BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLEAR, COLD CONDITIONS GIVE WAY TO NEXT ROUND OF PRECIPITATION, BEST CHANCE FOR ABOVE FREEZING TEMPS SINCE FEB 5TH Yesterday's max of 15F and min of 0F, averaging 8F, marks the 26th consecutive day of below normal temperatures. This is the longest such streak since December 1989. Yesterday's departure was 21 degrees below the norm, adding to a monthly departure that has been averaging 12 degrees below normal. Clear skies at this morning's 7:00 AM EST observation were quickly overspread by altocumulus, with temperatures and humidity on the increase. An overnight low of 3F, recorded at 4:00 AM EST quickly increased to 19F by the 10:00 AM EST observation. Snow for the season now totals 131.4 inches, placing this season at Blue Hill firmly in third place on the list of snowiest seasons. 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) 77.5 in 2015 (through Feb 21 at 10:00 AM 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) 120.4 in 2015 (through Feb 21 at 10:00 AM 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: Clear, few altocumulus distant SW-NNE, few cirrostratus distant S-NNW Temperature: 7F; Dew Point: -9F; Wind: S at 11 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.51 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 40 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 7F 6-hr min temp: 3F 24-hr precip: none 24 hr snowfall: none Snow depth: 40 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 333/7/-9/1911/051/ FEW AC DSNT SW-NNW FEW CS DSNT S-NNW LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/055 4/040 51009 10007 20003 10 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: SSW at 11G24 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.53 ins. Hg, rising, then falling Visibility: 35 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 E150 BKN 35 337/19/6/2116G24/053/ LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/030 50004 SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....15 NORMAL.....38 MIN......0 NORMAL.....20 MEAN.....8 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-21 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........................-232 [-11.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............57 DEPARTURE..........+21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............987 DEPARTURE.........+230 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4335 DEPARTURE..........+48 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4287 DIFFERENCE.........+36 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................38 W AT 12:03 A.M. ASOS.......................39 W AT 12:03 A.M. DAVIS......................39 WNW AT 9:40 A.M. RMY 40 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................30 WNW AT 2:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................29 W AT 2:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................26 WNW AT 9:40 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............19.1 W ASOS......................18.5 DAVIS.....................16.6 W [283 degrees] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE.....-0.15 ASOS...............N/A *** TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.66 DEPARTURE.....+2.89 ASOS...............N/A *** TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........10.87 DEPARTURE.....+3.84 ASOS...............N/A *** *** ASOS February and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings on February 9-10th and 14-15th SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............77.5 DEPARTURE.....+67.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............131.4 DEPARTURE.....+88.4 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 16 2/18 28/15/22/-7/..../.../.../.. 17 W RMY N/A 2/19 26/6/16/-13/0.02/0.3/.../.. 40 W RMY 43 2/20 15/0/8/-21/0.00/0.0/.../.. 38 W RMY 40 2/21 morning low temp: 3F 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 21 HIGH 62F IN 1930 LOW -6F IN 1950 PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1898 SNOWFALL 9.0 INCHES IN 1929 PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1967 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 22 HIGH 63F IN 1997 LOW -1F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.38 INCHES IN 1900 SNOWFALL 8.0 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 74 MPH S IN 1974 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald