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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2018 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

THE SUN RETURNS AFTER ANOTHER FOGGY MORNING...

We had mostly sunny skies today after the morning fog dissipated.
Temperatures today have been close to the seasonable with a high
so far of 84F, this is 4 degrees above the daily normal of 80F.
Wind remained light today and shifted just after 7:00 A.M. The
wind was coming from the SW and is now coming from the NW. 
Visibility was obscured in the morning due to a distant fog and 
increased from 15 to 60 miles by 1:00 P.M. Humidity also
dropped today from 93% at 7:00 A.M. down to 60% by 1:00 P.M.
Which allowed for the increased visibility.  
August as of now is still running above normal for both precip.
and temps. Currently we are +1.06 ins above normal for rainfall 
and +4.7 degrees above normal for temperature.

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, virga NE
Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 68F; Wind: SW at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 15 miles, except NE-SSW 20 miles, distant fog 
in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 70F
6-hr Min temp: 68F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.  
BHO SA 1155 E7 OVC 15 107/70/68/2305/985/ DSNT FG ALQDS 
VSBY 20 NE-SSW VIRGA NE WND LGT/ 8/6// 53009 10070 20068 

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered towering cumulus, broken stratocumulus,
broken altocumulus 
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 69F; Wind: WNW at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, rising then falling 
Visibility: 25 miles, distant fog in all directions
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 20 SCT E26 BKN 150 BKN 25 112/75/69/3005/986/ 
DSNT FG ALQDS/ 8/430 52005 
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered cumulus,
broken cirrus  
Temperature: 82F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: WNW at 8G14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 60 miles, distant haze in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 84F
6-hr Min temp: 70F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 30 SCT 50 SCT E240 BKN 60 110/82/66/2908G14/985/ 
DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/401 58002 10084 20070  

SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....83   NORMAL.....80
MIN.....69   NORMAL.....62
MEAN....76   NORMAL.....71

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+64 [+4.7 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............11  DEPARTURE..........+5
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............162  DEPARTURE.........+65
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............617  DEPARTURE........+169
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......519  DEPARTURE.........+98

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.....................25 S   AT 2:18 P.M.
                   AERO..........................23 S   AT 2:18 P.M.
                   ASOS..........................25 S   AT 5:22 P.M.
                   DAVIS.........................24 S   AT 5:24 P.M. RMY 24
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.......................18 S   AT 2:19 P.M.*
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE....................18 S   AT 5:25 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...................17 SSW AT 2:19 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION................8.4 S
                   ASOS.........................8.7
                   DAVIS........................8.0 S [185 deg.] 
*ADDITIONAL FASTEST MILE 18 S AT 5:23 P.M.

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......+1.06
                         ASOS..............3.02 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........37.04  DEPARTURE......+4.26
                         ASOS.............38.60

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 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

8/1  82/66/74/+2/T/199/23           31 S   AERO 30 S   RMY 31
8/2  92/74/83/+11/0.00/761/88       30 SW  AERO 28 SW  RMY 31 
8/3  88/74/81/+9/0.19/492/57        35 NW  AERO 32 NW  RMY 35 TSTM
8/4  82/69/76/+4/1.16/301/35        28 SW  AERO 25 SW  RMY 30 TSTM
8/5  89/66/78/+6/0.00/815/95        20 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 19
8/6  92/71/82/+10/0.00/822/96       20 W   AERO 16 WSW RMY N/A
8/7  92/73/83/+11/0.00/682/80       25 S   AERO 23 S   RMY 26
8/8  88/71/80/+8/0.70/.../..        25 SSW AERO 25 SSW RMY N/A TSTM 
8/9  86/70/78/+6/0.07/.../..        29 SW  AERO 28 SW  RMY N/A TSTM
8/10 85/66/76/+5/T/.../..           17 NW  AERO 16 NW  RMY N/A          
8/11 70/66/68/-3/..../.../..        18 SE  AERO 17 SE  RMY 18
8/12 73/66/70/-1/..../.../..        23 NNE AERO 18 NNE RMY 21
8/13 69/64/67/-4/0.17/.../..        23 ENE AERO 21 ENE RMY 21 
8/14 83/69/76/+5/0.00/.../..        25 S   AERO 23 S   RMY 24 

8/15 Low temp since midnight is 68F; normal low is now 62F

DAILY RECORDS FOR AUGUST 2018

08/03/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 74F, 
          BREAK PREVIOUS RECORD OF 71F SET IN 1928, 1969, AND 1979

08/07/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 73F, 
          BREAK PREVIOUS RECORD OF 72F SET IN 1988

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

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 15
HIGH 95F IN 1928
LOW 47F IN 1964
PRECIP 1.89 INCHES IN 2011 
PEAK GUST 44e MPH S IN 1941

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 16
HIGH 95F IN 1944
LOW 50F IN 1927
PRECIP 1.47 INCHES IN 1926
PEAK GUST 45e MPH N IN 1951

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan