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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ANOTHER ABOVE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURE, DRIZZLY, 
AND OVERCAST DAY...

The morning began foggy with patches of ground fog
below the summit and steam fog over the ponds. As
the fog began to dissipate we observed a 
partial under-cast layer in all directions at the
10:00 A.M. observation. The fog formed this morning
and yesterday morning because of high humidity and
dew points. A southern wind had made it another day
of above seasonable temperatures with a high of 50F
so far today. This is 13 degrees above the daily 
normal of 37F. The low since midnight had been 43F
which is 24 degrees above the daily normal low of 
19F. We observed intermittent drizzle again today
which continued from yesterday. Overnight we 
measured 0.04 ins. of rain. So far today we have 
measured a trace. 
The wind shifted today around 1:00 P.M. and after a 
couple of days from the SSW the wind is now coming
from the WNW. 

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light drizzle, overcast stratus, patches of ground 
fog below summit, patches of steam fog over ponds 
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.57 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly     
Visibility: 15 miles, except WNW-E 10 miles, distant fog in 
all directions 
6-hr Max temp: 50F
6-hr Min temp: 44F
24-hr precip: 0.04 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E45 OVC 15L- 014/47/47/3007/957/ VSBY 10 WNW-E 
PTCHS GF BLO SMT ALQDS PTCHS STEAM FG OVR PNDS DSNT FG ALQDS 
PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/6// 51007 MANUAL 70004 ASOS 70005 10050 20044    

10 A.M.
Weather: Light drizzle, scattered stratocumulus, broken 
altocumulus, overcast altostatus, partial undercast in 
all directions, patches of ground fog below summit, 
patches of steam fog over ponds
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SW at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.52 ins. Hg, unsteadily 
Visibility: 35 miles, distant fog in all directions 
3-hr precip: Trace
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.  
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT E75 BKN E150 OVC 35L- 996/50/48/2206/952/ 
PARTIAL UNDERCAST ALQDS PTCHS GF BLO SMT ALQDS PTCHS 
STEAM FG OVR PNDS DSNT FG ALQDS PCPN VRY LGT WND LGT/ 
8/52/ 58018 MANUAL 600//  
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratus fractus, broken altocumulus,
overcast altostratus 
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 43F; Wind: WNW at 14G24 kts 
Sea-level pressure: 29.55 Hg, rising unsteadily  
Visibility: 70 miles, distant fog in all directions  
6-hr Max temp: 50F
6-hr Min temp: 47F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 in.
BHO SA 1755 20 SCT E80 BKN E160 OVC 008/50/43/2914G24/955/ 
DSNT FG ALQDS/ 8/72/ 52012 MANUAL 600// 10050 20047 
 
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....47   NORMAL.....37
MIN.....35   NORMAL.....19
MEAN....41   NORMAL.....28

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................+13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................+65 [+4.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............24   DEPARTURE.........-13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............508   DEPARTURE.........-66
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........3829   DEPARTURE........-273
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3583   DIFFERENCE.......+246

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................23 SSW AT 6:09 P.M. 
                   AERO.........................20 SSW AT 6:10 P.M.
                   ASOS.........................23 SSW AT 6:11 P.M.
                   DAVIS........................22 M   AT 6:10 P.M.** RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................17 SSW AT 7:35 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................17 SSW AT 9:15 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................16 M   AT 7:27 P.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............11.0 SSW
                   ASOS.......................11.8 
                   DAVIS......................10.5 ** 
* Last of multiple occurrences
** Davis direction malfunctioning

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.04  DEPARTURE......-0.11
                         ASOS..............0.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.55  DEPARTURE......+0.48
                         ASOS..............2.70  
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........8.55  DEPARTURE......+2.13
                         ASOS..............9.27

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................3.6  DEPARTURE........-3.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.1  DEPARTURE........-2.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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

2/1  45/27/36/+10/..../0.0/120/20      36 SSW AERO 35 SSW RMY N/A 
2/2  34/08/21/-5/..../2.5/223/37       43 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY 46 
2/3  25/04/15/-11/0.00/0.0/557/92      26 S   AERO 24 S   RMY 30 
2/4  45/23/34/+8/.../T/000/00          31 SSE AERO 29 S   RMY 30
2/5  46/19/33/+7/0.00/0.0/464/76       47 WNW AERO 47 WNW RMY 44
2/6  31/17/24/+2/T/T/025/04            26 SSW AERO 23 SSW RMY 23 
2/7  42/21/32/+5/0.62/1.1/000/00       45 SW  AERO 46 SW  RMY 47
2/8  30/20/25/-2/0.00/0.0/501/81       38 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY N/A
2/9  30/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/384/62       28 S   AERO 25 S   RMY N/A
2/10 51/28/40/+13/..../0.0/.../..      31 S   AERO 30 S   RMY 31
2/11 46/36/41/+14/..../0.0/000/00      24 SW  AERO 21 SW  RMY N/A
2/12 53/27/40/+13/..../0.0/.../..      33 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY N/A
2/13 31/21/26/-2/0.00/0.0/.../..       22 S   AERO 18 WNW RMY 21
2/14 46/25/36/+8/0.00/0.0/.../..       30 S   AERO 26 SSW RMY 29 
2/15 47/35/41/+13/..../0.0/000/00      23 SSW AERO 20 SSW RMY N/A

2/16 Low temp since midnight is 43F; normal low is now 19F

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 16
HIGH 62F IN 1954
LOW -16F IN 1943
PRECIP 1.91 INCHES IN 1958
SNOWFALL 18.6 INCHES IN 1958
PEAK GUST 78 MPH W IN 1967

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 17
HIGH 61F IN 1981
LOW -16F IN 1896
PRECIP 1.86 INCHES IN 2003
SNOWFALL 20.0 INCHES IN 2003
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1968

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan