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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2018 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

FAIR WEATHER DAY WITH LIGHT WIND, HAZE, AND MORNING SEA 
BREEZE...

Temperatures remain above normal today with a max so far today
of 83F, which is 4 degrees above the daily normal of 79F. The
overnight minimum so far today is 70F, which is 8 degrees above
the daily normal of 62F. Clouds increased as pressure decreased
again today and we had a mixture of cirrus and cumulus clouds 
at 1:00 P.M. A haze has lingered and increased as humidity 
increased throughout the day. We could see 35 miles this morning 
but the prevailing visibility was only 15 miles by 1:00 P.M. The 
day began with wind coming from the ENE and became light and 
variable midday. 

August as of now is still running above normal for both precipitation
and temperatures. Currently we are +0.80 ins above normal for rainfall 
and +4.3 degrees above normal for temperature.

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrostratus N-SE
Temperature: 71F; Dew Point: 64F; Wind: ENE at 5 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly 
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze in all directions 
6-hr Max temp: 73F
6-hr Min temp: 67F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.  
BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 197/71/64/0605/011/ FEW CS N-SE DSNT HZ 
ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/005 51006 10073 20067

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few dense cirrus S-N
Temperature: 80F; Dew Point: 66F; Wind: SE at 4 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly 
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze in all directions
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 CLR 35 195/80/66/1404/011/ FEW DNS CI S-N 
DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/002 56002 
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, broken cirrostratus, few
cumulus E-WNW  
Temperature: 82F; Dew Point: 72F; Wind: ENE at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.06 ins. Hg, falling steadily 
Visibility: 15 miles, except ENE-ESE 25 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 83F
6-hr Min temp: 71F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT E250 BKN 15 178/82/72/0607/006/ FEW 
CU E-WNW VSBY 25 ENE-ESE HAZY/ 8/106 58017 10083 20071 

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....87   NORMAL.....79
MIN.....70   NORMAL.....62
MEAN....79   NORMAL.....71

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................+8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+72 [+4.3 DEGREES/DAY]

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............14  DEPARTURE..........+8
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............188  DEPARTURE.........+79
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............643  DEPARTURE........+183
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......535  DEPARTURE........+108

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.....................20 W AT  2:36 P.M.*
                   AERO..........................18 W AT  1:57 P.M.
                   ASOS..........................20 W AT  2:20 P.M.
                   DAVIS.........................20 W AT  1:57 P.M. RMY 20
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.......................15 W AT 12:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE....................16 W AT 12:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...................16 W AT 12:01 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION................8.5 W
                   ASOS.........................8.7
                   DAVIS........................9.2 W [283 deg.] 

*ADDITIONAL PEAK GUST: 20 MPH W AT 2:20 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......+0.80
                         ASOS..............3.02 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........37.04  DEPARTURE......+4.00
                         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 86/68/77/+6/0.00/.../..        20 W   AERO 17 W   RMY 19 
8/16 87/70/79/+8/0.00/.../..        20 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 20 

8/17 Low temp since midnight is 67F; 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 17
HIGH 97F IN 1944
LOW 48F IN 1902
PRECIP 2.17 INCHES IN 1998
PEAK GUST 50e MPH SSW IN 1952, 50 MPH WNW IN 1962

RECORDS FOR AUGUST 18
HIGH 93F IN 2002
LOW 47F IN 1824
PRECIP 5.75 INCHES IN 1955 [DIANE]
PEAK GUST 46 MPH WNW IN 2007

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan and Sam Richard