From: Mike Iacono To: Subject: BLUE HILL MA 171300 SCT 75 30/11/WNW36G55/2968S HI/LO 34/28 Date: Saturday, February 17, 2001 2:07 PM BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2001 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org THE DAILY DISCUSSION.... DEVELOPING OCEAN STORM BRINGS RAIN, SNOW AND SLEET ON FRIDAY AND ANOTHER ARCTIC COLD FRONT THROUGH NEW ENGLAND TODAY... High winds are the big story again in New England today as an intensifying storm moves offshore pulling cold air and low wind chills into the area. Parts of the area had a brief, strong snow squall late this morning as the leading edge of the dry air moved in. At Blue Hill, moderate to heavy snow lasted for about six minutes from 11:20 to 11:26 AM, bringing just a trace of snow and 0.01 in melted precipitation. A wind gust to 58 mph WNW occurred at 11:25 during the squall, and visibility dropped to 1/8 mile. Winds have continued to increase this afternoon, with a new peak gust to 59 mph WNW, occurring at 12:35 PM. Our Aerovane instrument measured that gust at 62 mph and ASOS recorded 58 mph, prompting the NWS to issue a High Wind Warning for the area this afternoon. Last night, there was a total of 0.4 in of new snow and sleet with 0.19 of melted precipitation at Blue Hill, and 2 inches of old snow remain on the summit. - MJI NEXT MEETING OF THE BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY... None scheduled. BLUE HILL OBSERVATIONS Look for the hourly observations from the Blue Hill ASOS on the Internet. Our station code is KMQE. One good site is run by the NWS: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KMQE.html The main page for this site is: http://weather.noaa.gov/index.html Today's observations: 7 AM BHO SA 1155 E50 BKN 180 OVC 10 043/31/31/3111/966/ THN SPTS IOVC FEW LWR AC HAZY TOTAL NEW SNOW PST 24 HRS 0.4 IN/ 8/57/ 4/002 58003 70019 10033 20031 10 AM BHO SA 1455 5 SCT 120 SCT E 180 BKN 200 BKN 10 049/34/28/2814G22/968/ SW SW-NW MVNG E VSBY W 7/ 8/571 53006 1 PM BHO SA 1755 15 SCT 75 049/30/11/2931G48/968/ FEW AC NE-SE PK WND 2951/35 WND 26V32/ 8/570 55000 6001/ 10034 20028 WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16: PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...............22 MPH SE AT 8:45 PM AEROVANE.........22 MPH SE AT 8:45 PM ASOS..................21 MPH SE AT 8:45 PM AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR..........8.0 MPH, SSW ASOS................8.2 MPH WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17: PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 1 PM........59 MPH WNW AT 12:35 PM AEROVANE.......62 MPH WNW AT 12:35 PM ASOS................58 MPH W AT 12:36 PM TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16: MAX.....38 NORMAL.....35 ASOS.....38 AT 1:49 PM MIN.....23 NORMAL.....19 ASOS.....23 AT 6:37 AM MEAN.....31 NORMAL.....27 DEP.....+4 DEP FOR MONTH.....+68 February is averaging about 4 degrees above normal per day. HEATING DEGREE DAYS AT BLUE HILL: HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY....................34 DEP.........-4 HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........555 DEP........-68 HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.......4202 DEP.......+34 HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON.............3812 DIFF.....+390 PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM.........0.19 IN DEP.....+0.03 IN ASOS.............0.16 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH................2.09 INS DEP.....-0.35 IN ASOS.............1.24 INS TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..................5.24 INS DEP.....-1.35 INS ASOS..............4.11 INS SNOWFALL DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL SNOWFALL THROUGH 7AM............0.4 IN DEP......-0.2 IN TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.......14.8 INS DEP......+5.8 INS TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.....44.6 INS DEP......+6.3 INS RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 17 HIGH 61 IN 1981 LOW -16 IN 1896 PRE 1.70 INS IN 1902 SNOW 11.0 INS IN 1902, 1903 WIND 72 MPH NW IN 1968 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 18 HIGH 65 IN 1981 LOW -10 IN 1958 PRE 1.97 INS IN 1887 SNOW 9.2 INS IN 1952 WIND 65 MPH NNW IN 1952 (ESTIMATED) Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2000. Temperature and precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2000. Mike Iacono