BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014    ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME YESTERDAY'S DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE BROKEN, MODERATE DROUGHT CONTINUES, REPORTS OF BRUSH FIRE The maximum temperature of 84F Saturday equaled the  record for September 27 set in 1998. Yesterday's record high temperature of 82F in 1959 was  broken in the late afternoon at 86F.  High altocumulus, altostratus and cirrostratus have moved into the region overnight, with an inversion to start the morning. Visibility has been quite poor along with layers of smoke visible at times throughout the morning along with light winds. A back door cold front is expected later today potentially bringing fog to the summit. A brush fire was burning this morning after the 7:00 AM EST with smoke spotted on the north side of Great Blue Hill.  Milton Fire Department responded to several reports and  were able to extinguish the fire after two separate visits to the scene just off the Red Dot Trail. As NE winds pick up this afternoon, threats for uncontrolled brush fires  remain at very high levels. DROUGHT HERE AT BLUE HILL... Only 0.26 inches of precipitation has been recorded for the month of September with only a few days left in the month. The driest September on record of 0.45 inches, back in 1914, may be in jeopardy depending on what rain may fall through tomorrow.  The monthly precipitation deficit is now down to -3.50 inches, along with an annual deficit that is now -7.34 inches. Like August, September has been another very sunny month with  the percentage of possible sunshine up close to 70%.    Blue Hill, along with much of South Shore Massachusetts, Rhode Island and coastal Connecticut are now in moderate drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center, whose Drought Monitor is available through their website. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus     Temperature: 65F; Dew Point: 59F; Wind: estimated WNW at 5 kts, Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, rising slightly         Visibility: 50 miles, thin fog below dissipating inversion,  visibility 50 miles above inversion, smoke layer below station distant N-ENE   6-hr max temp: 65F  6-hr min temp: 61F 24-hr precip: 0.00  BHO SA 1155 160 SCT E250 BKN 50 155/65/59/E3005/999/  THN FG BLO STA ALQDS K LYR BLO STA DSNT N-ENE WND LGT/  8/076 53002 10065 20061         10 A.M.   Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 58F; Wind: estimated N at 3 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg, rising slightly  Visibility: 25 miles, hazy in all directions, dark smoke layer WSW-N BHO SA 1455 E150 BKN 250 BKN 25 158/69/58/E0103/000/  DRK K LYR WSW-N HAZY ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/076 51003    1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, few cumulus distant W, few altocumulus lenticularis distant WSW-ENE  Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 57F; Wind: NE at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, steady then fallings   Visibility: 30 miles, hazy 6-hr max temp: 75F 6-hr min temp: 65F 6-hr precip: none   BHO SA 1755 140 SCT E250 BKN 30 153/70/57/0308/998/  FEW CU DSNT W FEW ACSL DSNT WSW-ENE HAZY ALQDS/  8/076 58005 10075 20065  WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....86    NORMAL.....67 MIN.....63    NORMAL.....50 MEAN....75    NORMAL.....58 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+17 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+60 [+1.9 DEGREES/DAY] COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC) TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............10   DEPARTURE...........+9 TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............108   DEPARTURE..........+49 TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........587   DEPARTURE...........-9 TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......696   DIFFERENCE........-109 HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............0  DEPARTURE..........-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............89  DEPARTURE.........-12      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.............91  DEPARTURE.........-35 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......132 DIFFERENCE.........-41 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................17 SW  AT 11:08 P.M.                                      ASOS.......................18 SSW AT  2:48 P.M.                                        DAVIS......................18 W   AT 12:37 P.M. RMY 18        FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................14 SW  AT 10:20 P.M.       MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................14 SSW AT 10:34 P.M.                   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................13 SW  AT 10:21 P.M.                              AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............7.4 SW                    ASOS......................7.6                      DAVIS.....................6.1 WSW (240 degrees)   * last of several occurrences                    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..........0.26  DEPARTURE..........-3.50                               ASOS..............0.23   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........31.44  DEPARTURE..........-7.34                          ASOS.............31.66    PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 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 9/1  88/69/79/+11/0.00/710/90             16 W   RMY 19 9/2  91/70/81/+13/0.00/495/63             24 S   RMY 27 TSTM 9/3  83/67/75/+8/0.00/681/87              24 NW  RMY 27    9/4  86/61/74/+7/0.00/758/97              20 SW  RMY 22  9/5  89/66/78/+11/0.00/731/94             25 SSW RMY 29  9/6  90/67/79/+12/T/481/62                33 SSW RMY 36 TSTM 9/7  77/62/70/+4/0.03/687/89              26 NW  RMY N/A 9/8  74/57/66/+0/0.00/601/78              25 ENE RMY 25 9/9  71/59/65/-1/0.00/384/50              23 ENE RMY 23 9/10 71/58/65/0/0.00/329/43               20 NE  RMY 20  9/11 78/60/69/+4/0.00/099/13 31 SW  RMY 35  9/12 72/51/62/-3/0.00/735/97              25 NNW RMY 22 9/13 67/50/59/-5/0.17/159/21              23 E   RMY 24  9/14 66/47/57/-7/0.00/685/91              25 NW  RMY 24 9/15 67/43/55/-9/0.00/698/93              17 W   RMY 18 9/16 66/52/59/-4/T/030/04                 16 SW  RMY 16 9/17 72/50/61/-2/0.00/722/98              16 NW  RMY 17  9/18 74/52/63/+1/0.00/578/78              21 N   RMY 23  9/19 56/43/50/-12/0.00/702/95             21 NE  RMY 23 9/20 71/45/58/-4/T/515/70                 29 S   RMY 30 9/21 80/61/71/+10/0.06/176/24             26 SSE RMY 27 9/22 72/48/60/-1/0.00/701/96              33 W   RMY 35 9/23 70/44/57/-3/0.00/712/98              20 W   RMY 20 9/24 69/52/61/+1/0.00/543/75              21 NE  RMY 21  9/25 59/52/56/-4/0.00/000/00              20 NE  RMY 19  9/26 73/52/63/+4/0.00/654/91              19 NNE RMY 19               9/27 84/58/71/+12/0.00/.../..             17 NNW RMY N/A 9/28 86/63/75/+17/0.00/.../..             17 SW  RMY 18 9/29 morning low temp: 62F since midnight; normal low now 49F DAILY RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 2014: 9/27 - Maximum temperature of 84F; equaled record high maximum set in 1998 9/28 - Maximum temperature of 86F; surpassed record high maximum of 82F set in 1959 DAILY EXTREMES  Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):      RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 29 HIGH 85F IN 1952 LOW 28F IN 1914 (SEPTEMBER MINIMUM RECORD) PRECIP 2.61 INCHES IN 1907 PEAK GUST 62 MPH S IN 2005 RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 30 HIGH 84F IN 1986 LOW 31F IN 1992 PRECIP 1.93 INCHES IN 1946 PEAK GUST 58 MPH SSE IN 1999 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald