BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME ANOTHER BRIEF SNOW EVENT BRINGS 0.6 INCHES OF NEW SNOW, SEASONAL TOTAL 137.5, JUST 6.9 INCHES AWAY FROM TYING SNOWIEST SEASON ON RECORD Yesterday's continued cold with a maximum of 21F and low of 15F lowered the monthly average temperature to 11.7 degrees below normal so far this month. With little warm up in sight before the end of the month, February 2015 will likely end up in the top 10 coldest months on record here at Blue Hill Observatory. Through the 26th, the 24-hour corrected mean temperature for the month is 17.0 deg F. The list of coldest months follows below: BHO Coldest Months, deg F (1885-2014) 1) 13.5 in Feb, 1934 2) 15.5 in Jan, 1920 3) 16.3 in Jan, 1888 4) 16.4 in Feb, 1885 5) 17.1 in Feb, 1923 6) 17.2 in Jan, 1912 17.2 in Jan, 1918 17.2 in Jan, 2004 9) 17.4 in Jan, 1893 17.4 in Dec, 1989 Snow that began at 11:29 AM EST yesterday, falling light to moderately from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, continued past the 1:00 PM EST observation, totaling 0.6 inches of new snow. Clear, cold conditions were present this morning, with an overnight low of 9F and few cirrus and altocumulus lingering in the skies. By the 1:00 PM EST observation visibility had increased to 70 miles in all directions, with thin cirrus fibratus broken overhead and few stratocumulus distant offshore. A maximum reading of 23F had been recorded by this time. Snow for the season now totals 137.5 inches, placing this season at Blue Hill firmly in second 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 past storm brings us even closer to first place and continues to push our monthly record higher. 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) 83.6 in 2015 (through Feb 26 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) 126.5 in 2015 (through Feb 26 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: Clear, few altocumulus distant offshore NNE-SE, few cirrus in all directions Temperature: 11F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: NNW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 40 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 14F 6-hr min temp: 9F 24-hr precip: 0.04 24-hr snowfall: 0.6 Snow depth: 38 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 252/11/-1/3311/027/ FEW AC DSNT OFFSHR NNE-SE FEW CI ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.6 INS/ 8/021 4/038 51025 ASOS 70006 MANUAL 70004 10014 20009 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore ENE-E Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 1F; Wind: NW at 7 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.34 ins. Hg, rising, then steady Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 275/18/1/3107/034/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR ENE-E LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/500 51023 1 P.M. Weather: Broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-ESE Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.34 ins. Hg, steady, then falling Visibility: 70 miles 6-hr max temp: 23F 6-hr min temp: 10F BHO SA 1755 E250 BKN 70 273/22/4/3007/034/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE/ 8/501 58002 10023 20010 SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....21 NORMAL.....39 MIN.....15 NORMAL.....21 MEAN....18 NORMAL.....30 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-12 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........................-298 [-11.7 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............47 DEPARTURE..........+12 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............1265 DEPARTURE.........+297 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4613 DEPARTURE.........+114 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4492 DIFFERENCE........+121 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................25 NE AT 3:08 P.M. ASOS.......................24 NE AT 3:08 P.M. DAVIS......................22 NE AT 3:08 P.M. RMY 24 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................15 NNE AT 3:15 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................15 NNE AT 3:15 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................15 NNE AT 3:14 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............8.4 N ASOS.....................8.4 DAVIS....................7.4 N [351 degrees] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.04 DEPARTURE.....-0.12 ASOS..............0.06 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........6.17 DEPARTURE.....+2.43 ASOS...............N/A *** TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........11.34 DEPARTURE.....+3.38 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..........0.6 DEPARTURE......+0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............83.6 DEPARTURE.....+70.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............137.5 DEPARTURE.....+91.5 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/-8/0.00/0.0/582/97 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/-15/0.00/0.0/593/98 31 NW RMY N/A 2/4 36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/164/27 31 S RMY 33 2/5 34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/000/00 38 NW RMY 39 2/6 19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/392/64 28 NW RMY 27 2/7 25/14/20/-7/..../.../000/00 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/..../.../081/13 29 N RMY 29 2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/000/00 30 N RMY 29 2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/000/00 31 NW RMY N/A 2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/630/100 35 NW RMY 35 2/14 26/1/14/-14/..../.../241/38 24 NW RMY N/A 2/15 18/-6/6/-22/..../.../000/00 53 NW RMY 59 2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/606/95 43 NW RMY N/A 2/17 21/5/13/-15/0.12/2.0/064/10 18 NW RMY 16 2/18 28/15/22/-7/..../.../039/06 17 W RMY N/A 2/19 26/6/16/-13/0.02/0.3/116/18 40 W RMY 43 2/20 15/0/8/-21/0.00/0.0/630/97 38 W RMY 40 2/21 32/3/18/-11/..../.../462/71 39 SSW RMY 42 2/22 39/27/33/+4/..../.../327/50 25 WSW RMY N/A 2/23 28/1/15/-15/0.00/0.0/.../.. 38 WNW RMY 44 2/24 18/-6/6/-24/..../.../.../.. 26 S RMY 27 2/25 32/11/22/-8/..../.../.../.. 35 W RMY 36 2/26 21/15/18/-12/0.04/0.6/.../.. 25 NE RMY 24 2/27 morning low temp: 9F since midnight, normal low is now 22 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 27 HIGH 61F IN 1976 LOW -8F IN 1900 PRECIP 1.43 INCHES IN 2013 SNOWFALL 6.0 INCHES IN 1922 PEAK GUST 67 MPH W IN 1985 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 28 HIGH 62F IN 1976 LOW -2F IN 1907,1934 PRECIP 1.79 INCHES IN 1958 SNOWFALL 8.5 INCHES IN 2005 PEAK GUST 88e MPH SSW IN 1943 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald