BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2018   ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME WARMER WEATHER TODAY WITH MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES Winds shifted from the west to the south-southwest late yesterday. This has helped draw warmer air into the region last night and into today. After a morning low of only 27F, we have climbed up to 44F so far this afternoon, which is well above average. This comes despite mostly cloudy skies for much of the day, with mid and high level clouds covering much of the sky. Winds have been gusty today, averaging 15-20mph, with the direction variable from southwest to  west. The peak gust for today so far is 39mph. Visibility today has ranged from 30-45 miles. The warm weather has helped to melt an already thin snow cover, with less than an inch of snow on the ground on average this afternoon and areas of bare ground becoming muddy. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrus, few lower altocumulus NW-E, few altocumulus lenticularis SE-S Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: SSW at 16 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling, then steady Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze 6-hr Max temp: 33F 6-hr Min temp: 29F 24-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. Snow depth: 1 in. BHO SA 1155 E140 BKN 250 BKN 30 060/33/23/2116/971/ FEW LWR AC NW-E  FEW ACSL SE-S DSNT HZ/ 8/041 4/001 56034 10033 20029 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, few lower altocumulus Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SW at 16G24 kts, Peak Wind: 27 kts (31 mph) SW at 9:38 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, rising slightly  Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze 3-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.  BHO SA 1455 140 SCT E200 BKN 45 064/40/22/2316G24/972/ FEW LWR AC  DSNT HZ PK WND 2227/38/ 8/057 51004 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus, broken cirrus, few lower altocumulus Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: WSW at 17G26 kts, Peak Wind: 29 kts (33 mph) WSW at 12:18 P.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze  6-hr precip: 0.00 ins. 6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 6-hr Max temp: 44F 6-hr Min temp: 33F Snow depth: Trace BHO SA 1755 140 SCT E200 BKN 250 BKN 45 053/44/24/2517G26/969/  EW LWR AC DSNT HZ PK WND 2529/18/ 8/057 58011 10044 20033 SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....34   NORMAL.....33 MIN.....17   NORMAL.....17 MEAN....26   NORMAL.....25 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................+1 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........................-62 [-3.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............39  DEPARTURE..........-1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............811  DEPARTURE.........+63 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2933  DEPARTURE........-119 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....2672  DIFFERENCE.......+260 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................22  SSW  AT 11:59 P.M.                    AERO........................20  SSW  AT 11:59 P.M.                    ASOS........................21  SSW  AT 11:56 P.M.                    DAVIS.......................20  M    AT 11:03 P.M.* RMY N/A  FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................17  SSW  AT 11:59 P.M.  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................17  SSW  AT 11:57 P.M.   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................16  M    AT 11:57 P.M.* AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...............9.4 W                    ASOS.......................10.0                    DAVIS.......................8.5 *Davis direction malfunctioning 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..........4.19  DEPARTURE......+1.49                          ASOS..............4.63 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........4.19  DEPARTURE......+1.49                          ASOS..............4.63 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............19.3  DEPARTURE........+8.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............28.6  DEPARTURE........+1.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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 1/01 11/-5/3/-24/0.00/0.0/.../..        30 NW  AERO 30 NW  RMY 31 1/02 15/-2/7/-20/0.00/0.0/.../..        26 W   AERO 25 W   RMY 26   1/03 28/11/20/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..        23 WSW AERO 20 WSW RMY N/A 1/04 28/18/23/-3/1.66/16.5/000/00       54 NNW AERO 60 NNW RMY 64 1/05 18/2/10/-16/0.00/0.0/.../..        53 W   AERO 53 W   RMY 57 1/06 10/-2/4/-22/0.00/0.0/.../..        43 WSW AERO 47 WSW RMY 47 1/07 14/-8/3/-23/0.00/0.0/.../..        37 WNW AERO 35 WNW RMY N/A  1/08 33/14/24/-2/T/T/.../..             40 S   AERO 40 S   RMY 42  1/09 40/25/33/+7/T/T/.../..             37 W   AERO 35 W   RMY 33 1/10 36/20/28/+3/0.00/0.0/.../..        30 W   AERO 30 W   RMY N/A 1/11 50/32/41/+16/0.00/0.0/.../..       33 S   AERO 32 S   RMY 34 1/12 60/45/53/+28/..../0.0/.../..       56 S   AERO 56 S   RMY 55 1/13 60/17/39/+14/..../0.0/.../..       58 SSW AERO 60 SSW RMY 62 1/14 21/11/16/-9/0.00/0.0/.../..        30 NW  AERO 30 NW  RMY N/A 1/15 18/11/15/-10/..../.../.../..       23 NNW AERO 21 N   RMY 23 1/16 31/18/25/0/0.00/0.0/.../..         17 SSE AERO 15 SSE RMY N/A  1/17 32/29/31/+6/0.23/2.3/.../..        20 SE  AERO 17 SE  RMY N/A 1/18 29/16/23/-2/0.00/0.0/.../..        24 NW  AERO 23 NW  RMY 26  1/19 34/17/26/+1/0.00/0.0/.../..        22 SSW AERO 20 SSW RMY N/A  1/20 Low temp since midnight is 27F; normal low is now 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2018 01/04/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 16.5 INS.            PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 8.6 INS. SET IN 1923 AND            TIED IN 1942  01/07/18: DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -8F,           PREVIOUS RECORD OF -7F WAS SET IN 1896 01/12/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 45F,           PREVIOUS RECORD OF 42F WAS SET IN 2017           DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,           PREVIOUS RECORD OF 59F WAS SET IN 2017 01/13/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60F,           PREVIOUS RECORD OF 57F WAS SET IN 1890 AND           TIED IN 1932  DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):       RECORDS FOR JANUARY 20 HIGH 59F IN 1951 LOW -9F IN 1901 PRECIP 1.95 INS. IN 1978 SNOWFALL 19.0 INS. IN 1978  PEAK GUST 76e MPH NE IN 1978 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 21 HIGH 65F IN 1906 LOW -4F IN 1888,1893 PRECIP 2.49 INS. IN 1979 SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 2014 PEAK GUST 78e MPH SE IN 1979 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien