BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015    ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME SNOW DEVELOPS BEFORE SUNRISE, BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OBSERVED LATE MORNING, 10.8 INCHES OF SNOW BY 1:00 PM EST By this morning's 7:00 AM EST observation 3.7 inches of additional snow added to more than a foot and a half of snow already on the ground, bringing the new snow depth to 18 inches on the ground. Heavy snow began falling just prior to the 7:00 AM EST observation, continuing though most of the morning. By the 10:00 AM EST observation, an additional 4.6 inches had been measured, average 1.5 inches snowfall rate during that 3 hour span.  Winds began increasing significantly by 9:30 AM EST, with a peak gust of 44 MPH occurring at 12:22 PM EST. Temperatures have been on the rise since snow began this morning, jumping from 14F to 21F  from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM, and reaching a maximum of 29F before the mercury began to drop once more. Snow measured 2.5 inches from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM, with a liquid equivalent that increased to 0.34 inches of water due to warmer temperatures.  While snow is still falling, already we have surpassed today's daily snowfall record of 5.5 ins. set back in 1916, 1934.  PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JANUARY 2015  TEMPERATURE Deg. F Av. Max: 30.8 [-3.0] Av. Min: 15.4 [-1.7] Mean: 23.5 [-2.0] Corrected Mean: 23.1 [-2.4]  Max. for month: 51 on 4th Min. for month: -5 on 8th HEATING DEGREE DAY UNITS Total: 1289 [+63] Total for season: 3349 [-181] PRECIPITATION Total: 5.17 [+0.82] Total snowfall: 42.9 [+25.8] Additional data to be added in coming days Top 10 Snowiest Januarys 1) 56.3 in 1948 2) 48.2 in 2011 3) 48.0 in 1904 4) 47.6 in 1996 5) 46.0 in 1966 6) 44.8 in 2005 7) 44.5 in 1923 8) 42.9 in 2015   9) 38.3 in 1987 10) 35.6 in 1978 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Heavy snow, fog, drifting snow Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: E at 13 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.82 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by heavy snow and fog 6-hr max temp: 21F 6-hr min temp: 12F 24-hr precip: 0.34 in.  24 hr snowfall: 3.7 in.  Snow depth: 18 inches  BHO SA 1155 W4 X 1/4S+F 099/21/20/0813/982/  DRFTNG SNW ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 3.7 INS/  8//// 4/018 56056 ASOS 60028 70028 MANUAL 70034 10021 20012 10 A.M.  Weather: Heavy snow, fog, blowing snow Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: ENE at 20G29 kts Peak Wind: 29 knots E @ 09:55 AM EST Sea-level pressure:  29.65 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly         Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by heavy snow and fog 3-hr precip: 0.49 in. 3-hr snowfall: 4.6 in. BHO SA 1455 W4 X 1/4S+F 041/27/26/0720G29/965/  BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 4.6 INS PK WND 0829/55/  8//// 58058 ASOS 60053 MANUAL 60049 1 P.M.  Weather: Moderate snow, fog, blowing snow Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: NE at24G36 kts Peak Wind: 38 knots NE @ 12:22 PM EST Sea-level pressure:  29.45 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly         Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by snow, fog and blowing snow 6-hr precip: 0.83 in. 6-hr snowfall: 7.1 in. BHO SA 1755 W4 X 1/4SF 974/27/26/0524G36/945/  BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 2.5 INS PK WND 0538/22/  8//// 56067 ASOS 60093 MANUAL 60083 10029 20021 SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....28   NORMAL.....34 MIN......8   NORMAL.....17 MEAN....18   NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-8 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................-8 [-8.2 DEGREES/DAY]    HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............47  DEPARTURE...........+8 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............47  DEPARTURE...........+8      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3396  DEPARTURE.........-174 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3570  DIFFERENCE........-148 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................29 WNW    AT 12:38 A.M.*                       ASOS.......................30 W      AT 12:38 A.M.                    DAVIS......................29 WNW    AT 12:37 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................23 WNW    AT 12:37 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................23 WNW    AT 12:38 A.M.     MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................20 WNW    AT 12:38 A.M.       AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............12.1 WNW                        ASOS.....................12.1                        DVIS.....................10.5 WNW [288 degrees]  * last of several occurrences...   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.34  DEPARTURE.....+0.21                           ASOS..............0.28 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.34  DEPARTURE.....+0.21                           ASOS..............0.28   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.51  DEPARTURE.....+1.16                          ASOS..............5.74   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........3.7  DEPARTURE......+3.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................3.7  DEPARTURE......+3.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............57.6  DEPARTURE.....+24.0   PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/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 1/1  31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/544/99              29 SSW RMY 30  1/2  37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/314/57              35 WSW RMY 38 1/3  34/21/28/+2/0.67/2.5/017/03              25 SE  RMY 26    1/4  51/33/42/+16/0.48/0.0/000/00             30 SSW RMY N/A 1/5  46/13/30/+4/0.00/0.0/542/98              48 W   RMY 54 1/6  15/10/13/-13/0.02/0.4/000/00             29 W   RMY N/A 1/7  22/01/12/-14/0.01/0.3/383/69             43 WNW RMY 47   1/8  16/-5/6/-20/0.00/0.0/539/97              39 WNW RMY N/A  1/9  27/16/22/-4/0.08/0.9/201/36              35 WSW RMY 38   1/10 22/11/17/-8/0.00/0.0/541/97              26 WNW RMY 27 1/11 31/9/20/-5/45/0.00/0.0/123/22            26 SSW RMY N/A  1/12 36/31/34/+9/0.23/T/000/00                29 NNW RMY N/A 1/13 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/524/93              30 NNW RMY 29 1/14 22/11/17/-8/T/T/000/00                   18 NNW RMY 16 1/15 27/20/24/-1/0.09/0.8/000/00              20 WSW RMY 22  1/16 35/12/24/-1/T/T/341/60                   46 WSW RMY 50 1/17 21/5/13/-12/0.00/0.0/558/98              30 WNW RMY N/A  1/18 50/19/35/+10/0.16/0.0/000/00             47 SE  RMY 52 1/19 44/28/36/+11/T/0.0/304/53                33 W   RMY 36 1/20 36/23/30/+5/0.00/0.0/495/86              28 W   RMY 28 1/21 30/17/24/-1/0.00/0.0/358/62            21 WNW RMY N/A  1/22 36/25/31/+6/T/T/.../..                   20 WNW RMY 20  1/23 36/18/27/+2/0.00/0.0/.../..              25 SSW RMY 26 1/24 32/27/30/+5/0.84/5.0/000/00              24 SSW RMY N/A 1/25 34/17/26/+1/0.00/0.0/.../..              31 W   RMY 33 1/26 26/9/18/-7/0.50/5.6/.../..               45 N   RMY N/A 1/27 17/10/14/-11/1.94/25.2/000/00            51 N   RMY 52 1/28 22/8/15/-10/T/T/.../..                   30 NW  RMY N/A 1/29 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/.../..              18 NW  RMY N/A  1/30 32/15/24/-2/.../.../000/00               45 NW  RMY 49 1/31 21/7/15/-11/0.00/0.0/.../../             52 NW  RMY 57  2/1  28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/.../../              29 WNW RMY N/A 2/2 morning low temp: 12F since midnight, normal low is now 17 DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015 -NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 27 JANUARY 2015 SNOWFALL 25.2 INS. IN 2015 [NEW RECORD FOR THE MONTH]  Surpasses previous record of 11.7 inches in 2011 for the date, and surpasses previous record for the month of 19.0 inches on 20 January, 1978 DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015 -NONE SO FAR DAILY EXTREMES  Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):      RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2 HIGH 55F IN 1951, 1973 LOW -12F IN 1961 PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1999 SNOWFALL 5.5 INS. IN 1916, 1934 PEAK GUST 92 MPH SW IN 1970 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 3 HIGH 58F IN 1991 LOW -7F IN 1955 PRECIP 2.14 INS. IN 1970 SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1913 PEAK GUST 102 MPH S IN 1970 [RECORD FOR MONTH] TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald