BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015    ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME LIGHT SNOW ADDS 2.0 INCHES TO MAKE SEASONAL TOTAL NOW 127.2 INCHES Snow, which fell lightly over the course of several hours brought an additional 2.0 inches to an already deep snowpack. At this morning's 7:00 AM EST observation snow depth sat at 44 inches.  Skies were briefly clear this morning prior to stratus and stratocumulus overspreading the area, along with  decreasing visibility. An overnight low of 15F was  recorded, following another below average temperature day. Temperature departure for the month now stands at -11.4 degrees F per day. Snow for the season now totals 127.2 inches, placing this season at Blue Hill firmly in third place on the list of snowiest seasons. Following last weekend’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) 73.3 in 2015 (through Feb 18 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) 116.2 in 2015 (through Feb 18 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: Scattered stratocumulus, broken cirrus Temperature: 16F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: N at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, falling, then rising Visibility: 80 miles, except 40 miles ESE-SW, distant haze 6-hr max temp: 18F 6-hr min temp: 15F 24-hr precip: 0.12 inches 24 hr snowfall: 2.0 inches Snow depth: 44 inches  BHO SA 1155 42 SCT E250 BKN 80 135/16/8/3608/993/  VSBY ESE-SW 40 MI LGT DSNT HZ ESE-SW NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 2.0 INS/  8/501 4/044 53003 ASOS 70011 MANUAL 70012 10018 20015 10 A.M.  Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast stratus Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: estimated NNE at 6 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, rising, then falling Visibility: 8 miles, except 10 miles NNW-NE, obscured by light snow BHO SA 1455 30 SCT E37 OVC 50 131/24/12/E0206/992/  LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/6// 58004 1 P.M.  Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratus Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: estimated NE at 6 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. falling then more quickly    Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 28F 6-hr min temp: 16F 6-hr precip: none 6-hr snowfall: none BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN 40 OVC 50 101/27/16/E0506/983/  LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LT/ 8/6// 58030 10028 20016 SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....21   NORMAL.....37 MIN......5   NORMAL.....19 MEAN....13   NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-15 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........................-191 [-11.4 DEGREES/DAY]    HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............52  DEPARTURE..........+15 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............838  DEPARTURE.........+190      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4186  DEPARTURE...........+8 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4179  DIFFERENCE..........-7 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................18 NW  AT 12:30 A.M.*                       ASOS....................... MISSING **                    DAVIS......................17 WNW AT 12:00 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................15 NW  AT 12:28 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE................. MISSING **     MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................13 NW  AT 12:28 A.M.       AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............7.9 NNW                        ASOS..................... MISSING **                       DAVIS....................6.9 NNW [337 degrees]  * last of several occurrences... **ASOS SENSOR CURRENTLY DOWN   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.12  DEPARTURE.....-0.03                          ASOS..............N/A *** TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.59  DEPARTURE.....+3.23                           ASOS...............N/A ***   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........10.76  DEPARTURE.....+4.18                          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..........2.0  DEPARTURE......+1.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............73.3  DEPARTURE.....+64.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............127.2  DEPARTURE.....+85.7   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 18/-6/6/-22/..../.../.../..              53 NW  RMY 59 2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/.../..              43 NW  RMY N/A 2/17 21/5/13/-15/0.12/2.0/.../..              18 NW  RMY N/A 2/18 morning low temp: 15F since midnight, normal low is now 20 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 18 HIGH 65F IN 1981 LOW -10F IN 1958 PRECIP 1.97 INCHES IN 1887 SNOWFALL 9.2 INCHES IN 1952 PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2008 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 19 HIGH 66F IN 1981 LOW -5F IN 1923 PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1972 SNOWFALL 12.0 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1972 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald If you do not wish to receive this Daily Discussion and Climate Summary from the Blue Hill Observatory, please send an email to bfitzgerald@bluehill.org.