BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA   DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   TEMPERATURES BACK ABOVE FREEZING TODAY!   After the coldest weather in nearly three years, the temperature has moderated today, with S-SSW winds bringing in the more mild air.  The morning low of 23F was 5 degrees above average, and this afternoon the temperature has risen to a slightly above average 36F so far.  This is the first time the temperature has been above freezing since December 29.  The first four days of this month have averaged 14.5 degrees below normal!    Skies were mostly clear at the start of the day today, but mid and high level clouds have increased in coverage from late morning through early afternoon.  These clouds are in advance of our next weather system, which is likely to impact us late today, tonight, and tomorrow.  With the rise in temperatures and the expectation that temperatures will be well above normal tomorrow, this is expected to be a rain event.  This rain and warm temperature combination will take a toll on our snow cover, which was at 9 inches this morning.   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 distant all quadrants Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: SW at 12 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, falling slightly then rising Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze  6-hr. min temp: 23F Snow cover: 9 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 261/23/15/2312/030/ FEW AC DSNT ALQDS DSNT HZ/ 8/070 4/009 53014 10025 20023   10 A.M.  Weather: Scattered altocumulus, lower altocumulus distant SE-SW, few cirrus and dense cirrus NW-NE, thin smoke layer along horizon W-NE Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: S at 11 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 120 SCT 65 269/29/16/1911/032/ LWR AC DSNT SE-SW FEW CI AND DNS CI NW-NE LGT DSNT HZ THN K LYR ALG HRZN W-NE/ 8/051 51008   1 P.M.   Weather: Broken altocumulus, few lower altocumulus, cirrus distant WNW-NE Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: SSW at 9 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising slightly then falling Visibility: 55 miles, light distant haze  6-hr max. temp: 36F BHO SA 1755 E65 BKN 55 252/35/20/2009/027/ FEW LWR AC CI DSNT WNW-NE LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/071 58017 10036 20023   WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....25    NORMAL.....34 MIN.....-4    NORMAL.....18 MEAN....11    NORMAL.....26   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-15 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-57 [-14.5 DEGREES/DAY]   HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............54  DEPARTURE........ +15 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............211  DEPARTURE.........+57      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2488  DEPARTURE.........+30 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2199  DIFFERENCE.......+289   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................35 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M.                     AERO.......................37 SSW  AT  7:08 P.M.                           ASOS.......................37 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M.                         DAVIS......................37 SSW  AT  7:33 P.M. RMY 38 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................30 SSW  AT  6:59 P.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................28 SSW  AT  7:02 P.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................28 SSW  AT  7:03 A.M.      AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............15.9 SSW                    ASOS.....................16.6                    DAVIS....................14.7 SW [224 deg.]   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE.............-0.14                          ASOS..............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.35  DEPARTURE.............+0.77                          ASOS..............1.55 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.35  DEPARTURE.............+0.77                          ASOS..............1.55   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........0.0    DEPARTURE..............-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.............15.6    DEPARTURE.............+13.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON............31.2    DEPARTURE.............+13.1   PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-JANUARY 2013-2014 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   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 1/4   25/-4/11/-15/..../../.../..         35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38   1/5 morning low temp: 23F; the normal low is now 18F   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 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   RECORDS FOR JANUARY 6 HIGH 66F IN 2007 LOW -14F IN 1896 PRECIP 3.10 INS. IN 1889 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1893 PEAK GUST 70 MPH WNW IN 1959   TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien