BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016  ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLEAR AND COOLER CONDITIONS PREVAIL WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY Following a roller coaster start to the week, temperatures and conditions began to moderate under an area of high pressure moving into the region. Temperatures had remained warmer than normal, with temperatures dipping down to 25F this morning, some 5 degrees warmer than today's normal daily low. A cold front that moved through overnight brought in drier, slightly cooler air. Skies were mostly clear this morning, and by today's 1:00 PM EST observation skies were almost completely clear of clouds with a visibility of 75 miles in all directions. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-SE, few stratocumulus lenticularis distant NW-S, few altocumulus distant W-NNW Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: NW at 11G20 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 80 miles 6-hr Max temp: 29F  6-hr Min temp: 25F 24-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. Snow depth: Trace BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 250/25/14/3111G20/027/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-SE FEW SCSL DSNT NW-S FEW AC DSNT W-NNW/ 8/830 51028 10029 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant NW, few cirrus distant NE Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: NW at 14G22 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 80 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 266/29/14/3214G22/032/ FEW CU DSNT NW FEW CI DSNT NE/ 8/101 53016 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant N-E, few cirrus distant S Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: NW at 13G20 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower Visibility: 75 miles 6-hr Max temp: 32F 6-hr Min temp: 25F 6-hr precip: 0.00 ins.  BHO SA 1755 CLR 75 261/31/11/3213G20/030/ FEW SC DSNT N-E FEW CI DSNT S/ 8/501 50005 10032 20025 SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016     TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....43   NORMAL.....37 MIN.....30   NORMAL.....19  MEAN....37   NORMAL.....28 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+9 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+22 [+1.3 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............28   DEPARTURE..........-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............625   DEPARTURE.........-23 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3367   DEPARTURE........-811 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4186   DIFFERENCE.......-819 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................33 W   AT 12:03 A.M.                                            ASOS........................34 W   AT 12:00 A.M.                         DAVIS.......................30 N   AT 12:48 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................26 W   AT 12:02 A.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................25 W   AT 12:03 A.M.       MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................23 W   AT 12:02 A.M.       AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............11.9 WNW                    ASOS.......................12.0                      DAVIS......................10.3 WNW [300 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..........4.08  DEPARTURE......+1.72                          ASOS..............4.31 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........7.85  DEPARTURE......+1.14                            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......+14.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.1  DEPARTURE.......-3.4 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  55/32/44/+16/..../0.0/.../..          65 SSE AERO 69 SSE RMY 64 2/17  43/30/37/+9/0.00/0.0/.../..           33 W   AERO 35 W   RMY N/A   2/18  morning low temp. since midnight 25F; normal now 20F 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 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 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 19 HIGH 66F IN 1981 LOW -5F IN 1923 PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1972 SNOWFALL 12.0 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1972 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald