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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

A RAINY START WITH WEATHER BECOMING FAIR IN THE 
AFTERNOON....
FORMER HURRICANE MICHAEL NOW A POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE 
AS IT PASSES JUST OFFSHORE AND OUT TO SEA TODAY...

We measured a total of 1.09 inches of rain from the storm
this morning and yesterday afternoon. Rain stopped this 
morning at around 9 A.M. Fog began to clear, and by 
the 10 A.M. observation, visibility was 70 miles. This 
is a notable contrast to the visibility at 7 A.M. of 
a 1/16 mile. Skies remained overcast until after the 
1 P.M. observation, where clouds decreased considerably.

The maximum gust from the storm yesterday was 48 mph from 
the NNE at 4:10 P.M. Wind decreased overnight, but has strengthened 
considerably throughout the day. We observed multiple gusts
over 25 mph this afternoon. Temperatures have increased to 
57F so far today. This is 5 degrees below the normal maximum
of 62F. The low since midnight is 51F, which is 7 degrees 
above our normal low of 44F.

The cold front that arrived yesterday moved just far enough
south to keep post-tropical cyclone Michael just offshore
today. Rainfall associated with the cyclone reached up to
the southern suburbs of Boston and brought a period of
rain this morning with moderate wind gusts near 30 mph. 

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR SEPTEMBER 2018

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 72.5 [+0.9]
Avg. Min. 58.6 [+4.0]
Mean 65.6 [+2.5]
24-hour corrected mean: 64.8
Max. for month: 92F on 3rd, 6th
Min. for month: 47F on 23rd

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 87 [-30]
Total for the season: 87 [-55]
Total for last season: 93

COOLING DEGREE DAYS
Total cooling units: 110 [+50]
Total for the season: 863 [+266]
Total for last season: 707

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 9.13 [+5.07]
Greatest in 24 hrs: 3.32 ins. on the 18th-19th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 9.4
Avg. corrected wind speed: 10.1
Prevailing wind direction: NE [12% of total hours]
Peak gust and direction: 37 SSW

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 7608 minutes of possible 21582 or 35%
Astronomical total minutes: 7924 minutes of possible 22447 or 35%

BHO Lowest September Sunshine, hours (1886-2018):
1) 120.7 in 1934  [34%]
2) 126.8 in 2018  [35%]
3) 130.8 in 1889  [36%]
4) 131.1 in 1996  [36%]
5) 133.0 in 1907  [37%]

BHO Wettest Septembers, inches (1886-2018):
1) 12.37 in 1999
2) 11.04 in 1933
3) 10.23 in 1896
4) 10.00 in 1961
5) 9.62 in 1987
6) 9.58 in 1888
7) 9.36 in 1918
8) 9.13 in 2018
9) 8.81 in 1907
10) 8.78 in 1996      

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light rain
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 55F; Wind: NNW at 10G16 kts
Sea-level pressure: 28.81 ins. Hg, falling steadily       
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 56F
6-hr Min temp: 55F
24-hr Precip: 0.96 ins.   
BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/16R-F 756/55/55/3410G16/881/ R- CTD/ 
8//// 70096 56015 10056 20055

10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus, few stratus fractus in
all directions
Temperature: 53F; Dew Point: 53F; Wind: NW at 12G22 kts 
Sea-level pressure: 28.80 ins. Hg, falling steadily
Visibility: 70 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.13 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E30 OVC 70 753/53/53/3312G22/880/ FEW STFA 
ALQDS/ 8/6// 6013/ 56003

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratus with breaks SW-N, few 
cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: NE at 16G24 kts,
Peak wind: 26 kts (30 mph) NW at 12:39 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 28.82 ins. Hg, falling then rising    
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 57F
6-hr Min temp: 51F 
6-hr Precip: 0.13 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E30 OVC 70 759/57/48/3116G24/882/ FEW CU 
ALQDS BINOVC SW-N PK WND 3126/39/ 8/6// 6013/ 50006 
10057 20051 
  
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....70   NORMAL.....62
MIN.....56   NORMAL.....45
MEAN....63   NORMAL.....53

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................65 [+5.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............2   DEPARTURE........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............54   DEPARTURE........-59
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............141   DEPARTURE.......-114
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......124   DIFFERENCE.......+17

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............0  DEPARTURE...........0
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............11  DEPARTURE..........+7
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............874  DEPARTURE........+273
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......727  DIFFERENCE.......+147

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................48 NNE AT 4:12  P.M.
                   AERO.........................47 NNE AT 4:12  P.M.
                   ASOS.........................48 NW  AT 4:09  P.M.
                   DAVIS........................47 NW  AT 4:09  P.M. RMY 50
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................34 NNE AT 4:10  P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................32 NW  AT 4:10  P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................36 NW  AT 4:10  P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...............7.6 S
                   ASOS........................8.0 
                   DAVIS.......................7.9 SE [130 deg.]   

