BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA MONDAY DECEMBER 31 2001 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http://www.bluehill.org/ HAPPY NEW YEAR! DAILY DISCUSSION.....12/28/2001...@ 1 P.M. DECEMBER 2001 WILL BE WARMEST ON RECORD BY FRACTION OF A DEGREE.... Through 30 days the 24-hr. corrected mean is 37.7 and figuring a mean in the mid 20's for today (say a 25) would bring the mean down to a 37.3 or just 0.1 warmer than the previous warmest December in 1891. A mean of 26 today would place this month at 37.4 or 2/10 above the previous warmest December. Our minimum temperature for December of 18 degrees recorded just this morning is a NEW RECORD HIGH MONTHLY MINIMUM FOR DECEMBER....the old record was 15 degrees in two different years.... The December precipitation total will likely remain at 3.56 inches in the standard gage and 3.32 for ASOS. The standard gage total is 1.15 inches drier than normal. This leaves the year with 45.53 inches or 3.17 inches below normal. For comparison the year's total for ASOS is 38.86 inches or 85% of the standard gage total. WARMEST DECEMBERS: Year DEC Dep from Nrm 1891 37.2 +7.3 1998 36.9 +7.0 1990 36.7 +6.8 1953 36.6 +6.7 1996 36.3 +6.4 1957 36.0 +6.1 1923 35.7 +5.8 1982 35.7 +5.8 1984 35.6 +5.7 TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS.... 12/31/2001 MON 7 a.m. BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 122/18/6/2514/989/ SC LYR OFFSHR DSNT E-S FEW CI DSNT ESE-S LGT HAZE/ 8/501/ 53007 10 a.m. BHO SA 1455 CLR 40 133/23/6/2616G20/992/ LGT HAZE/ 50011 1 p.m. BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 114/28/6/2615G22/987/ FEW SC DSNT S AND W-NW LGT HAZE/ 8/500/ 58018 10029 20018 DATA RECORDED FOR SUNDAY DECEMBER 30..... TEMPERATURES.... MAX : 32 MIN: 20 // ASOS MAX: 31 ASOS MIN: 20 NORMAL HIGH AND LOW: 34/19 MEAN 25 [- 2] TOTAL DEP FOR MONTH TO DATE: + 235 DECEMBER is averaging 7.5 degrees WARMER THAN NORMAL.... PRECIPITATION....ON 12/31 AS OF 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M. ... 0.00 ASOS......................0.00 IN. DEC. TOTAL................3.56 IN. (STD GAGE) DEP. FROM NORMAL........- 1.01 IN. PRECIP. TOTAL YEAR 2001 TO DATE: 45.53 {- 3.17 IN. ] SNOWFALL.... ON 12/31 AS OF 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.... 0.00 DEC. TOTAL............. 10.1 IN. SEASONAL TOTAL TO DATE. 10.1 IN. WIND DATA....FOR 12/30 PEAK GUST ASOS: 32 MPH WSW AT 7:33 P.M. PEAK GUST 420C: 33 MPH WSW AT 7:33 P.M. PEAK GUST AERO: 36 MPH WSW AT 7:33 P.M. PRELIMINARY DAILY DEC. 2001 DATA....AT BLUE HILL... max/min/mean/dep/precip/snowfall/sun mins/%/pk gust/TSTM = thunderstorm day Aero = the aerovane wind system ) 12/1 70/45/58/+23/0/0/536/96/ 36 WSW (Aero 36 MPH SW ) 12/2 49/38/44/+9/0/0/006/01/ 21 WNW 12/3 52/35/44/+10/0/0/556/100/ 31 MPH SSW (Aero 33 MPH SSW ) 12/4 56/41/49/+15/T/0/516/93/ 24 SW 12/5 65/46/56/+22/0.01/0/393/71/ 24 SSW 12/6 70/52/61/+28/0/0/221/40/ 40 SW (Aero 42 MPH SW ) 12/7 55/39/47+14/0/0/490/89/ 22 ENE 12/8 40/30/35/+3/0.23/2.5/204/37/ 20 NNW 12/9 32/27/30/-2/0.62/6.0/011/02/ 22 ENE 12/10 40/27/34/+2/0/0/487/85/ 20 S 12/11 45/36/41/+10/0/0/192/35/ 18 NNE (Aero 20 mph NNE ) 12/12 40/34/37/+6/0/0/000/00/ 28 NE 12/13 49/37/43/+12/0.05/0/000/00/ 23 SW 12/14 54/44/49/+19/0.55/0/011/02/ 29 NNW 12/15 44/27/36/+6/0.11/T/076/14/ 31 NW (Aero 36 MPH NW) 12/16 37/24/31/+1/0/0/518/95/ 32 NW 12/17 40/26/33/+4/0.68/1.4/000/00/ 28 SE 12/18 40/31/36/+7/0.55/0.2/000/00/ 37 NW 12/19 45/31/38/+9/0/0/468/78/ 31 W 12/20 42/33/38/+9/T/0/022/04/ 35 W (Aero 33 MPH W 12/21 38/27/33/+5/T/T/245/45/ 40 NW 12/22 38/23/30/+2/0/0/544/100/ 29 NW 12/23 44/22/33/+5/0/0/463/85/ 27 S 12/24 47/30/39/+11/0.75/0/000/00/ 32 SE 12/25 36/26/31/+4/0/0/512/94/ 24 W 12/26 32/26/29/+2/T/T/016/03/ 17 NW (Aero 17 MPH NW ) 12/27 31/19/25/-2/0/0/519/95/ 40 W (Aero 38 MPH W ) 12/28 34/19/27/0/0/0/344/63/ 33 SW 12/29 34/23/29/2/0/0/164/30/ 33 SSW 12/30 32/20/26/-1/0/0/547/100/ 33 WSW 12/31 morning low 18 deg.; afternoon high thru 2 p.m. is 30. Our total sunshine minutes for the month to date is: 8041 Our sunshine is running 49% of possible; normal for December is 46%. RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 31 HIGH 62 IN 1965 LOW -12 IN 1917 PRECIP 0.96 INS 1906 SNOWFALL: 6.0 INS. 1886 PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1990 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 01 HIGH 58 IN 1966 LOW - 6 IN 1918 PRECIP 1.45 INS 1982 SNOWFALL: 7.2 INS. 1938 PEAK GUST 90e MPH S IN 1945 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 02 HIGH 62 IN 1890 LOW -07 IN 1899,1918 PRECIP 2.10 INS 1987 SNOWFALL: 9.0 INS. 1904 PEAK GUST 85e MPH S IN 1942 e = estimated Robert Skilling