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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WIND FROM THE SSW BRINGS CLOSE TO RECORD
BREAKING TEMPERATURES...

Around 2:00 A.M. yesterday we observed a wind
shift from WNW-SSW. The wind continues to be 
from the SSW and has made for temperatures 
which are well above seasonable. The high 
yesterday was 48F, which is 11 degrees above
the daily normal of 37F. So far today we have
reached a record tying high of 66F. This 
record was originally set in 1930. 66F is 28
degrees above the daily normal of 38F.
Yesterday afternoon clouds increased which 
produced scattered showers overnight. We
measured 0.10 ins. at 7:00 A.M. In the morning
visibility was obscured due to a distant 
fog/haze but cleared in the afternoon for a 
maximum of 70 miles at 1:00 P.M. 

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratus fractus, broken altocumulus
Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SSW at 13G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, steady then rising       
Visibility:  40 miles, distant fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 50F
6-hr Min temp: 49F
24-hr precip:  0.10 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E9 BKN 90 BKN 40 251/49/48/2113G20/027/ 
DSNT FG ALQDS/ 8/770 53004 MANUAL 70010 ASOS 70012 
10050 20049

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus,
few cumulus in all directions 
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 52F; Wind: SSW at 11G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.28 ins. Hg, rising then falling 
Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze in all directions
3-hr precip: 0.00
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.  
BHO SA 1455 100 SCT E200 BKN 45 255/57/52/2211G18/028/ 
FEW CU ALQDS DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/168 53004

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrostratus,
few cumulus ESE-SSW
Temperature: 65F; Dew Point: 49F; Wind: SSW at 11G19 kts 
Sea-level pressure: 30.25 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly   
Visibility: 70 miles   
6-hr Max temp: 66F
6-hr Min temp: 49F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E120 SCT 200 SCT 70 243/65/49/2311G19/025/ 
FEW CU ESE-SSW/ 8/155 58012 10066 20049      

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....48   NORMAL.....38
MIN.....30   NORMAL.....20
MEAN....39   NORMAL.....29

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................+97 [+4.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............26   DEPARTURE.........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............622   DEPARTURE.........-99
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........3943   DEPARTURE........-308
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3699   DIFFERENCE.......+244

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY......................39 SSW AT 2:44 P.M.* 
                   AERO...........................37 SSW AT 2:46 P.M.
                   ASOS...........................39 SSW AT 2:45 P.M.
                   DAVIS..........................38 M   AT 1:09 P.M.** RMY 34
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY........................30 SSW AT 1:11 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.....................29 SSW AT 1:10 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE....................27 M   AT 8:43 P.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION................16.8 SSW 
                   ASOS.........................16.7 
                   DAVIS........................15.4 ** 
* Last of multiple occurrences
** Davis direction malfunctioning

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.10  DEPARTURE......-0.05
                         ASOS..............0.12
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.25  DEPARTURE......+0.59
                         ASOS..............3.40  
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.25  DEPARTURE......+2.24
                         ASOS..............9.98

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................9.4  DEPARTURE........+0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............43.9  DEPARTURE........+1.3

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 50/31/41/+13/..../0.0/.../..      45 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 42
2/17 38/23/31/+3/..../.../.../..       33 SSW AERO 29 SSE RMY 33
2/18 42/29/35/+6/..../.../.../..       32 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY 34 
2/19 48/30/39/+10/..../0.0/.../..      39 SSW AERO 37 SSW RMY 40       

2/20 Low temp since midnight is 48F; normal low is now 29F

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

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 20
HIGH 66F IN 1930,2018 
LOW -4F IN 1966
PRECIP 1.90 INCHES IN 1934
SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1921,1934
PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1972

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 21
HIGH 62F IN 1930
LOW -6F IN 1950
PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1898
SNOWFALL 9.0 INCHES IN 1929
PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1967

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan and Ben Turner