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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WINDY AND COLD TUESDAY, WINDS EASE AND TEMPS RISE TODAY

Yesterday winds gusted in excess of 40 MPH most hours, including
hitting a peak gust of 55 MPH at 3:54 PM EST yesterday afternoon.
The 24-hr average speed of 24.3 MPH was the highest average wind 
speed of any day since March of 2015. Yesterday's average temperature
of 18F was 7 degrees colder than normal.

This morning temperatures bottomed out at 15F and were slowly
climbing through this morning. Clear skies this morning have 
continued through this early afternoon with only some scattered
cirrus above. Visibility continues to be excellent at 80 miles
in all directions as temperatures climbed to a maximum of
29F by the 1:00 PM EST observation.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-ESE,
few cirrus in all directions
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: WNW at 16G28 kts
Peak Wind: 32 knots WNW at 6:12 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.06 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 17F 
6-hr Min temp: 15F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 4 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 180/17/6/3016G28/006/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE 
FEW CI ALQDS PK WND 3032/12/ 8/501 4/004 53031 10017 20015

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore NE-E,
scattered cirrus
Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: WNW at 23G38 kts,
Peak Wind: 38 kts WNW at 9:49 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 80 176/22/7/3023G38/005/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR 
NE-E PK WND 2938/49/ 8/501 58004

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus distant offshore
NE-ESE, few altocumulus lenticularis distant WSW 
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: WNW at 24G40 kts,
Peak Wind: 40 knots WNW at 12:50 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly 
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 29F
6-hr Min temp: 16F
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 80 156/29/11/3024G40/999/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR 
NE-ESE FEW ACSL DSNT WSW PK WND 2940/50/ 8/541 58020 10029 20016


SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....22   NORMAL.....33
MIN.....13   NORMAL.....17 
MEAN....18   NORMAL.....25

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+78 [+3.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............47   DEPARTURE..........+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............671   DEPARTURE.........-77
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2327   DEPARTURE........-725
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2843   DIFFERENCE.......-516

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................55  WNW  AT   3:54 P.M.                   
                   ASOS........................53  WNW  AT   3:54 P.M. 
                   DAVIS.......................48  N    AT   3:54 P.M. RMY 55
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................40  W    AT  10:39 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................38  W    AT  10:41 A.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................33  NNW  AT   9:44 A.M.  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............24.3 NW
                   ASOS.......................22.5
                   DAVIS......................20.0 NW [320 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.13
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.03  DEPARTURE......+0.33
                         ASOS..............3.15
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........3.03  DEPARTURE......+0.33  
                         ASOS..............3.15

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................7.2  DEPARTURE.......-3.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............7.5  DEPARTURE......-18.2

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   AERO 50 W   RMY 47
1/19  22/13/18/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..           55 WNW AERO 59 W   RMY 55

1/20 low since midnight is 15F; 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 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

RECORDS FOR JANUARY 21
HIGH 65F IN 1906
LOW -4F IN 1888,1893
PRECIP 2.49 INS. IN 1979
SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 2014
PEAK GUST 78e MPH SE IN 1979

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald