BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING WITH VERY DRY AIR... TEMPERATURE RECOVERING TO THE 20S TODAY UNDER FULL SUNSHINE AND S-SW WINDS... The low temperature this morning of -4F was still well above the record low of -8F for the date set in 1904 and 1981. The high and low temperatures for Friday were 12F and -3F, with the minimum occurring at midnight. These were the coldest temperatures since a high of 11F and a low of -7F were observed on January 24, 2011. The low temperature of -3F on the 3rd was one degree above the record low for that date of -4F set in 1904. The wind has diminished from yesterday, though a sustained wind of 15-20 mph earlier this morning dropped the wind chill to -15F. The sky has been mostly sunny today with only a few altocumulus and cirrus in the area, and the visibility has climbed to about 70 miles by early afternoon as the dew points rise from the single digits below zero overnight and this morning to the single digits above zero at mid-day. A total of 12 inches of snow remains on the summit after the last snow storm. THE PRELIMINARY DECEMBER 2013 STATS [Departures are relative to the 1981-2010 averages] TEMPERATURE: Deg. F Avg. Max. 38.0 [-1.1] Avg. Min. 23.7 [+0.1] Mean 30.9 [-0.4] 24-hr. corrected mean: 30.7 Max. temp: 63F on 22nd Min. temp: 7F on 17th Total heating degree day units: 1053 [+10] Total seasonal heating units: 2277 [-28 less than average] [Season starts 7/1 ] Seasonal total this date 2012: 2028 [249 more than last season] PRECIPITATION: Inches Total: 5.27 [+0.38] Greatest in 24 hours: 1.43 (14-15th) Total snowfall: 15.5 [+2.1] Greatest in 24 hours: 6.8 inches (14-15th) WIND Av. speed (uncorrected): 11.9 mph Av. speed (corrected): 12.3 mph Prevailing direction: W 15% SUNSHINE Total astronomical minutes: 5,772 of possible 17,037 or 34% Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 5,574 of possible 16,470 or 34% PRELIMINARY ANNUAL STATS FOR 2013 TEMPERATURE: Deg. F Avg. Max. 58.5 [+0.8] Avg. Min. 41.5 [+1.1] Mean 50.0 [+0.9] PRECIPITATION: Inches Total: 51.87 [-1.55] Snowfall: 99.3 [+36.6] (Jan-Dec) Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few altocumulus NW-E, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-ESE, total new snow past 24 hours 0.7 inch, wind chill -15F Temperature: -1F; Dew Point: -7F; Wind: WSW at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.47 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 55 miles 6-hr. min temp: -4F 24-hour precipitation: 0.05 inch 24-hour snowfall: 0.7 inch Snow cover: 12 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 55 317/-1/-7/2408/047/ FEW AC NW-E FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE TOTAL NEW SNW PAST 24 HRS 0.7 IN WND CHILL -15/ 8/530 4/012 53013 70005 11001 21004 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few altocumulus SSW-E, few cirrus overhead, thin smoke layer along horizon WSW-NE Temperature: 10F; Dew Point: -7F; Wind: SSW at 12 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.50 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 60 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 328/10/-7/2012/050/ FEW AC SSW-E FEW CI OHD THN K LYR ALG HRZN WSW-NE/ 8/031 51011 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant SE-SW, few altocumulus lenticularis distant NNW, few altocumulus SSW-E, few cirrus overhead Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: -2F; Wind: SSW at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.40 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 70 miles 6-hr max. temp: 22F BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 293/22/-2/2008/040/ FEW CU DSNT SE-SW FEW ACSL DSNT NNW FEW AC SSW-E FEW CI OVHD/ 8/141 58035 10022 21001 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2014 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....12 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....-3 NORMAL.....18 MEAN.....5 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-21 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-42 [-14.2 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............60 DEPARTURE........ +21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............157 DEPARTURE.........+42 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2434 DEPARTURE.........+14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2163 DIFFERENCE.......+271 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................36 N AT 5:47 A.M. AERO.......................39 N AT 5:47 A.M. ASOS.......................40 N AT 5:48 A.M. DAVIS......................35 N AT 12:22 A.M. RMY 34 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................27 N AT 6:30 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................26 N AT 6:35 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................25 N AT 6:34 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............17.9 N ASOS.....................17.1 DAVIS....................15.6 NNW [337] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.05 DEPARTURE.............-0.10 ASOS..............0.07 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.35 DEPARTURE.............+0.91 ASOS..............1.53 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.35 DEPARTURE.............+0.91 ASOS..............1.53 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........0.7 DEPARTURE..............+0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.............15.6 DEPARTURE.............+13.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON............31.2 DEPARTURE.............+14.1 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2013 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 12/1 45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00 22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23 12/2 38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00 15 NW AERO 15 MPH NW RMY 16 12/3 45/32/39/+3/0.00/0.0/284/51 18 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY 20 12/4 43/29/36/+1/0.00/0.0/389/70 21 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21 12/5 53/38/46/+11/0.02/0.0/000/00 36 S AERO 40 MPH S RMY 39 12/6 55/33/44/+9/0.38/T/000/00 25 SSW AERO 28 MPH SSW RMY N/A 12/7 40/26/33/-1/0.12/T/287/52 23 NW AERO 25 MPH NW RMY N/A 12/8 30/22/26/-8/T/T/039/07 25 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY N/A 12/9 41/25/33/-1/0.35/0.6/000/00 28 E AERO 28 MPH E RMY 24 12/10 33/21/27/-6/0.14/2.1/000/00 28 W AERO 28 MPH W RMY 28 12/11 28/19/24/-9/0.00/0.0/345/63 27 SW AERO 28 MPH SW RMY 27 12/12 23/14/19/-14/0.00/0.0/542/99 28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW RMY 30 12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/405/74 31 W AERO 32 MPH W RMY 33 12/14 28/9/19/-13/0.45/4.8/000/00 30 E AERO 26 MPH E RMY N/A 12/15 36/21/29/-3/0.98/2.0/000/00 48 NE AERO 50 MPH NE RMY 51 12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/529/97 36 W AERO 37 MPH W RMY N/A 12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/104/19 28 N AERO 30 MPH N RMY 28 12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/436/80 29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW RMY 29 12/19 42/22/32/+2/0.00/0.0/425/78 38 SW AERO 44 MPH SW RMY 42 12/20 52/34/43/+13/0.00/0.0/332/61 26 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 29 12/21 58/42/50/+20/0.00/0.0/082/15 28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30 12/22 63/35/49/+20/0.01/0.0/000/00 37 SW AERO 41 MPH SW RMY 41 12/23 37/32/35/+6/0.73/0.0/000/00 24 NW AERO 25 MPH NW RMY 25 12/24 36/25/31/+2/T/T/142/26 25 NW AERO 29 MPH N RMY N/A 12/25 25/13/19/-9/0.00/0.0/480/88 29 NW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 30 12/26 35/19/27/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00 24 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 25 12/27 32/22/27/-1/0.00/0.0/344/63 25 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 26 12/28 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/300/55 30 WSW AERO 32 MPH SW RMY 32 12/29 42/34/38/+11/1.23/0.0/000/00 36 NNE AERO 37 MPH NNE RMY 38 12/30 39/17/28/+1/0.00/0.0/071/13 38 W AERO 39 MPH W RMY 36 12/31 24/11/19/-9/0.00/0.0/236/43 30 W AERO 31 MPH W RMY 30 1/1 26/16/21/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 W AERO 25 MPH W RMY 27 1/2 24/0/12/-15/..../../000/00 39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39 1/3 12/-3/5/-21/.../../000/00 36 N AERO 39 MPH N RMY 34 DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013 12/22- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F; surpasses previous record of 62F set in 1994 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4 HIGH 60F IN 2000 LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981 PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982 SNOW 8.6 INS. 1923, 1941 PEAK GUST 84 MPH S IN 1982 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 5 HIGH 61F IN 2007 LOW -9F IN 1981 PRECIP 0.98 INS. IN 1993 SNOW 4.5 INS. IN 1891 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono / Brian Fitzgerald