BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

TEMPS SOAR 48 DEGREES OVER 24 HOUR SPAN

Yesterday morning's 7:00 AM EST observation featured a temperature
of -0.4F with warming conditions. Fast forward 24 hours and temperatures
rose to staggering 48F by this morning's 7:00 AM EST observation, hitting
50 F by the next hour. This significantly quick warm-up comes close to
some of our largest calendar day diurnal temperature ranges, including 
our all-time record of 53 degrees (Max 52F, Min -1F) on December 3, 1890.

Snow began last evening, totaling 1.2 inches of new snow before changing
to freezing rain, then rain after 9:00 PM EST. Rain ended during the early
morning hours, totaling 0.41 inches of liquid, before beginning again
at 12:00 PM EST this afternoon. By the 1:00 PM EST observation showers
had started and stopped after noon, resulting in 0.01 inches of new rain.
Temperatures had climbed to a maximum of 53F and visibility was a poor 10
to 15 miles with thin fog and distant showers.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 46F; Wind: S at 26G36 kts,
Peak Wind: 38 knots S at 6:17 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, steady, then falling
Visibility: 15 miles, thin fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 48F 
6-hr Min temp: 34F
24-hr precip: 0.41
24-hr snowfall: 1.2
Snow depth: 6 ins.
BHO SA 1155 75 SCT 250 SCT 15 176/48/46/1726G36/005/ 
THN FG NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.2 INS ALQDS PK WND 1738/17/ 
8/031 4/006 58019 ASOS 60013 70040 MANUAL 70041 10048 20034

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 46F; Wind: SSE at 23G38 kts
Peak Wind: 42 knots S at 9:26 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 25 miles SE-S, thin fog
BHO SA 1455 E70 BKN 140 OVC 15 154/50/46/1623G38/998/ 
VSBY SE-S 25 MI THN FG ALQDS PK WND 1742/26/ 8/51/ 58022

1 P.M.
Weather: Light rain begins 12:00 PM EST, ends 12:45 PM EST,
overcast stratus, showers distant N-NNE
Temperature: 52F; Dew Point: 51F; Wind: SSE at 27G38 kts,
Peak Wind: 38 knots SSE at 12:54 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 10 miles N-NNE, distant shower
and thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 53F
6-hr Min temp: 48F
6-hr precip: 0.01 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 E10 OVC 15 095/52/51/1627G38/981/ 
R-B00E45 VSBY N-NNE 10 MI SHWRS DSNT N-NNE 
THN FG ALQDS PRESFR PK WND 1638/54// 
8/6// 58059 ASOS 60004 MANUAL 60001 10053 20048


SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....32   NORMAL.....37
MIN.....-2   NORMAL.....19 
MEAN....15   NORMAL.....28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................-13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........................-3 [-0.4 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............50   DEPARTURE.........+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............576   DEPARTURE..........+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3318   DEPARTURE........-787
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4074   DIFFERENCE.......-756

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................24 E   AT   9:29 P.M.                        
                   ASOS........................24 E   AT   8:48 P.M.     
                   DAVIS.......................23 E   AT   8:47 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................19 E   AT   8:49 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................18 E   AT   8:49 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................18 E   AT   8:49 P.M.      
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............8.3 W
                   ASOS.......................8.7  
                   DAVIS......................7.3 S [181 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.41  DEPARTURE......+0.26
                         ASOS..............0.40
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.52  DEPARTURE......+1.45
                         ASOS..............3.55
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........7.29  DEPARTURE......+0.87  
                         ASOS..............7.49

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........1.2  DEPARTURE.......-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............22.5  DEPARTURE......+15.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.1  DEPARTURE.......-2.4

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  10/-14/-2/-30/0.00/0.0/.../..         33 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY N/A
2/15  32/-2/15/-13/..../1.2/.../..          24 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
 
2/16  morning low temp. since midnight 32F; 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 16
HIGH 62F IN 1954
LOW -16F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.91 INCHES IN 1958
SNOWFALL 18.6 INCHES IN 1958
PEAK GUST 78 MPH W IN 1967

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 17
HIGH 61F IN 1981
LOW -16F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.86 INCHES IN 2003
SNOWFALL 20.0 INCHES IN 2003
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1968

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald