BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
WARM, WET, AND WINDY
 
Today has been nothing like a typical winter day.  The morning low of 37F
occurred exactly at midnight as the temperature continued to rise all night
and into the day today, up to a high of 55F so far.  Both of these numbers are 
about 20 degrees above average for today's date.  It appears that our record
high for today's date of 59F set in 1975 is going to be a bit out of reach, as
the temperature has leveled out from late morning into early this afternoon. 
Some light rain fell last night and occasional showers have continued today.
The two-day liquid precipitation total now stands at 0.11 inches.  Yesterday
also saw 0.3 inches of snowfall.  In addition to the warm temperatures and
rain, the strong south wind has been the other big story today.  The wind has
been averaging 20-30mph throughout the day, with gusts up to 50mph on our
official wind gust recorder.  Other wind instruments have shown gusts up to
59mph.  We have been in and out of the fog on the summit, with visibilities
occasionally under a mile but also up to 25 miles at times.  The barometer
has fallen significantly today, with the sea-level pressure down from 30.05
ins. Hg to 29.74 ins. Hg between the 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM observations.
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast nimbostratus, patch of ground fog S,
few stratus fractus drifting above and below the summit, few stratocumulus
distant SE-S
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 46F; Wind: S at 18G25 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 20 miles
6-hr. min temp: 37F
6-hr precip (ASOS): 0.04 ins.
24-hr precip: 0.08 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E70 BKN 90 OVC 20 177/46/46/1718G25/005/ PTCH GF S
FEW STFRA DRFTNG ABV AND BLO SMT FEW SC DSNT SE-S PRESFR/ 8/72/
58043 ASOS 60004 MANUAL 70008 ASOS 70009 10046 20037
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Sky obscured by dense fog, stratus fractus drifting below the summit
Temperature: 53F; Dew Point: 53F; Wind: S at 21G30 kts,
Wind: Peak wind of 30 kts S at 9:54 A.M.
Wind: Direction variable SSE-SW
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, falling rapidly then falling more slowly
Visibility: 1/8 mile, dense fog 
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/8F 139/53/53/1821G30/994/ STFRA DRFTNG BLO SMT
PK WND 1830/54 WND 15V22/ 8//// 56038 MANUAL 60002 ASOS 60003
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, thin fog all quadrants
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 54F; Wind: S at 29G38 kts,
Wind: Peak wind of 41 kts S at 12:02 P.M.
Wind: Direction variable SSE-SW
Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 10 miles
6-hr. precip: 0.01 ins.
6-hr max. temp: 55F
BHO SA 1755 E10 OVC 10 071/55/54/1929G38/974/ THN FG ALQDS PK WND 1841/02
WND 15V22 PRESFR/ 8/02/ 58068 ASOS 60002 MANUAL 60001 10055 20046
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....37    NORMAL.....34
MIN.....17    NORMAL.....17
MEAN....27    NORMAL.....25
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-68 [-7.0 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............38  DEPARTURE..........-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............457  DEPARTURE.........+68     
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2734  DEPARTURE.........+41
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2375  DIFFERENCE.......+359
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................17 SSW  AT  10:54 A.M.  
                   AERO.......................18 SW   AT   6:08 P.M. *        
                   ASOS.......................19 SW   AT   5:47 P.M.      
                   DAVIS......................19 NW   AT   5:46 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................16 SSW  AT   4:23 A.M. *       
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................16 SSW  AT   4:24 A.M.       
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................15 SSW  AT   4:23 A.M.     
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............10.9 SSW 
                   ASOS......................11.4
                   DAVIS.....................10.4 SSW [199 deg.]
* Last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.08  DEPARTURE.............-0.06
                         ASOS..............0.09
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.80  DEPARTURE.............+0.38 
                         ASOS..............2.11
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.80  DEPARTURE.............+0.38
                         ASOS..............2.11
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........0.3    DEPARTURE..............-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.............15.9    DEPARTURE.............+10.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON............31.6    DEPARTURE.............+10.0 
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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/..../../000/00          39 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE RMY 39
1/3  12/-3/05/-21/.../../270/49           36 N   AERO 39 MPH N   RMY 34
1/4  25/-4/11/-15/..../../545/99          35 SSW AERO 37 MPH SSW RMY 38
1/5  42/23/33/+07/..../../259 47          30 SE  AERO 32 MPH SE  RMY 42
1/6  57/25/41/+15/..../../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/.../..          23 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY 27
1/10 37/17/27/+2/..../0.3/000/00          17 SSW AERO 18 MPH SW  RMY N/A     
 
1/11 morning low temp: 37F; the normal low is now 17F                              
DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2014
None so far.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 11
HIGH 59F IN 1975
LOW -7F IN 1968
PRECIP 1.58 INS. IN 2008
SNOW 10.2 INS. 1927
PEAK GUST 95e MPH S IN 1980
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 12
HIGH 57F IN 1913, 1975
LOW -15F IN 1886
PRECIP 2.04 INS. IN 2011
SNOW 18.2 INS. IN 2011
WIND 84e MPH S IN 1980
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien