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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

JULY FINISHES EIGHTH WARMEST AS AUGUST BEGINS CLOUDY AND HUMID

Sunshine has been limited today, with mostly cloudy skies in the area thanks 
to an approaching warm front from the south. The morning low was warmer than
normal at 66F, but we have only climbed to 79F for a high so far due to 
the cloud cover. A bit of light drizzle has been observed early this
afternoon, with steadier rainfall well to the south and west. Most notable 
today has been the surge in dew points, with that value rising to an 
oppressive 72F by early afternoon. Winds have been coming out of the S to 
SSE, with speeds increasing a little this afternoon to 10-15mph after being
light in the morning.

Preliminary statistics for July are posted below. July 2018 was a warmer
and slightly drier than normal month. The 24-hour corrected mean temperature
of 73.6F places the month at 8th warmest on record. Seven of the 10 warmest
months of July at Blue Hill have occurred since 1999.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR JULY 2018

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 83.9 [+3.1]
Avg. Min. 63.7 [+0.8]
Mean      73.8 [+1.9]
24-hour corrected mean: 73.6
Max. for month: 94F on  1st and 3rd
Min. for month: 54F on  7th

COOLING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units:   296 [+74]
Total for the season:  455 [+104]
Total for last season: 421

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.84 [-0.18]
Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.36 in on 17th-18th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 9.8
Avg. corrected wind speed: 10.4
Prevailing wind direction: S at 19%
Peak gust and direction: 41 SSW on 26th  

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A (not yet finalized)
Astronomical total minutes: N/A (not yet finalized)

BHO Warmest July Mean Temperature (24-hr corrected mean), deg F (1885-2018):

1)  75.1 in 2010
2)  74.9 in 1952
3)  74.1 in 1994
    74.1 in 2013
5)  74.0 in 2011
    74.0 in 2016
7)  73.8 in 1999
8)  73.6 in 2018
9)  73.5 in 1949
10) 73.2 in 2012

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrus,
few stratus fractus all quadrants except SE-S
Temperature: 69F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: S at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 25 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 69F
6-hr Min temp: 66F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1155 E60 BKN 100 BKN 250 BKN 25 217/69/66/1708/017/ 
FEW STFRA ALQDS XCPT SE-S HAZY/ 8/531 50003 10069 20066

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, break in overcast distant NE-E
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 69F; Wind: SSE at 7 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SSE-S
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.  
BHO SA 1455 E15 OVC 35 209/75/69/1607/015/ BINOVC DSNT NE-E 
DSNT HZ WND 11V18/ 8/5// 56008

1 P.M.
Weather: Light drizzle (began past hour at unknown time), broken cumulus, 
broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 78F; Dew Point: 72F; Wind: SSE at 12 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SE-S
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, falling then more quickly
Visibility: 30 miles, except 20 miles NW-N, distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 79F
6-hr Min temp: 69F
6-hr precip: Trace
BHO SA 1755 E15 BKN 25 BKN 30L- 195/78/72/1612/011/ OCNL L- BUKN 
PCPN VRY LGT DSNT HZ VSBY NW-N 20 WND 12V19/ 8/8// 58014 
MANUAL 600// 10079 20069

SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2018 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....86   NORMAL.....81
MIN.....63   NORMAL.....63
MEAN....75   NORMAL.....72

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+88 [+2.6 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............10   DEPARTURE..........+3
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............296   DEPARTURE.........+74
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............455   DEPARTURE........+104
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......421   DEPARTURE.........+34

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................16 SSW AT  9:35 P.M.*
                   AERO.........................15 W   AT  2:44 A.M.
                   ASOS.........................17 W   AT  2:44 A.M.
                   DAVIS........................16 W   AT  2:23 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................12 W   AT  2:52 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................13 SSW AT  9:35 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................13 W   AT  2:46 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...............6.0 SSW
                   ASOS........................6.7
                   DAVIS.......................6.4 WSW [240 deg.]
*Last of several occurrences

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..........3.84  DEPARTURE......-0.18
                         ASOS..............3.85 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........34.01  DEPARTURE......+3.20
                         ASOS.............35.58

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JULY 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
M:    Missing data

7/01 94/72/83/+13/0.00/667/73       21 ESE AERO 18 ESE RMY 19 
7/02 90/68/79/+9/0.00/858/94        21 S   AERO 21 S   RMY 22
7/03 94/69/82/+11/0.00/657/72       20 SSW AERO 18 SW  RMY 19 TSTM
7/04 89/73/81/+10/0.00/884/97       17 NE  AERO 15 NE  RMY 16
7/05 91/73/82/+11/0.00/865/95       29 SSW AERO 28 SSW RMY N/A
7/06 80/59/70/-1/0.56/018/02        37 NNW AERO 38 SW  RMY 40 TSTM
7/07 78/54/66/-5/0.00/900/99        22 N   AERO 18 N   RMY N/A 
7/08 83/57/70/-2/0.00/890/98        23 S   AERO 21 S   RMY 22  
7/09 88/60/74/+2/0.00/852/94        23 SW  AERO 23 SW  RMY 24 
7/10 91/63/77/+5/0.10/751/83        24 W   AERO 22 W   RMY N/A
7/11 73/62/68/-4/0.63/705/78        28 NE  AERO 25 NE  RMY 27 TSTM
7/12 77/56/67/-5/0.00/867/96        16 NW  AERO 15 NW  RMY N/A 
7/13 84/61/73/+1/0.00/568/63        23 SSE AERO 23 SSE RMY 24
7/14 80/61/71/-1/0.00/540/60        18 S   AERO 16 S   RMY 19
7/15 84/65/75/+3/T/521/58           16 S   AERO 15 S   RMY 14 
7/16 83/67/75/+3/0.00/682/76        23 S   AERO 23 S   RMY 23 
7/17 88/67/78/+6/1.34/430/48        31 SW  AERO 30 SW  RMY 32 TSTM 
7/18 81/63/72/0/0.02/769/86         21 NW  AERO 22 NW  RMY 23 
7/19 80/56/68/-4/0.00/.../..        21 S   AERO 17 SSE RMY 19 
7/20 83/62/73/1/0.00/.../..         21 SE  AERO 17 ESE RMY 19
7/21 76/59/68/-4/..../.../..        23 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A
7/22 76/63/69/-3/..../.../..        29 ESE AERO 28 ESE RMY N/A
7/23 82/71/77/+5/..../.../..        32 S   AERO 30 S   RMY 32 
7/24 85/72/79/+7/T/.../..           31 S   AERO 29 S   RMY 29 
7/25 82/71/77/+5/..../.../..        35 SSE AERO 32 SSE RMY N/A 
7/26 83/69/76/+5/..../.../..        41 SSW AERO 39 SSW RMY N/A TSTM
7/27 88/69/79/+7/..../.../..        25 S   AERO 23 SSW RMY 26
7/28 87/71/79/+7/..../.../..        28 S   AERO 26 S   RMY 29
7/29 82/67/75/+3/0.00/.../..        18 W   AERO 16 W   RMY 18
7/30 82/64/73/+1/0.00/.../..        18 W   AERO 16 W   RMY 17
7/31 86/63/75/+3/0.00/.../..        16 SSW AERO 15 W   RMY N/A

8/1 Low temp since midnight is 66F; normal low is now 63F

DAILY RECORDS FOR JULY 2018

07/01/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 72F, 
          TIES PREVIOUS RECORD OF 72F SET IN 1968

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 1
HIGH 97F IN 1917
LOW 49F IN 1891
PRECIP 3.61 INCHES IN 1927
PEAK GUST 41 MPH NNW IN 1985

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2
HIGH 101F IN 1975 [STATION RECORD MAXIMUM - Tied with 8/10/1949]
LOW 50F IN 1929, 1947
PRECIP 1.59 INCHES IN 1946
PEAK GUST 50 MPH SW IN 2006

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien