BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPS RETURN TO ABOVE NORMAL WARMTH- THIN ICE FREEZE OVER  ON BOTH HOUGHTON'S AND PONKAPOAG PONDS AS OF WEDNESDAY 1/6/16 Thin, glassy ice covered the entirety of both Houghton's and Ponkapoag ponds, making Wednesday the first freeze over of the season for both ponds. Wednesday's date was nearly one month later than the mean date for freeze over our 130 year record of both ponds, and only 12 days before the latest freeze on record for both ponds on January 18th, 2007. The warmest December on record at Blue Hill Observatory was likely one of the main factors for this year's late freeze date. Another thermal inversion set up below the hill this morning, trapping hazy and foggy cold air below. Following an overnight low temperature of 26F, temperatures have climbed into the  40s for the second consecutive day, reaching 43F by the 1:00 PM EST observation.  DECEMBER FINISHES AS THE WARMEST ON RECORD...NEARLY FIVE  DEGREES WARMER THAN PREVIOUS RECORD FOR THE MONTH... THIRD RECORD WARM MONTH IN 2015...GREATEST POSITIVE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FOR ANY MONTH...DECEMBER ALSO AMONG CLOUDIEST ON RECORD... BHO Warmest Decembers (24-hour Mean), deg F (1885-2015) 1) 42.9 in 2015 2) 38.1 in 2006 3) 37.5 in 2011 4) 37.3 in 2001 5) 37.2 in 1891 6) 36.9 in 1998 7) 36.7 in 1990 BHO Largest Monthly 24-Hour Mean Temperature Departure from the Long-Term Mean, deg F (1885-2015): 1)+13.1 in December 2015 2) +9.9 in January 1913 3) +9.3 in January 1932 4) +9.1 in March 1946 5) +9.0 in March 2012 6) +8.9 in January 1937 7) +8.5 in February 1984 BHO Lowest December Sunshine, hours (1885-2015): 1) 72.9 in 1972  [27%] 2) 81.0 in 1982  [29%] 3) 87.2 in 1933  [32%] 4) 88.2 in 1996  [32%] 5) 89.0 in 1922  [32%] 6) 89.5 in 1981  [33%] 7) 91.1 in 1906  [33%] 8) 92.0 in 2012  [34%] 9) 92.9 in 2013  [34%] 10) 93.3 in 2015 [34%] PRELIMINARY STATS FOR DECEMBER 2015 TEMPERATURE, Deg. F Avg. Max. 50.5 [+11.4] Avg. Min. 36.9 [+13.3] Mean      43.7 [+12.4] 24-hour Corrected Mean: 42.9 [+13.1] Max. for month: 67 on 24th Min. for month: 23 on 29th, 30th HEATING DEGREE DAYS Total cooling units: 654 [-389]   Total for the season: 1656 [-649] Total for last season: 2060 PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 4.27 [-0.49] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.04 ins. on the 28th-29th Snowfall: 1.3 [-12.1] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.3 ins. on the 28th-29th    WIND, mph Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.3 Avg. corrected wind speed: 11.8 Prevailing wind direction: W @ 12% Peak gust and direction: 48 W on the 15th SUNSHINE: Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 5598 mins. of possible 16470 or 34% Astronomical total minutes:   5786 mins. of possible 17002 or 34% Long-term average for December is 46% Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cirrus fibratus in all directions, few cirrostratus distant E-SW, inversion present below the summit in all directions, light distant haze below the inversion in all directions. Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: W at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.33 ins. Hg, falling, then rising and higher Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze 6-hr Max temp: 30F  6-hr Min temp: 26F 24-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. Snow depth: Trace BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 271/26/10/2811/033/ FEW CI ALQDS  FEW CS DSNT E-SW INVSN PRSNT BLO SMT ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ  BLO INVSN ALQDS/ 8/001 50006 10030 20026 10 A.M. Weather: Thin broken cirrus, light smoke layer along the horizon Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: estimated N at 6 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.35 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze and smoke layer BHO SA 1455 E250- BKN 70 276/35/8/E3506/035/ LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS LGT K LYR ALQDS ALNG HRZN WND LGT/ 8/001 53005 1 P.M. Weather: Thin brokn cirrus, light smoke layer along the horizon in all directions Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 2F; Wind: estimated NNE at 3 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly  Visibility: 65 miles, think smoke layer, light distant haze 6-hr Max temp: 43F 6-hr Min temp: 25F BHO SA 1755 E250- BKN 65 249/43/2/E0303/027/ THN K LYR ALQDS ALNG HRZN LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/001 56027 10043 20025 SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016     TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....43   NORMAL.....34 MIN.....17   NORMAL.....18  MEAN....30   NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+5 [+0.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............35   DEPARTURE..........-4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............227   DEPARTURE..........-5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1883   DEPARTURE........-653 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2280   DIFFERENCE.......-397 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................24  SW  AT  7:59 P.M.                    ASOS........................24  SW  AT  7:59 P.M.                    DAVIS.......................22  SW  AT  7:58 P.M. RMY 24 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................19  W   AT  5:03 A.M.  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................20  W   AT  5:08 A.M.  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................16  SW  AT  9:08 P.M.  AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............13.1 W                    ASOS......................13.2                       DAVIS.....................11.9 WSW [249 Deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.14                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........TRACE  DEPARTURE......-0.86                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........TRACE  DEPARTURE......-0.86                            ASOS..............0.00 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.2  DEPARTURE.......-3.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............1.5  DEPARTURE......-17.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER/JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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 12/1  42/30/36/-1/0.16/0.0/000/00           19 NNE RMY 19 12/2  53/37/45/+9/0.20/0.0/000/00           25 SSE RMY 25 12/3  53/37/45/+9/0.01/0.0/162/29           43 WNW RMY 42 12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80           32 NW  RMY 32 12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99           21 W   RMY N/A 12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96          22 SW  RMY N/A 12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64          31 NE  RMY N/A 12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31 12/9  44/34/39/+5/0.00/0.0/044/08           28 SSE RMY N/A 12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/209/38             29 SE  RMY N/A 12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/049/09          28 SSW RMY 28 12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/367/67          23 W   RMY N/A  12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/000/00          18 ESE RMY 19 12/14 60/43/52/+20/0.45/0.0/000/00          32 S   RMY N/A 12/15 61/45/53/+21/0.17/0.0/371/68          48 W   RMY 51  12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/415/76           25 N   RMY N/A 12/17 53/36/45/+14/0.50/0.0/000/00          29 SE  RMY 28 12/18 50/35/43/+12/0.10/0.0/000/00          29 NW  RMY 30 12/19 38/30/34/+4/0.00/0.0/480/88           39 W   RMY 40 12/20 40/28/34/+4/0.00/0.0/491/90           24 W   RMY N/A 12/21 51/31/41/+11/T/0.0/000/00             38 SSW RMY 42 12/22 57/49/53/+24/0.28/0.0/000/00          35 SW  RMY 35 12/23 54/47/51/+22/0.61/0.0/000/00          30 E   RMY 27  12/24 67/48/58/+29/0.31/0.0/033/06          37 SSW RMY 39   12/25 64/52/58/+30/T/0.0/240/44          23 N   RMY N/A 12/26 53/40/47/+19/0.00/0.0/436/80          26 NNW RMY N/A 12/27 52/35/44/+16/0.27/0.0/000/00          36 NW  RMY 33 12/28 35/27/31/+3/T/T/355/65                33 NW  RMY 33 12/29 38/23/31/+4/1.04/1.3/000/00           35 ENE RMY 35 12/30 34/23/29/+2/0.05/T/000/00             17 SSE RMY N/A 12/31 44/32/38/+11/0.11/0.0/258/47          25 WNW RMY 25 1/1   37/29/33/+6/0.00/0.0/.../..           29 W   RMY 29 1/2   37/27/32/+5/0.00/0.0/.../..           31 W   RMY N/A          1/3   41/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/.../..           28 W   RMY 29 1/4   30/10/20/-6/T/T/000/00                29 NNW RMY 29 1/5   23/4/14/-12/0.00/0.0/.../..           28 NNW RMY N/A 1/6   43/17/30/+4/0.00/0.0/.../..           24 SW  RMY 24 1/7 low since midnight is 26F; normal low is now 18F   DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015 **12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983 **12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 67F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 61F SET IN 2014 **12/24/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1900 **12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 64F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 62F SET IN 1889 **12/25/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 52F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 46F SET IN 1964 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):  RECORDS FOR JANUARY 7 HIGH 60F IN 1930 LOW -7F IN 1896 PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1977 SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1977 PEAK GUST 74 MPH NW IN 1968 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 8 HIGH 65F IN 2008  LOW -8F IN 1968 PRECIP 1.70 INS. IN 1958,1979 SNOWFALL 12.5 INS. IN 1996 PEAK GUST 77 MPH NNW IN 1958 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald