BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS END LATE MORNING- ALL TIME SNOW DEPTH RECORD BROKEN AT 46 INCHES- STORM TOTAL OF 21.6 INCHES- MORE RECORDS BROKEN Snow, which began yesterday in the early afternoon began to ramp up overnight, bringing 3.0 inches by 7:00 PM EST on Saturday. A prolonged break in the snow overnight was promptly ended as heavy snow bands brought over 12 inches in just a three hour span. The ASOS precipitation gauge measure 0.36 inches from 5:00 AM through 6:00 AM, suggesting with liquid equivalents close to 20:1 that an excess of 5 inches fell in one hour early this morning at Blue Hill. By the 10:00 AM EST observation, a storm total of 21.2 inches had been recorded as snow was beginning to wind down, while winds began to ramp up. By the 1:00 PM EST observation the final 0.4 inches of snow fell, finishing the storm at 21.6 inches of snow total, with a liquid equivalent of 1.17 inches of water. Skies were overcast with blowing snow visible for miles in every direction. A peak gust of 35 knots, or 40 MPH was recorded so far. Snow surveys conducted in different sites across the summit of Great Blue Hill have indicated an average snow dept of 46 inches, which is now the greatest snow depth ever measured in our 130 year existence. This record beats out the old record of 43 inches set back in March of 1969 during another epic winter. Snow for the season now totals 125.2, placing this season at Blue Hill firmly in third place for the snowiest season on record. Following today's storm, February 2015 is also the snowiest February on record, as well as the snowiest month on record. This latest storm has also made it onto the list of single greatest storm totals in February and all time. See below: BHO Greatest Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015): 1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969 2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan, 2015 3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960 4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978 5) 30.0 on 31 Mar - 1 Apr, 1997 6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013 7) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015 8) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013 9) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003 10) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003 11) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001 12) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958 13) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015 14) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969 BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2015): 1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969 2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978 3) 27.7 on 7-10 Feb, 2015 4) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013 5) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003 6) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958 7) 21.6 on 14-15 Feb, 2015 8) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969 BHO Snowiest February, inches (1885-2015): 1) 71.3 in 2015 (through Feb 15 at 1:00 PM EST) 2) 65.4 in 1969 3) 51.3 in 2003 4) 45.2 in 1967 5) 40.4 in 1920 6) 39.7 in 2013 7) 37.0 in 1893 BHO Snowiest January-February, inches (1886-2015): 1) 114.2 in 2015 (through Feb 15 at 1:00 PM EST) 2) 77.9 in 1948 3) 70.2 in 2005 4) 68.7 in 1904 5) 67.5 in 1920 6) 66.9 in 1994 BHO Greatest Snow Depth, inches (1895-2015): 1) 46 in February 2015 2) 43 in March 1969 3) 42 in January 1948 4) 41 in February 1969 5) 39 in February 1948 6) 38 in February 1920 7) 33 in February 1978 33 in January 1996 9) 31 in February 2003 31 in February 2011 11)30 in March 1960 30 in March 1978 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Heavy snow, fog and blowing snow Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: NNW at 16G23 kts, Peak Wind: 28 kts NNW @ 6:27 AM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.33 ins. Hg, falling then rising, now higher Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by heavy snow, fog and blowing snow 6-hr max temp: 18F 6-hr min temp: 14F 24-hr precip: 0.96 inches 24 hr snowfall: 19.1 inches Snow depth: 45 inches BHO SA 1155 W4 X 1/4S+F 933/18/16/3416G23/933/ BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 19.1 INS PK WND 3428/27/ 8//// 4/045 53009 ASOS 60069 70102 MANUAL 70096 10018 20014 10 A.M. Weather: Light snow, fog and blowing snow Temperature: 16F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: NNW at 23G31 kts Peak Wind: 31 knots NNW @ 9:49 AM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.42 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by light snow, fog and blowing snow 3-hr precip: 0.18 inches 3-hr snowfall: 2.1 inches BHO SA 1455 W4 X 1/4S-F 962/16/13/3423G31/942/ BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 2.1 INS PK WND 3431/49/ 8//// 53029 ASOS 60017 MANUAL 60018 1 P.M. Weather: Overcast altostratus, few cumulus fractus E-SW, blowing snow in all directions and distant below summit, sun dimly visible Temperature: 15F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: NW at 24G31 kts Peak Wind: 33 kts NW @ 12:37 PM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.50 ins. rising then more slowly Visibility: 30 miles, blowing snow in all directions 6-hr max temp: 18F 6-hr min temp: 15F 6-hr precip: 0.21 inches 6-hr snowfall: 2.5 inches BHO SA 1755 E85 OVC 30 991/15/8/3224G31/950/ FEW CUFRA E-SW BLSN ALQDS AND BLO SMT SUN DMLY VSBL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 0.4 INS STORM TOTAL 21.6 INS PK WND 3233/37/ 8/71/ 51029 ASOS 60020 MANUAL 60021 10018 20015 SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....26 NORMAL.....37 MIN......1 NORMAL.....19 MEAN....14 NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........................-131 [-9.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............51 DEPARTURE..........+14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............667 DEPARTURE.........+130 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4015 DEPARTURE..........-53 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4071 DIFFERENCE.........-56 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................24 NW AT 11:08 P.M. ASOS.......................25 NW AT 10:51 P.M. DAVIS......................21 SSE AT 1:38 P.M. RMY 32 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................19 NW AT 11:09 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................20 NW AT 11:07 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................17 ESE AT 6:45 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............10.9 W ASOS.....................11.6 DAVIS....................10.0 S [176 degrees] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.96 DEPARTURE.....+0.82 ASOS..............1.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.26 DEPARTURE.....+3.34 ASOS...............N/A *** TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........10.43 DEPARTURE.....+4.29 ASOS...............N/A *** *** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings on February 9-10th. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........19.1 DEPARTURE.....+18.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............68.8 DEPARTURE.....+61.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............122.7 DEPARTURE.....+82.7 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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 2/1 28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/.../.. 29 WNW RMY N/A 2/2 29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00 44 NE RMY 46 2/3 21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/.../.. 31 NW RMY N/A 2/4 36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 31 S RMY 33 2/5 34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/.../.. 38 NW RMY 39 2/6 19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 NW RMY 27 2/7 25/14/20/-7/..../.../.../.. 25 WSW RMY N/A 2/8 29/11/20/-7/..../.../000/00 30 NNE RMY 29 2/9 19/12/16/-11/..../.../000/00 29 N RMY 28 2/10 28/12/20/-7/..../.../.../.. 29 N RMY 29 2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/.../.. 30 N RMY 29 2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/.../.. 31 NW RMY N/A 2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/.../.. 35 NW RMY 35 2/14 26/1/14/-14/..../.../.../.. 24 NW RMY N/A 2/15 morning low temp: 14F since midnight, normal low is now 19 DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015 - NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015 SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. surpasses previous record: 5.5 ins. in 1916, 1934 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 15 HIGH 60F IN 1954 LOW -18F IN 1943 PRECIP 1.28 INCHES IN 1950 SNOWFALL 11.2 INCHES IN 1940 PEAK GUST 94e MPH WNW IN 1946 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 16 HIGH 62F IN 1954 LOW -16F IN 1943 PRECIP 1.91 INCHES IN 1958 SNOWFALL 18.6 INCHES IN 1958 PEAK GUST 78 MPH W IN 1967 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald