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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

TEMPERATURES CREST AT 55F ON TUESDAY, CREATING 69 DEGREE
ROLLER COASTER RIDE IN LESS THAN 72 HOURS

Following a new daily record minimum temperature of -14F on 
Sunday, temperatures rose 69 degrees in roughly 60 hours, tying
the largest temperature swing at Blue Hill within 72 hours since
records began in 1885. The other swing of 69 degrees occurred between
December 30th, 1933 and January 1st, 1934 when temperatures climbed
from -18F to 51F. Temperatures made it to a maximum of 55F yesterday
afternoon as winds were howling from the SSE. The record low of -14F
on Sunday was also the coldest temperature observed on Great Blue Hill
since -16F was recorded on January 15th, 1957.

Multiple anemometers registered a peak gust in excess of 60 MPH
yesterday, including our F420C official peak gust recorder that
saw 65 MPH from the SSE at 4:12 PM EST. The daily average wind
speed of 26.3 MPH yesterday also represented the windiest average
speed day since April 15th of 2014, when winds averaged 28.7 MPH.

Today's ho-hum weather has featured mostly clear conditions with
temperatures rising from a warmer than normal overnight low of 31F
this morning to a maximum of 43F at today's 1:00 PM EST observation.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken cirrostratus, few altocumulus distant SW
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: WNW at 13G20 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 65 miles, thin fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 38F 
6-hr Min temp: 31F
24-hr precip: 0.56 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E200 BKN 65 100/32/27/2913G20/983/ FEW AC DSNT SW 
THN FG ALQDS/ 8/037 51025 ASOS 70076 MANUAL 70056 10038 20031

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: WNW at 13G22 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.88 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 50 miles SW-NW, thin fog
BHO SA 1455 110 SCT 250 SCT 70 120/38/28/3013G22/988/ 
VSBY SW-NW 50 MI THN FG SW-NW/ 8/031 51020 

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few small cumulus in all directions,
few cirrus distant NW-N
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.89 ins. Hg, rising, then steady
Visibility: 65 miles
6-hr Max temp: 43F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 CLR 65 123/43/28/3007/989/ FEW SML CU ALQDS 
FEW CI DSNT NW-N/ 8/101 51003 10043 20032


SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....55   NORMAL.....37
MIN.....32   NORMAL.....19 
MEAN....44   NORMAL.....28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+16
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+13 [+0.6 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............21   DEPARTURE.........-16
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............597   DEPARTURE.........-14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3339   DEPARTURE........-803
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4134   DIFFERENCE.......-795

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................65 SSE AT  4:12 P.M. 
                   ASOS........................57 SSE AT  3:11 P.M.     
                   DAVIS.......................60 SE  AT  4:13 P.M. RMY 64
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................45 SSE AT  4:12 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................43 S   AT  5:10 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................42 SSE AT  4:13 P.M.      
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............26.3 S
                   ASOS.......................24.7  
                   DAVIS......................23.3 S [175 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.56  DEPARTURE......+0.42
                         ASOS..............0.76
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.08  DEPARTURE......+1.87
                         ASOS..............4.31
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........7.85  DEPARTURE......+1.29  
                         ASOS..............8.25

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............22.5  DEPARTURE......+14.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.1  DEPARTURE.......-2.9

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  55/32/44/+16/..../0.0/.../..          65 SSE AERO 69 SSE RMY 64
 
2/17  morning low temp. since midnight 31F; normal now 19F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

2/14/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F, SURPASSING
PREVIOUS RECORD OF -8F SET IN 1979**
2/14/16: **TIED DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 10F, MATCHING
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 10F SET IN 1979**

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): 

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 18
HIGH 65F IN 1981
LOW -10F IN 1958
PRECIP 1.97 INCHES IN 1887
SNOWFALL 9.2 INCHES IN 1952
PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2008

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald