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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

GUSTY WINDS STAY IN PLACE AS COLD BUILDS INTO THE REGION

Following the end of the snow yesterday morning, winds have
remained strong and gusty from the W to WNW. Yesterday afternoon
winds hit an official peak gust of 50 MPH from the W at
1:53 PM EST. So far today winds have continued to gust into
the 40-50 MPH range. Coupled with temperatures in the teens
this morning, wind chills have approached -10F.

Mostly clear conditions this morning have given way to general
high cloudiness with dense cirrus in the skies above. By the
1:00 PM EST observation skies were still mostly cloudy with
winds gusting to 40 knots. Temperatures were struggling to remain
in the lower 20s, and had reached a maximum so far of 22F.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-SSE,
few cirrus distant W-ESE
Temperature: 14F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: W at 21G32 kts
Peak Wind: 34 knots W at 6:18 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, rising, then falling but higher still
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 14F 
6-hr Min temp: 13F
24-hr precip: trace
24-hr snowfall: trace
Snow depth: 4 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 066/14/-1/2821G32/972/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-SSW 
FEW CI DSNT W-ESE PK WND 2734/18 NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/ 8/501 
4/004 51003 10014 20013

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken dense cirrus, few cumulus distant in
all direction, few altocumulus distant SE-S
Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 2F; Wind: WNW at 26G37 kts,
Peak Wind: 42 kts W at 9:42 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 E250 BKN 80 061/19/2/2926G37/971/ FEW CU DSNT ALQDS 
FEW AC DSNT SE-S PK WND 2842/32/ 8/132 58005

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken dense cirrus, few cumulus distant
in all directions 
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: WNW at 25G40 kts,
Peak Wind: 40 knots W at 12:47 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly 
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 22F
6-hr Min temp: 14F
BHO SA 1755 E200 BKN 80 055/21/4/2925G40/969/ FEW CU DSNT ALQDS 
PK WND 2840/47/ 8/102 58006 10022 20014


SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....26   NORMAL.....33
MIN.....15   NORMAL.....17 
MEAN....21   NORMAL.....25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+85 [+4.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............44   DEPARTURE..........+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............624   DEPARTURE.........-84
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2280   DEPARTURE........-732
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2814   DIFFERENCE.......-534

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................50  W    AT   1:53 P.M.                   
                   ASOS........................46  W    AT   1:53 P.M. 
                   DAVIS.......................41  N    AT   2:09 P.M. RMY 47
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................36  W    AT   1:53 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................35  W    AT   1:53 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................30  N    AT   1:54 P.M.  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............19.3 NW
                   ASOS.......................18.4
                   DAVIS......................16.1 NW [310 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...TRACE  DEPARTURE......-0.14
                         ASOS.............TRACE
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.03  DEPARTURE......+0.46
                         ASOS..............3.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.03  DEPARTURE......+0.46  
                         ASOS..............3.15

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........TRACE  DEPARTURE.......-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................7.2  DEPARTURE.......-2.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............7.5  DEPARTURE......-17.6

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
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

1/1   37/29/33/+6/0.00/0.0/005/01           29 W               RMY 29
1/2   37/27/32/+5/0.00/0.0/461/84           31 W               RMY N/A         
1/3   41/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/501/91           28 W               RMY 29
1/4   30/10/20/-6/T/T/000/00                29 NNW             RMY 29
1/5   23/4/14/-12/0.00/0.0/552/100          28 NNW             RMY N/A
1/6   43/17/30/+4/0.00/0.0/553/100          24 SW              RMY 24
1/7   43/25/34/+8/0.00/0.0/521/94           21 SW              RMY N/A
1/8   40/28/34/+8/T/0.0/000/00              28 E   AERO 25 ENE RMY 25
1/9   39/36/38/+12/T/0.0/000/00             21 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A 
1/10  58/38/48/+23/1.55/0.0/000/00          53 SSE AERO 55 SSE RMY 53
1/11  48/21/35/+10/0.00/0.0/559/100         43 W   AERO 45 WSW RMY N/A
1/12  35/19/27/+2/..../.../359/64           30 SE  AERO N/A    RMY N/A
1/13  30/17/24/-1/..../.../551/98           50 W   AERO 58 W   RMY 54
1/14  28/17/23/-2/T/T/.../..                26 W   AERO N/A    RMY 25
1/15  40/23/32/+7/0.00/0.0/.../..           26 ESE AERO 25 ESE RMY 23
1/16  41/32/37/+12/1.03/T/.../..            32 NNW AERO 32 NNW RMY 28
1/17  33/26/30/+5/..../.../.../..           29 WNW AERO 28 WNW RMY N/A
1/18  26/15/21/-4/..../.../.../..           50 W   AERP 50 W   RMY 47

1/19 low since midnight is 13F; normal low is now 17F  

DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2016

**1/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 58F, BREAKS
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 54F SET BACK IN 2000**

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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 19
HIGH 59F IN 1973
LOW -11F IN 1887
PRECIP 2.34 INS. IN 1936
SNOWFALL 10.5 INS. IN 1936
PEAK GUST 93e MPH WNW IN 1943

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 20
HIGH 59F IN 1951
LOW -9F IN 1901
PRECIP 1.95 INS. IN 1978
SNOWFALL 19.0 INS. IN 1978 
PEAK GUST 76e MPH NE IN 1978

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald