  DEPARTURE..............+2.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................5.6  DEPARTURE..............+3.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............54.4  DEPARTURE.............+19.3    PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2014 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   1/1  26/16/21/-6/0.00/0.0/505/92          25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 27 1/2  24/00/12/-15/0.97/10.9/000/00        39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39 1/3  12/-3/05/-21/0.38/4.7/270/49         36 N   AERO 39 MPH N   RMY 34 1/4  25/-4/11/-15/0.00/0.0/545/99         35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38 1/5  42/23/33/+7/0.08/0.0/259 47          30 SE  AERO 32 MPH SE  RMY 42 1/6  57/25/41/+15/0.29/0.0/006/01         41 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 48 1/7  25/06/16/-10/0.00/0.0/555/100        44 WNW AERO 46 MPH WNW RMY 42 1/8  21/3/12/-14/0.00/0.0/550/99          28 WSW AERO 29 MPH WSW RMY N/A 1/9  28/13/21/-5/0.00/0.0/540/97          23 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY 27 1/10 37/17/27/+2/0.05/0.3/000/00          17 SSW AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY N/A      1/11 57/37/47/+22/0.67/0.0/000/00         50 S   AERO 59 MPH S   RMY 59 TSTM 1/12 51/32/42/+17/0.04/0.0/292/52         41 W   AERO 44 MPH W   RMY 42 1/13 50/30/40/+15/0.00/0.0/473/84         33 S   AERO 36 MPH S   RMY 37 1/14 49/41/45/+20/0.83/0.0/000/00         35 S   AERO 37 MPH S   RMY 32       1/15 46/33/40/+15/0.00/0.0/374/66         24 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY N/A 1/16 40/34/37/+12/0.00/0.0/000/00         14 ENE AERO 13 MPH ENE RMY 14 1/17 44/33/39/+14/0.00/0.0/541/95         21 SW  AERO 21 MPH SW  RMY 22 1/18 37/30/34/+9/0.82/4.2/000/00          18 E   AERO 17 MPH E   RMY 18 TSTM 1/19 32/27/30/+5/0.03/0.5/304/53          28 SW  AERO 35 MPH SW  RMY 34 1/20 39/23/31/+6/0.00/0.0/023/04          38 W   AERO 41 MPH W   RMY 42 1/21 23/8/16/-9/0.30/9.0/006/01           29 WNW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/22 15/3/9/-16/0.12/3.1/237/41           36 N   AERO 35 MPH N   RMY 34       1/23 20/-1/10/-15/0.00/0.0/418/72         30 W   AERO 29 MPH W   RMY 30 1/24 16/2/9/-16/0.00/0.0/571/98           28 WNW AERO 25 MPH WNW RMY N/A 1/25 36/12/24/-1/0.01/0.2/053/09          60 SSW AERO 66 MPH SSW RMY 64 1/26 22/12/17/-8/0.00/0.0/405/69          45 W   AERO 43 MPH W   RMY 41 1/27 45/17/31/+6/0.02/0.0/024/04          46 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 49 1/28 18/9/14/-11/0.00/0.0/455/77          33 W   AERO 31 MPH W   RMY 32 1/29 24/11/17/-8/0.01/0.2/410/69          28 W   AERO 23 MPH W   RMY 27 1/30 29/10/20/-6/0.00/0.0/590/99          25 S   AERO 20 MPH S   RMY 28 1/31 40/18/29/+3/0.00/0.0/138/23          29 SSW AERO 24 MPH SSW RMY 28   2/1  45/30/38/+12/0.00/0.0/.../..         24 S   AERO 23 MPH S   RMY 25 2/2  53/33/43/+17/0.00/0.0/.../..         22 S   AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21 2/3  36/22/29/+3/0.32/2.8/000/00          22 NNE AERO 18 MPH NNE RMY 21  2/4  33/18/26/0/0.00/0.0/.../..           20 NW  AERO 16 MPH NW  RMY 17   2/5  morning low temp: 26F; the normal low is now 17F   DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2014 None so far.   DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5 HIGH 65F IN 1991 LOW -14F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907 PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969   RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 6 HIGH 54F IN 1909 LOW -10F IN 1895 PRECIP 1.88 INS. IN 1896 SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 84e MPH NE IN 1978   TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald