BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2007 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME ARCTIC AIR BRIEFLY RETURNS TODAY...WIND CHILL -5 TO -10 DEG F THIS MORNING... The temperature dropped to 14 by midnight and to 11 just before sunrise today. Winds were strong much of the night with a peak gust to 55 mph WNW at 9:07 P.M. Friday evening. The peak gust so far today has been 40 mph WNW at 7:43 A.M. Visibility has been high all day in the dry air, increasing from 70 earlier to 80 miles this afternoon. February is still running about 5 degrees colder than normal. Since mid-January we have offset less than half of the warmth that occurred during the first half of the winter. So, while February has been cold, the winter season (Dec-Feb) will likely finish much warmer than average. Snowfall continues very low with only 10.4 inches through today, which is now 32.5 inches less than the average amount through this date and the second lowest on record through this date. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few altocumulus and stratocumulus Temperature: 12F, Dew point: -1F, Wind: WNW at 23G32 kts Peak wind: WNW at 35 kts, 6:43 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.85 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 70 miles 6-hourly min. temp. 11 deg. Snow on ground: 1 inch BHO SA 1155 250 –SCT 70 107/12/-1/2923G32/985/ FEW AC WNW-S FEW SC DSNT E-ESE PK WND 2935/43/ 8/571 4/001 51020 10014 20011 10 A.M. Weather: Clear; few cumulus, altocumulus, and cirrus Temperature: 20F, Dew point: 4F, Wind: WNW at 18G28 kts Peak wind: WNW at 30 kts, 9:40 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.91 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 127/20/4/2918G28/991/ FEW CI NNW-SE FEW AC DSNT NE-E FEW CU DSNT W-NW PK WND 2930/40/ 8/171 51020 1 P.M. Weather: Clear; few stratocumulus offshore Temperature: 29F, Dew point: 9F, Wind: WNW AT 18G28 kts Peak wind: WNW at 31 kts at 11:59 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.89 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 80 miles 6-hourly max. temp. 29 deg. BHO SA 1755 CLR 80 120/29/9/2918G28/989/ FEW SC DSNT NE-ESE PK WND 2931/1659 WND 26V32/ 8/500 56007 10029 20012 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....38 MIN.....14 NORMAL.....22 MEAN....23 NORMAL.....30 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........-117 (-5.3 DEGREES/DAY) HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..........42 DEPARTURE........+7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.........974 DEPARTURE......+112 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.......3918 DEPARTURE......-480 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE..3864 DIFFERENCE......+54 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............55 WNW AT 7:35 P.M. AEROVANE.............56 WNW AT 7:35 P.M. ASOS.................51 NW AT 9:07 P.M. DAVIS................52 WNW AT 7:35 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............40 WNW AT 9:07 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........39 WNW AT 7:36 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........39 WNW AT 7:36 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION......19.1 WNW ASOS..............18.7 DAVIS.............18.7 WNW [300 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...TRACE DEPARTURE.....-0.15 ASOS..............0.09 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.47 DEPARTURE.....-0.84 ASOS..............2.45 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.41 DEPARTURE.....-2.68 ASOS..............5.32 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........TRACE DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................3.8 DEPARTURE......-9.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............10.4 DEPARTURE.....-32.5 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2007......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane recording wind system when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day ....: Data not yet available 2/1 35/20/28/+2/0/0/126/21 37 S Aero 34 MPH S 2/2 35/28/32/+6/0.18/0.3/000/00 20 NW 2/3 32/19/26/0/0.05/0.4/574/95 39 W Aero 47 MPH W 2/4 22/10/16/-10/0/0/601/99 39 WSW Aero 40 MPH WSW 2/5 16/5/11/-16/0/0/493/81 61 W Aero 60 MPH W 2/6 24/10/17/-10/0/0/593/97 38 W Aero 36 MPH W 2/7 21/8/15/-12/0/0/474/77 43 W Aero 41 MPH W 2/8 25/11/18/-9/0/0/370/60 48 WSW 2/9 26/15/21/-6/0/0/600/97 44 WSW Aero 42 MPH WSW 2/10 32/13/23/-4/0/0/199/32 28 W 2/11 31/14/23/-4/0/0/456/73 27 SSW 2/12 36/20/28/0/0/0/602/96 43 WSW Aero 40 MPH W 2/13 22/6/14/-14/0.02/0.2/226/36 28 NW 2/14 36/13/25/-3/2.09/1.4/000/00 47 NE Aero 52 MPH NE 2/15 21/9/15/-13/0/0/616/97 46 W Aero 53 MPH W 2/16 27/9/18/-10/0/0/624/98 51 W Aero 49 MPH W 2/17 34/17/26/-3/0/0/596/93 42 W 2/18 33/16/25/-4/0/0/289/45 38 WNW Aero 40 MPH WNW 2/19 20/5/13/-16/0/0/646/100 46 WNW Aero 51 MPH WNW 2/20 48/17/33/+4/T/0/266/41 35 SSW Aero 34 MPH SSW 2/21 44/30/37/+8/0/0/606/93 29 W Aero 28 MPH WNW 2/22 39/28/34/+4/.../.../007/01 22 SSE Aero 20 MPH SE 2/23 32/14/23/-7/.../.../.../.. 55 WNW Aero 56 MPH WNW 2/24 morning low temp. 11 deg; normal now 22 deg. 2/14 - NEW RECORD DAILY PRECIPITATION OF 2.09 INCHES; the previous record was 1.95 inches in 1940. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 24 HIGH 68F IN 1985 [RECORD FOR MONTH] LOW -11F IN 1894 PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1969 SNOWFALL 27.4 INCHES IN 1969 [HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY AMOUNT ON RECORD] PEAK GUST 63 MPH NE IN 1998 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 25 HIGH 67F IN 1976 LOW -10F IN 1894 PRECIP 2.40 INCHES IN 1981 SNOWFALL 13.6 INCHES IN 1966 PEAK GUST 75 MPH S IN 1965 TODAY'S REPORT By: Mike Iacono If you do not wish to receive this Daily Discussion and Climate Summary from the Blue Hill Observatory, please send an email to sitemaster@bluehill.org.