BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2016 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME COLDEST VALENTINE'S DAY ON RECORD IN 131 YEARS OF RECORD KEEPING ON GREAT BLUE HILL: TEMPS REACH -14F Temperatures began to tumble yesterday afternoon dropping at a rate of 4 degrees F per hour for several hours. Temps reached below zero after 7:00 PM EST last evening, eventually reaching a minimum of -14F. This reading sets a new daily record minimum temperature, surpassing the old record of -8F set back in 1979. High winds accompanied the Arctic cold, hitting peak gusts in the 41-47 MPH range depending on the anemometer. For official reporting purposes, this morning's low of -14F coupled with the average wind speed of 18 MPH at that time created a wind chill of -39F. It's possible wind chills exceeded -40F with some of the higher wind gusts. Temperatures have struggled to reach above zero today, and by today's 1:00 PM EST observation, a maximum of 8F was recorded. Today's daily record low maximum temperature is 10F, also set back in 1979. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few altocumulus lenticularis distant NE-ESE, few stratocumulus distant S, sea smoke distant offshore NNE-ESE Temperature: -13F; Dew Point: -23F; Wind: WNW at 16 kts, Wind Chill: -38F Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 75 miles 6-hr Max temp: -10F 6-hr Min temp: -14F 24-hr precip: 0.00 24-hr snowfall: 0.0 Snow depth: 8 ins. BHO SA 1155 CLR 75 258/-13/-23/3016/029/ FEW ACSL DSNT NE-ESE FEW SC DSNT S SEA SMOKE DSNT OFFSHR NNE-ESE WND CHILL -38F/ 8/540 4/008 53028 11010 21014 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-ESE and S, sea smoke distant offshore ENE-ESE Temperature: -2F; Dew Point: -15F; Wind: NW at 12G19 kts Wind Chill: -26F Sea-level pressure: 30.36 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 282/-2/-15/3212G19/036/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE AND S SEA SMOKE DSNT OFFSHR ENE-ESE WND CHILL -26F/ 8/500 51024 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-SE Temperature: 8F; Dew Point: -9F; Wind: NW at 12G21 kts, Wind Chill: -9F Sea-level pressure: 30.37 ins. Hg, rising, then steady Visibility: 75 miles 6-hr Max temp: 8F 6-hr Min temp: -13F BHO SA 1755 CLR 75 285/8/-9/3112G21/037/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-SE WND CHILL -9F/ 8/500 51003 10008 21013 SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....21 NORMAL.....36 MIN.....-7 NORMAL.....19 MEAN.....7 NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................-21 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+40 [+2.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............58 DEPARTURE.........+21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............459 DEPARTURE.........-41 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3201 DEPARTURE........-830 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3964 DIFFERENCE.......-763 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................41 W AT 2:08 P.M.* ASOS........................45 W AT 5:40 P.M. DAVIS.......................42 W AT 2:10 P.M. RMY 43 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................31 WNW AT 7:23 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................31 WNW AT 7:23 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................30 NNW AT 7:23 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............16.4 W ASOS.......................15.2 DAVIS......................13.9 NW [311 Deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE......-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.11 DEPARTURE......+1.33 ASOS..............3.15 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........6.88 DEPARTURE......+0.75 ASOS..............7.09 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............21.3 DEPARTURE......+14.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............36.9 DEPARTURE.......-2.6 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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 2/1 64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/.../.. 36 WNW AERO 37 W RMY 34 2/2 48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/.../.. 23 NW AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A 2/3 55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00 55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53 2/4 55/39/47/+21/..../0.0/000/00 37 W AERO 36 W RMY 35 2/5 39/19/29/+3/..../12.5/000/00 37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35 2/6 35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23 2/7 43/26/35/+8/0.00/0.0/.../.. 35 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY N/A 2/8 36/16/26/-1/..../.../000/00 53 NE AERO 55 NE RMY 53 2/9 26/17/22/-5/..../.../000/00 21 N AERO 22 N RMY N/A 2/10 33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.0/.../.. 23 W AERO 23 W RMY 21 2/11 26/7/17/-10/T/T/.../.. 39 W AERO 47 W RMY 42 2/12 23/4/13/-14/0.00/0.0/.../.. 31 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 21 2/13 21/-7/7/-21/0.00/0.0/.../.. 41 W AERO 46 WNW RMY 43 2/14 morning low temp. since midnight -14F; normal now 19F DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016 -NONE SO FAR- DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 14 HIGH 56F IN 1949 LOW -14F IN 2016 PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2007 SNOWFALL 11.0 INCHES IN 1914 PEAK GUST 83 MPH SSW IN 2000 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 15 HIGH 60F IN 1954 LOW -18F IN 1943 PRECIP 1.28 INCHES IN 1950 SNOWFALL 11.2 INCHES IN 1940 PEAK GUST 94e MPH WNW IN 1946 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald