BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURE AT SUMMIT DIPS TO 2 ABOVE ZERO THIS MORNING HIGH CLOUDS ADVANCE NORTHWARD OVERHEAD AND BEYOND BY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURE STRUGGLED INTO MID-20'S.... DEW POINTS STAY WELL BELOW ZERO The low temperature of 2 degrees just before 7 A.M. was our coldest for February to date and coldest since 2 above zero on January 24. High cirrostratus clouds were advancing overhead and beyond to the north of us by early this afternoon. The clouds are in advance of a large storm system bringing damaging glaze from freezing rain in the Southeast U.S. today. Despite bright mid-February sunshine our temperature was struggling in the mid 20's early this afternoon and the air was extremely dry with dew points well below zero and generally between 4 and 9 below. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus layer along and offshore NNE-S Temperature: 3F; Dew Point: -5F; Wind: NW at 10 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.50 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 35 miles, except 30 miles NE-SE and 45 miles to the WNW (Mt. Wachusett faintly visible) distant haze in all quadrants 6-hr min temp: 2F Snow depth: 10 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 330/3/-5/3210/050/ SC LYR ALG/OFFSHR NNE-S VSBY WNW 45 NE-SE 30 DSNT HZ ALQDS WINDCHILL -11/ 8/500 4/010 53021 10009 20002 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus offshore distant NE-SE, cirrostratus layer extending SSE-WSW gradually invading Temperature: 15F Dew Point: -3F; Wind: WNW at 3 kts, Wind: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.55 ins. Hg, rising, then more rapidly Visibility: 30 miles, NNE-NE 20 miles, thin smoke layer, WNW 45 miles, Mt Wachusett faintly visible, distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 30 346/15/-3/3003/055/ SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-SE CS LYR XTDNG SSE-WSW GRDLY INVDNG VSBY NNE-NE 20 THN K LYR VSBY WNW 45 DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/505 53016 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered opaque cirrostratus layer south, thin overcast cirrostratus layer overhead with band of clear sky WNW-N-ENE, layer is advancing northward, stratocumulus layer offshore NE-ESE Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: -5F; Wind: E at 3 kts, Wind: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.54 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly but lower than 3 hours ago Visibility: 50 miles, lower N-E, smoke layer along horizon and above to an estimated top of 12 hundred feet over city north 6-hr max. temp: 25F 6-hr min. temp: 3F BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 300 –OVC 50 342/24/-5/0803/054/ SC LYR OFFSHR NE-ESE BINOVC/CLR SKY BND XTDNG WNW-N-ENE CS LYR ADVCNG K LYR ALG/ABV HRZN NW-NE ESTMTD TOP OVR CTY 12 HND VSBY LWR N-E WND LGT/ 8/506 55004 10025 20003 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....24 NORMAL.....36 MIN......8 NORMAL.....18 MEAN....16 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................-6 [-0.7 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............49 DEPARTURE.........+11 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............430 DEPARTURE..........+5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3947 DEPARTURE..........-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3573 DIFFERENCE.......+374 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................22 WNW AT 3:49 P.M. AERO.......................20 WNW AT 3:49 P.M. ASOS.......................23 NNW AT 7:29 P.M. DAVIS......................23 WNW AT 3:49 P.M. RMY 25 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................17 WNW AT 3:49 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................18 NW AT 3:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................16 WNW AT 3:51 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............10.8 WNW ASOS......................11.5 DAVIS......................9.4 WNW [300 deg.] * last in a series... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE.............-0.14 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.71 DEPARTURE.............+0.22 ASOS..............1.78 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........6.33 DEPARTURE.............+0.49 ASOS..............6.69 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE..............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............14.9 DEPARTURE..............+9.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............63.7 DEPARTURE.............+25.2 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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 2/1 45/30/38/+12/0.00/0.0/402/67 24 S AERO 23 MPH S RMY 25 2/2 53/33/43/+17/0.00/0.0/181/30 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 31/21/26/0/..../.../000/00 32 ENE AERO 30 MPH ENE RMY 30 2/6 26/15/21/-5/..../.../.../.. 22 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 22 2/7 29/13/21/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 W AERO 23 MPH W RMY 27 2/8 28/12/20/-7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 24 W AERO 23 MPH W RMY 23 2/9 28/19/24/-3/0.05/1.0/.../.. 21 N AERO 17 MPH N RMY 19 2/10 27/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 NW AERO 28 MPH NW RMY 30 2/11 24/8/16/-11/0.00/0.0/.../.. 22 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY 25 2/12 morning low temp: 2F; the normal low is now 19F 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 12 HIGH 56F IN 1999 LOW -14F IN 1914 PRECIP 4.85 INCHES IN 1886 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 2006 PEAK GUST 70 MPH E IN 1985 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 13 HIGH 64F IN 1951 LOW -10F IN 1967 PRECIP 2.80 INCHES IN 2008 SNOWFALL 13.5 INCHES IN 1894 PEAK GUST 60 MPH SE IN 1972 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling