BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015    ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME HISTORIC JANUARY BLIZZARD BRINGS HEAVY SNOW,  BLOWING SNOW AND WINDS GUSTING TO 51 MPH, SNOW 25.5 INCHES BY 1:00 PM EST OBSERVATION TODAY Snow began in earnest last night following an evening  measurement at 7:00 PM EST observation. By the 1:00 PM EST observation today a storm total of 25.5 inches of snow had been measured with a liquid equivalent of 2.26 inches of liquid. Here is how it has broken down between measurements: Jan. 26 2015 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM: Trace 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM: 0.1 snow, 0.01 liquid 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM: 0.9 snow, 0.09 liquid 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM: 4.6 snow, 0.40 liquid Jan. 27 2015 12:00 AM to 7:00 AM: 9.9 snow, 1.08 liquid 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM: 3.7 snow, 0.39 liquid 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM: 6.3 snow, 0.29 liquid The next measurement will be taken at 7:00 PM EST this evening, at which time a special report will be issued,  getting closer to an official storm total.  Conditions today have largely been characterized by gusty NNW-N winds routinely gusting above 30, 40, and  at 05:47 AM EST 51 MPH. Visibility has varied from 1/2 to as low as 1/8 of a mile obscured by blowing snow, heavy snow and fog. Drifts on the summit have begun to exceed three feet in some spots. The door to our hatch has  been difficult to open along with some northeasterly facing doorways as snow continues to drift. Here at BHO, we have cracked open the record books for the potential comparison to some of the biggest snow storms observed here. Here are the top ten snowstorms measured here on Great Blue Hill: 1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969 2) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960 3) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978 4) 30.0 on 31 Mar - 1 Apr, 1997 5) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013 6) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013 7) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003 8) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec, 2003 9) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001 10) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958 Stay tuned tomorrow for special reports and updates, along  with storm totals so far during the daily discussion.    Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Heavy snow, blowing snow, fog Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: N at 24G36 kts Peak Wind: 38 knots, N @ 06:40 AM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.54 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly                     Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by heavy snow, blowing snow and fog  6-hr max temp: 15F 6-hr min temp: 12F 24-hr precip: 1.58 in.  24 hr snowfall: 15.5 ins.  Total snow on ground: 12 inches  BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/4S+F 004/12/10/3624G36/954/ BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24HR 15.5 IN PK WND 3538/40/ 8//// 4/012 56014 ASOS 60101 70160 MANUAL 70158 10015 20012 10 A.M.  Weather: Moderate snow, fog and blowing snow Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: N at 22G39 kts Peak Wind: 39 knots, N @ 09:52 AM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.48 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly        Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, obscured by moderate snow, blowing snow, fog 3-hr precip: 3.7  3-hr snowfall 0.39  BHO SA 1455 W4 X 1/2SF 983/13/10/3622G39/948/ BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 3.7 IN PK WND 3639/52/ 8//// 58021 ASOS 60053 MANUAL 60039 1 P.M.  Weather: Heavy snow, fog and blowing snow   Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: NNW at 20G34 kts,  Peak Wind: 34 knots, N @ 12:51 PM EST Sea-level pressure: 29.45 ins. Hg, falling, then falling more quickly   Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, obscured by heavy snow, blowing snow and fog 6-hr max. temp: 14F 6-hr min. temp: 12F 6-hr precip: 0.68 ins 6-hr snowfall: 10.0 ins BHO SA 1755 W4 X 1/4S+F 974/13/11/3420G34/945/ BLSN ALQDS NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 6.3 IN NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 10.0 IN PK WND 3534/51/ 8//// 58009 ASOS 60084 MANUAL 60068 10014 20012 SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....26   NORMAL.....34 MIN......9   NORMAL.....17 MEAN....18   NORMAL.....25 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........................-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........................-23 [-1.1 DEGREES/DAY]    HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............47  DEPARTURE...........-1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............1052  DEPARTURE..........+24      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3112  DEPARTURE.........-221 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3304  DIFFERENCE........-192 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................45 N     AT 10:36 P.M.*                       ASOS.......................48 NNE   AT 10:26 P.M.                       DAVIS......................45 N     AT 10:26 P.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................30 N     AT 10:27 P.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................30 NE    AT 10:49 P.M.     MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................29 NNE   AT  9:52 P.M.     AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............14.6 N                      ASOS.....................14.7                        DAVIS....................12.7 NNE [029 degrees]  * last of several occurrences...   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....1.58  DEPARTURE.....+1.44                           ASOS..............1.60 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.18  DEPARTURE.....+0.50                           ASOS..............4.27   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........4.18  DEPARTURE.....+0.50                          ASOS..............4.27   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........15.5  DEPARTURE.....+15.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............25.4  DEPARTURE.....+11.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............36.4  DEPARTURE......+6.0   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/-14/0.01/0.3/394/71             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 morning low temp: 12F since midnight; normal low is now 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES  Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):      RECORDS FOR JANUARY 27 HIGH 63F IN 1974 LOW -12F IN 1924 PRECIP 1.59 INS. IN 1996 SNOWFALL 11.7 INS. IN 2011 PEAK GUST 91 MPH SSE IN 1996 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 28 HIGH 59F IN 1916 LOW -9F IN 1888, 1924 PRECIP 2.18 INS. IN 1897 SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1897 PEAK GUST 78e MPH SSE IN 1977 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald