BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA MONDAY OCTOBER 08 2001...COLUMBUS DAY PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http://www.bluehill.org/ DAILY DISCUSSION.....10/8/2001 FIRST FLAKES OF SNOW OF THE SEASON THIS MORNING TIED EARLIEST DATE ON RECORD FOR THIS OCCURRANCE....10/8/1988.... TEMPERATURE DIPS TO 32 DEGREES WELL AHEAD OF AVERAGE DATE OF FIRST FREEZE ON THE SUMMIT WHICH IS OCTOBER 20TH... WINDY FOR THREE DAYS... The first few flakes of snow of the new season were observed here this morning shortly before 9 a.m. While this was rather unusual and tied the record for first flakes of 10/8/1988, we only have to look back to last year on October 9th when the first flakes were observed. And, last year we also had a trace on October 10th and 29th. Then there was an unusual early snowfall of 0.6 inch on October 30, 2000. The low temperature barely made 32 here with 32.4 recorded in the big Hazen shelter this morning. Tomorrow's record is 29 degrees and we will likely be close to that record. Winds today are gusting close to 40 mph. On Saturday, the peak gust was 55 MPH W and yesterday the peak gust reached 44 mph. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS.... 10/8/2001 MON COLUMBUS DAY 8 A.M. mostly clear here but snowshower to the north 20 miles moving sse.... BHO SA 1155 50 SCT 70 232/35/23/2920G30/022/ SNSH 20 N MOVG SSE VIRGA NW-NE SCSL E CU ALG/OFFSHR ENE-DSNT SE-DSNT SSW MDT CU DSNT SE-SSW VSBY N 20 PK WND 2830/53/ 8/800/ 51017 10036 20032 11 A.M. BHO SA 1455 E40 BKN 80 BKN 80 261/44/27/3115G22/031/ 40 BKN V SCT ACSL VCNTY STN PK WND 3232/13/ WND 29V35/ 8/540/ 51029 6000/ 2 P.M. partly sunny with 85 miles visibility with 49 deg. and dewpoint 25; wind nw at 17 gusting 33 mph....peak wind for hour 39 mph wnw.... BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 85 270/49/25/3215G29/033/ SCT V BKN PK WND 3034/29/ WND 27V36 8/400/ 51009 6000/ 10049 20035 DATA RECORDED FOR SUNDAY OCTOBER 07 .... TEMPERATURES.... MAX : 54 MIN: 36 // ASOS MAX: 54 ASOS MIN: 36 NORMAL HIGH AND LOW: 65/46 MEAN 45 [ - 10] TOTAL DEP FOR MONTH TO DATE: +30 degrees The month is running 4 degrees warmer than normal... PRECIPITATION....ON 10/8 AS OF 8 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 8 A.M. ..0.00 IN. ASOS..............................0.00 IN. OCT. TOTAL TO DATE: 0.05 IN. DEP. FROM NORMAL: - 0.79 IN. YEAR 2001 TO DATE: 40.13 {+ 4.02 INS. ] WIND DATA....FOR 10/7 PEAK GUST ASOS: 39 MPH W AT 4:43 P.M. PEAK GUST: 44 MPH W AT 3:33 P.M. PEAK GUST AERO: 44 MPH W AT 3:33 P.M. . DAILY OCT. 2001 DATA....AT BLUE HILL... max/min/mean/dep/precip/sun mins/%/pk gust/TSTM = thunderstorm day (Aero = the aerovane wind system ) 10/1 55/49/51/-5/T/000/00/ 29 N 10/2 73/50/62/+5/0/.../../ 24 W 10/3 78/55/67/+11/0/.../../ 30 SSW (Aero 32 SSW) 10/4 80/60/70/+14/0/.../../ 38 WSW (Aero 38 WSW ) 10/5 79/59/69/+13/0/.../../ 35 SSW 10/6 69/45/57/+2/0.05/.../../ 55 W (Aero 55 MPH W ) 10/7 54/36/45/-10/0/.../../ 44 W (Aero 44 MPH W ) 10/8 morning lo temp. 32 deg.; a trace of snow no sunshine records yet logged in for October.... RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 08 HIGH 81 IN 1916/1990 LOW 28 IN 1919 PRECIP 2.31 INS 1891 PEAK GUST 60 MPH NE IN 1996 RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 09 HIGH 81 IN 1909 LOW 29 IN 1907/1937 PRECIP 2.54 INS 1976 PEAK GUST 81e MPH S IN 1976 e = estimated Robert Skilling