BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2014 INDEPENDENCE DAY 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

EVENTFUL PAST 24 HOURS AS BLUE HILL REACHES 91F FOR THE
FIRST TIME THIS YEAR, FOLLOWED BY THUNDERSTORMS AND
EARLY EFFECTS OF HURRICANE ARTHUR
 
Significant moisture is moving our way today, finally
ending a very dry and hot period here at Blue Hill. 
Yesterday a brief period of afternoon clearing allowed
the mercury to soar to 91F with dew points ranging
from the upper 60s to low 70s.

A line of particularly strong storms pushed through
the region last night producing our peak gust for
Thursday at 29 MPH from the west. Frequent lightning
and small hail was reported north of the station. 

Rain showers have been intermittent and variable 
in intensity with 0.27 inches falling from 7:00 AM
to 1:00 PM EST. A flash flood watch has been issued
for most of our region with Tropical Storm Warnings
posted for Cape Cod.

THE PRELIMINARY JUNE 2014 STATS
 
[Departures are relative to the 1981-2010 averages]
 
TEMPERATURE: Deg. F
Avg. Max. 77.2 [+2.2]
Avg. Min. 56.8 [-0.3]
Mean      67.0 [+0.9] (CORRECTED)
24-hr. corrected mean: 66.8
Max. temp: 87F on the 30th
Min. temp: 47F on the 1 st
Total heating degree day units: 28 [-46]
Total seasonal heating units:   6422 [46 more than average]
[Season starts 7/1] 
Total cooling degree day units: 96 [-9]
Total cooling degree units for season: 109 [-20]
[Season starts January 1, 2014] 
 
PRECIPITATION: Inches
Total: 2.21 [-2.10]
Greatest in 24 hours: 0.91 (5TH)

WIND
Av. speed (uncorrected): 10.1 mph
Av. speed (corrected):   10.6 mph
Prevailing direction:     SSW 12%
 
SUNSHINE
Total astronomical minutes: 17552 of possible 26376 or 67%
Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 17552 of possible 26376 or 67% 

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light rain shower, overcast nimbostratus 
Temperature: 68F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: estimated W at 6 kts, 
Wind: Light  
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 10 miles, 5 miles north, 24 miles E-SSW, obscured
by rain showers and fog
6-hr max temp: 68F
6-hr min temp: 66F
24-hr precip: 0.06 inches
BHO SA 1155 E22 OVC 10RW-F 162/68/66/E2606/001/ 
RWB44 VSBY N 5 MI VSBY E-SSW 25 MI WND LGT/ 
8/6// 51009 ASOS 70005 MANUAL 6000/ 70005 10068 20066  

10 A.M. 
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken altocumulus castellanus,
overcast altostratus, chaotic sky, thin fog    
Temperature: 73F; Dew Point: 69F; Wind: estimated N at 3 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, steady, then falling      
Visibility: 15 miles, 20 miles NE-SSE, thin fog in all directions
3-hr precip: 0.03 inches    
BHO SA 1455 E37 BKN 50 BKN 100 OVC 15 160/73/69/E3603/000/ 
FEW STFRA ALQDS CHAOTIC SKY VSBY NE-SSE 20 MI THN FG ALQDS WND LGT/ 
8/79/ 58002 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 60003
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Thunderstorm, overcast stratus, few stratus 
fractus in all directions, moderate rain showers,
occasional cloud to cloud lightning
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 68F; Wind: estimated N at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.96 ins.  Hg, falling, then more quickly   
Visibility: 5 miles, 3/4 of a mile N-ENE, obscured by moderate
rain and light fog in all directions 
6-hr max temp: 72F
6-hr min temp: 67F
3-hr precip: 0.24 inches 
BHO SA 1755 E70 BKN 5TRWF 144/69/68/E3506/996/ 
TB1653E27B55 S MOV NNE OCNL LGTCC FEW STFRA ALQDS 
VSBY N-ENE ¾ MI LGT FG ALQDS/ 8/6// 58016 
ASOS 60022 MANUAL 60024 10072 20067 

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....91    NORMAL.....80
MIN.....68    NORMAL.....62
MEAN....80    NORMAL.....71

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+9
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+25 [+8.1 DEGREE/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............15   DEPARTURE..........+9
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............40   DEPARTURE.........+22 
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........149   DEPARTURE..........+2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......184   DIFFERENCE........-35

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................29  W    AT 9:51 P.M.  
                   ASOS.......................32  W    AT 9:51 P.M.   
                   DAVIS......................27  W    AT 9:50 P.M. RMY 30       
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................23  W    AT 9:52 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................25  W    AT 9:52 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................22  W    AT 9:52 P.M.   
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............10.5  S      	
                   ASOS......................11.2    
                   DAVIS.....................10.0  SSW [202 deg]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.06  DEPARTURE..........-0.16
                         ASOS..............0.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.06  DEPARTURE..........-0.27	    
                         ASOS..............0.05  
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........24.61  DEPARTURE..........-2.69 
                         ASOS.............24.91 

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JUNE 2014 - JULY 2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY GUST
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system 
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized

6/1  72/47/60/-2/0.00/887/98              21 NNW RMY 21
6/2  81/52/67/+5//0.00/879/97             22 SSW RMY 23
6/3  81/57/69/+7/0.00/889/98              25 SSE RMY 28
6/4  64/52/58/-5/0.11/000/00              16 SE  RMY N/A
6/5  60/55/58/-5/0.91/000/00              21 NNW RMY 24
6/6  73/54/64/+1/0.00/655/72              22 WNW RMY 23
6/7  82/56/69/+5/0.00/893/98              21 W   RMY 22
6/8  84/63/74/+10/0.00/702/77             18 SW  RMY N/A
6/9  77/61/69/+5/0.13/046/05              21 WSW RMY 22
6/10 80/56/68/+3/0.10/183/20              29 ENE RMY 33  
6/11 69/55/62/-3/T/439/48                 21 ENE RMY 20
6/12 70/56/63/-2/0.00/101/11              21 ESE RMY N/A 
6/13 67/58/63/-2/0.34/000/00              25 E   RMY N/A  
6/14 73/58/66/0/0.05/238/26               23 WNW RMY 24
6/15 78/53/66/0/0.00/879/96               25 NNW RMY 27
6/16 79/56/68/+2/0.00/834/91              23 S   RMY N/A 
6/17 81/58/70/+3/0.28/752/82              25 S   RMY 24  TSTM
6/18 83/65/74/+7/T/715/78                 35 W   RMY 38 
6/19 81/61/71/+4/0.00/559/61              24 NW  RMY 25
6/20 75/55/65/-3/0.00/889/97              24 NW  RMY 27
6/21 75/52/64/-4/0.00/770/84              17 NNW RMY 19 
6/22 75/54/65/-3/0.00/734/80              17 N   RMY 19
6/23 80/57/69/+1/0.00/862/94              22 SSW RMY 24
6/24 81/57/69/0/0.00/688/75               29 S   RMY 33 
6/25 86/62/74/+5/0.00/761/83              28 SSW RMY 31 
6/26 80/57/69/0/0.29/495/54               26 NE  RMY 27
6/27 74/56/65/-4/0.00/889/97              25 NNE RMY 24
6/28 83/60/72/+2/0.00/889/97              17 WSW RMY 18
6/29 85/60/73/+3/0.00/860/94	         23 S   RMY N/A 
6/30 87/61/74/+4/0.00/868/95              25 SSW RMY 26  

7/1  85/66/76/+6/0.00/.../..              31 SSW RMY 36
7/2  89/69/79/+9/0.00/.../..              33 SSW RMY 38 
7/3  91/68/80/+9/..../.../..              29 W   RMY 30

7/4 morning low of 66F, norm now 62F
 
DAILY EXTREMES 
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):     

RECORDS FOR JULY 4
HIGH 98F IN 1911, 1919, 1949
LOW 48F IN 1914
PRECIP 1.78 IN 1950
PEAK GUST 50e MPH WNW IN 1949

RECORDS FOR JULY 5
HIGH 98F IN 1911
LOW 48F IN 1920, 1927 & 1979
PRECIP 1.45 INS IN 1922
PEAK GUST 44e N IN 1944

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald