BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
BREEZY AND RAINY WEATHER FOR CHRISTMAS EVE
 
A fairly weak weather system has been impacting the region today, but it
has been enough to wash out most of the daylight hours on this Christmas
Eve.  Rain began shortly after 8:00 this morning and has continued light
to moderate since then.  Through the 1:00 P.M. observation, 0.29 inches of
rain have fallen.  No frozen precipitation was observed, with temperatures
hovering in the upper 30s for most of the day.  Winds have been breezy from
the south and southwest, gusting to 30mph this morning and averaging over
15mph for most of the day.
 
While temperatures are a little above normal today and expected to be so
again tomorrow, it is a far cry from what happened over the Christmas
holiday last year.  Temperatures at the Observatory reached 67F and 64F
for December 24 and 25 last year, respectively.  Both of those values were
record daily highs, with both days also featuring record high minimum
temperatures.
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: S at 17G24 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.21 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 25 miles SW-W, distant fog
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 34F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: None
BHO SA 1155 E100 BKN 170 OVC 15 231/37/27/1917G24/021/
DSNT FG VSBY SW-W 25/ 8/07/ 56020 10037 20034
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Light rain, broken stratocumulus, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: SSW at 16G24 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 10 miles, thin fog all quadrants
3-hr precip: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E45 BKN 55 OVC 10R- 216/39/36/2016G24/017/
THN FG ALQDS/ 8/52/ 58015 MANUAL 6000/
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Sky obscured with moderate rain and fog, stratus fractus
drifting below summit
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 39F; Wind: SW at 12G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 1/8 miles
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
6-hr precip: 0.29 ins.
BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/8RF 165/39/39/2312G18/002/ STFRA DRFTG BLO SMT/
8//// 56051 ASOS 60027 MANUAL 60029 10040 20037
 
SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....44   NORMAL.....37
MIN.....29   NORMAL.....21
MEAN....37   NORMAL.....29
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-23 [-1.2 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............28   DEPARTURE..........-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............766   DEPARTURE.........+21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1796   DEPARTURE........-211
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1472   DIFFERENCE.......+324
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................25 WNW AT 3:29 A.M.
                   ASOS........................26 NW  AT 3:29 A.M.
                   DAVIS.......................25 W   AT 3:28 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................19 NW  AT 4:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................21 NW  AT 4:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................19 W   AT 4:37 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............12.3 WSW
                   ASOS......................12.0
                   DAVIS.....................11.0 SW [218 Deg.]
*Last of multiple occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.16
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.49  DEPARTURE......-2.22
                         ASOS..............1.65
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........38.46  DEPARTURE.....-13.78
                         ASOS.............39.08
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................6.0  DEPARTURE.......-3.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............6.0  DEPARTURE.......-5.8
 
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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
M:    Missing data
 
12/1  55/39/47/+10/0.20/0.0/385/69          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 36
12/2  48/34/41/+5/0.00/0.0/535/96           32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
13/3  44/31/38/+2/0.00/0.0/445/80           37 WNW AERO 39 WNW RMY 40
12/4  39/27/33/-2/0.00/0.0/355/64           25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A
12/5  36/27/32/-3/0.13/0.4/000/00           26 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 29
12/6  42/30/36/+1/0.00/0.0/392/71           22 W   AERO 21 W   RMY N/A
12/7  39/34/37/+3/0.10/0.0/000/00           21 E   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A
12/8  40/29/35/+1/0.00/0.0/033/06           30 W   AERO 31 W   RMY 33
12/9  35/21/28/-6/0.00/0.0/549/100          35 W   AERO 36 WNW RMY 34
12/10 27/17/22/-11/0.00/0.0/544/99          26 WNW AERO 27 WNW RMY 29
12/11 33/16/25/-8/0.06/0.4/411/75           17 SSW AERO 15 SW  RMY N/A
12/12 41/27/34/+1/0.35/0.9/038/07           29 ESE AERO 29 SE  RMY 30
12/13 41/30/36/+4/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 WSW AERO 25 W   RMY 27
12/14 40/26/33/+1/0.00/0.0/.../..           30 WNW AERO 31 WNW RMY N/A
12/15 29/13/21/-11/T/T/.../..               50 W   AERO 62 W   RMY 56
12/16 18/01/10/-21/0.00/0.0/.../..          39 WNW AERO 51 WNW RMY N/A
12/17 36/18/27/-4/0.60/4.3/.../..           25 SSW AERO 28 SSW RMY N/A
12/18 55/30/43/+12/0.05/0.0/.../..          47 WSW AERO 53 S   RMY 53
12/19 30/17/24/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..           26 WNW*AERO 28 NW  RMY 26
12/20 32/13/23/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..           28 SSE AERO 29 SSW RMY N/A
12/21 40/25/33/+3/0.00/0.0/.../..           28 SSE AERO 28 SSW RMY 30
12/22 38/29/34/+5/T/T/.../..                28 SSE AERO 29 S   RMY 30
12/23 44/29/37/+8/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 WNW AERO 25 WNW RMY N/A
 
12/24 Low temp since midnight is 34F; normal low is now 21F
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 24
HIGH 67 IN 2015
LOW -6 IN 1943
PRECIP 2.21 INS. IN 1994
SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1961
PEAK GUST 79e MPH SE IN 1941
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 25
HIGH 64 IN 2015
LOW -11 IN 1980
PRECIP 1.37 INS. IN 2002
SNOWFALL 8.5 INS. IN 2002
PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1971
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien