BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
  
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 

WINDY AND WARM ON GREAT BLUE HILL
WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH
NEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR TODAY'S DATE

The wind on top of Great Blue Hill is blowing today 
at speeds comparable to a typical day on top of Mount 
Washington.  The peak gust recorded today by the 420C 
anemometer was 69 MPH from the SSE at 7:00 A.M. and 
there were several other gusts over 60 MPH between 
6:45 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.  The wind has let up a bit 
since early this morning, but we are still getting 
gusts over 30 MPH into the early afternoon hours. 

The record peak gust for today's date was 89 MPH from 
the SSE in 1942 (estimated).

Here is a list of the peak gust recorded by some of our 
other instruments today:

ASOS: 72 MPH SSE at 7:00 A.M.
Aerovane: 73 MPH SSE at 7:00 A.M.
Davis: 71 SSW at 7:53 A.M.
Maximum: 73 MPH
Merlin: 75 MPH SSE

The temperature has reached 67F as of 1:00 P.M., surpassing
the old record for the date of 61F which occurred in 1998.  
The record high minimum temperature may also be set today.
The lowest temperature since midnight was 49F, and the 
previous record high minimum for today's date was 43F in 
1932 and 1950.

Today's observations:

7 A.M. 
Weather: Broken stratus, overcast nimbostratus, rain
Temperature: 62F, Dew point: 62F, Wind: SSE at 35G58 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 58 kts SSE at 6:52 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.29 inches Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1 mile, rain and fog
6-hour minimum temp: 50F 
24-hour precipitation: 0.92 in.
BHO SA 1155 E5 BKN 10 OVC 1R-F 919/62/62/1535G58/929/ 
PRESFR PK WND 1658/52/ 8/72/ 58092 MANUAL 60XX/ ASOS 60084/ 
MANUAL 70092 ASOS 70095 10062 20050

10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus and altocumulus
Temperature: 64F, Dew point: 56F, Wind: SSW at 7 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 40 kts SSW at 9:24 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.33 inches Hg, rising 
Visibility: 50 miles
BHO SA 1455 30 SCT 140 SCT 50 933/64/56/2024G33/933/ 
PK WND 2040/24/ 8/530 53014 MANUAL 6017/ ASOS 60022

1 P.M. 
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus W-NNE, 
few altocumulus NE-SSW
Temperature: 67F, Dew point: 44F, Wind: SSW at 18G32 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 32 kts SSW at 12:53 P.M.
Wind: Direction variable S-W
Sea-level pressure: 29.35 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 50 miles
6-hour maximum temp: 67F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 939/67/44/2118G32/935/ FEW SC W-NNE 
FEW AC NE-SSW PK WND 2032/53 WND 17V27/ 8/530 53006 
MANUAL 6017/ ASOS 60022 10067 20062 

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....51     NORMAL.....43
MIN.....33     NORMAL.....28
MEAN....42     NORMAL.....36
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR AVERAGE.............+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..............+5  [+2.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............23    DEPARTURE........-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............53    DEPARTURE......-164
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........1213    DEPARTURE......-134
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....1289    DIFFERENCE......-76

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............30 SSE AT 11:02 P.M.    
                   AEROVANE..............30 SSE AT 11:02 P.M.   
                   ASOS..................30 S   AT 11:02 P.M.   
                   DAVIS................ 29 SSE AT 11:02 P.M.    
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........23 SE  AT 10:57 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............21 SSE AT 11:03 P.M.       
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........21 SE  AT 11:23 P.M.     
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........13.6 S
                   ASOS................  13.3
                   DAVIS...............  12.2 S  [190 DEG] 
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M... 0.92   DEPARTURE....+0.77
                         ASOS..............0.95
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR MONTH..............0.92   DEPARTURE....+0.62
                         ASOS..............0.95 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........50.49   DEPARTURE....+3.53
                         ASOS.............50.76
			
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.....-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0  DEPARTURE.....-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...............3.0  DEPARTURE.....-0.3
	 							
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized

12/1  41/28/35/-1/0/0/.../..    29 NW  
12/2  51/33/42/+6/.../.../..    30 SSE

12/3  our morning low temp: 49F; the normal low temp. is now 28F

NEW DAILY RECORD FOR DECEMBER 2009
* will be updated in tomorrow's report *

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

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 3
HIGH 61 IN 1932,1950
LOW  -1 IN 1890
PRECIP 2.10 INS. IN 1986
SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1963
PEAK GUST 73e MPH W IN 1942

RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 4
HIGH 67 IN 1998
LOW -4 IN 1940
PRECIP 1.87 INS. IN 1968
SNOWFALL 6.0 INS. IN 1907
PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1980

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Stephanie Radner