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.96  DEPARTURE......+0.81
                         ASOS..............0.95
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.36  DEPARTURE......+0.73
                         ASOS..............2.35 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........49.44  DEPARTURE......+8.91
                         ASOS.............51.27 

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 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

9/01 75/58/67/-1/0.00/521/66        17 NE  AERO 15 NE  RMY 16 
9/02 83/61/72/+4/0.00/684/87        20 SSW AERO 18 SSW RMY N/A 
9/03 92/68/80/+13/0.00/650/83       24 WSW AERO 22 WSW RMY 25
9/04 88/70/79/+12/0.00/695/89       17 W   AERO 16 W   RMY 17 
9/05 89/67/78/+11/0.00/638/82       23 SSW AERO 23 SSW RMY 25 
9/06 92/70/81/+14/0.56/488/63       29 NNW AERO 29 NNW RMY N/A TSTM
9/07 70/63/67/+1/0.01/000/00        24 NE  AERO 22 NE  RMY N/A 
9/08 68/54/61/-5/0.00/031/04        22 NE  AERO 18 NE  RMY 21
9/09 61/53/57/-9/0.00/000/00        23 NE  AERO 21 NE  RMY N/A
9/10 62/56/59/-6/..../000/00        30 E   AERO 28 E   RMY 28
9/11 75/61/68/+3/..../000/00        23 E   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A TSTM 
9/12 69/63/66/+1/..../000/00        21 ENE AERO 21 ENE RMY 21  TSTM 
9/13 68/62/65/+1/..../091/12        21 NE  AERO 21 NE  RMY N/A TSTM 
9/14 75/61/68/+4/..../233/31        13 NE  AERO 12 ENE RMY 12 
9/15 76/62/69/+5/0.01/218/29        14 SW  AERO 13 SW  RMY 13
9/16 84/61/73/+10/..../695/93       15 S   AERO 14 S   RMY N/A
9/17 82/64/73/+10/..../372/50       22 SSW AERO 22 SSW RMY N/A
9/18 74/67/71/+9/..../000/00        31 SSW AERO 30 SSW RMY N/A TSTM
9/19 66/57/62/0/..../007/01         28 NE  AERO 25 NE  RMY 26
9/20 63/55/59/-3/..../110/15        22 NE  AERO 21 NE  RMY 19
9/21 70/55/63/+2/..../352/48        37 SSW AERO 37 SSW RMY 41
9/22 70/51/61/0/..../175/24         37 SW  AERO 36 SW  RMY 30
9/23 60/47/54/-6/..../058/08        14 N   AERO 13 N   RMY N/A 
9/24 55/50/53/-7/..../000/00        37 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY 35
9/25 68/51/60/0/..../000/00         36 SE  AERO 37 SE  RMY 38
9/26 79/66/73/+14/..../244/34       35 SSW AERO 37 SSW RMY 37
9/27 66/56/61/+2/..../465/65        26 NNE AERO 25 NNE RMY 28
9/28 56/52/54/-4/..../029/04        24 NNE AERO 21 NNE RMY 23
9/29 71/50/61/+3/..../518/73        20 NW  AERO 18 NW  RMY 20
9/30 68/48/58/0/..../650/92         20 W   AERO 16 W   RMY N/A

DAILY RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER

09/04/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 70F,
          BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 68F SET IN 1937 AND 1959

09/06/18: DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 92F,
          TIES PREVIOUS RECORD OF 92F SET IN 1900 


PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 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

10/01 65/53/59/+2/..../.../..         21 ENE AERO 18 SSW RMY N/A
10/02 64/53/59/+2/..../.../..         33 S   AERO 32 S   RMY 35 TSTM
10/03 60/52/56/0/..../.../..          18 NNE AERO 14 NNE RMY 14
10/04 69/57/63/+7/..../.../..         29 SSW AERO 29 SSW RMY 32
10/05 64/47/56/0/..../.../..          25 NE  AERO 21 NE  RMY 24
10/06 64/45/55/0/0.00/.../..          23 SSW AERO 23 SSW RMY 25
10/07 75/56/66/+11/..../.../..        28 NE  AERO 24 ENE RMY 27
10/08 56/53/55/+1/..../.../..         22 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY N/A
10/09 75/56/66/+12/..../.../..        26 WSW AERO 28 SW  RMY 29
10/10 82/65/74/+20/..../.../..        24 WSW AERO 23 WSW RMY 25
10/11 70/56/63/+10/..../.../..        48 NNE AERO 47 NNE RMY 50

10/12 Low temp since midnight is 51F; normal low is 44F

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

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 12
HIGH 87F IN 1954
LOW 31F IN 1906
PRECIP 1.53 INCHES IN 1948
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1941
PEAK GUST 55 MPH NW IN 1963

RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 13
HIGH 84F IN 1930,1954
LOW 29F IN 2012
PRECIP 5.92 INCHES IN 1895
SNOWFALL 4.2 INCHES IN 1934
PEAK GUST 46e MPH W IN 1950

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner