BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015   ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME RAIN COMES DOWN STEADILY OVERNIGHT, 0.50 INCHES OF NEW RAIN BEFORE ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS TODAY- TEMPERATURES CONTINUE ABOVE AVERAGE STREAK Thick fog was in place by early afternoon yesterday, along with steady rain beginning after 2:00 PM EST. By the 7:00 AM EST observation this morning 0.50 inches of new rain had been measured. A high temperature of 53F was reached last evening, some 14 degrees above the daily normal high of 39F. Combined with a daily minimum of 36F, temperatures averaged 14 degrees above normal for the day, increasing the monthly temperature departure to +11.3 above normal per day. Skies were mostly cloudy this morning, with fog rolling in by the 10:00 AM EST observation. Light rain began after 11:00 AM EST, totaling 0.02 inches by the 1:00 PM EST observation. Temperatures had dropped slowly through the morning to 45F by the 1:00 PM EST observation. A maximum temperature of 48F had been reached so far. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, few stratus fractus in all directions, patches of  fog drifting below summit in all directions Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: W at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.67 ins. Hg, rising, then falling  but higher still   Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog 6-hr Max temp: 47F  6-hr Min temp: 45F 24-hr precip: 0.50 ins   BHO SA 1155 E100 BKN 230 BKN 25 048/47/47/2810/967/  FEW STFRA ALQDS PTCHS FG DRFTG BLO SMT ALQDS THN FG ALQDS/  8/778 50009 ASOS 70051 MANUAL 70050 10047 20045 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratus fractus, broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast cirrostratus, few altocumulus lencticularis distant WNW-NNE Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: NW at 9 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly    Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog BHO SA 1455 E15 BKN 40 BKN 70 BKN 200 OVC 25  054/47/47/3109/969/ FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-NNE THN FG ALQDS/ 8/747 51006 1 P.M. Weather: Light rain, overcast nimbostratus  Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.62 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower Visibility: 10 miles, except 15 miles SE, light rain, thin fog   6-hr max. temp: 48F 6-hr min. temp: 45F 6-hr precip: 0.02 ins. BHO SA 1755 E10 OVC 10R- 032/45/44/3008/962/ VSBY SE 15 MI THN FG ALQDS/ 8/6// 58022 ASOS 60002 MANUAL 60002 10048 20045 SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015     TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....53   NORMAL.....39 MIN.....36   NORMAL.....23  MEAN....45   NORMAL.....31   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+196  [+11.3 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............20   DEPARTURE.........-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............336   DEPARTURE........-198 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1338   DEPARTURE........-457 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1658   DIFFERENCE.......-320   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................29 SE  AT  9:04 A.M.                        ASOS........................26 S   AT  3:26 P.M.                               DAVIS.......................28 SE  AT  9:03 A.M. RMY 28 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................22 SE  AT  9:28 A.M.        MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................20 SE  AT  9:36 A.M.                  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................20 SE  AT  9:36 A.M.                  AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............12.3 SSE                    ASOS.......................11.6                             DAVIS......................11.2 SSE [146 Deg.]     * Last of several occurrences  PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.50  DEPARTURE......+0.35                          ASOS...............0.51 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.50  DEPARTURE......-1.27                          ASOS...............1.52 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........40.92  DEPARTURE.....-10.39                            ASOS................N/A *** *** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0  DEPARTURE......-6.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............TRACE  DEPARTURE......-8.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 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 12/1  42/30/36/-1/..../0.0/000/00           19 NNE RMY 19 12/2  53/37/45/+9/..../0.0/000/00           25 SSE RMY 25 12/3  53/37/45/+9/..../0.0/162/29           43 WNW RMY 42 12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80           32 NW  RMY 32 12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99           21 W   RMY N/A 12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96          22 SW  RMY N/A 12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64          31 NE  RMY N/A 12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31 12/9  44/34/39/+5/..../0.0/044/08           28 SSE RMY N/A 12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/.../..             29 SE  RMY N/A 12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/.../..          28 SSW RMY 28 12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/.../..          23 W   RMY N/A  12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/.../..          18 ESE RMY 19 12/14 60/43/52/+20/..../0.0/000/00          32 S   RMY N/A 12/15 61/45/53/+21/..../0.0/.../..          48 W   RMY 51  12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 N   RMY N/A 12/17 53/36/45/+14/..../0.0/000/00          29 SE  RMY 28 12/18 since midnight is 45F; normal low is now 23F   DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015 **12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983** DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):  RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 18 HIGH 59 IN 1928 LOW -11 IN 1919 PRECIP 1.44 INS. IN 1915 SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1904 PEAK GUST 76e W IN 1978 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 19 HIGH 59 IN 1899 LOW -1 IN 1919 PRECIP 2.06 INS. IN 1986 SNOWFALL 14.1 INS. IN 1945 PEAK GUST 68 NE IN 1986 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald