BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2009 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
JANUARY 2009 STATS.....
TEMPS. DEG. F
Av. Max. 29.4
Av. Min. 14.3
Mean     21.9 [-4.1]
Monthly max. 39 on 23rd
Monthly min.  0 on 16th
24-hour mean 21.8
Heating units: 1328 [+121]
Heating season: 3568 [+32}
PRECIP./SNOWFALL in inches
Total precip: 4.16  [-0.62]
Snowfall:     24.7  [+8.9 ]
Since 10/1:   55.1 [+25.7 ]
WIND:
Av. 12.8 MPH
Av. [corrected] 13.1 MPH (2nd lowest on record)
Prevailing direction: W 36%  
[the high percent may be a record]
Peak gust: 48 MPH WSW on 29th (2nd lowest on record
in records checked back to 1965)
Fastest mile: 39 MPH NE on 7th
and 39 MPH W on 29th
SUNSHINE: 57% of possible
Total astronomical minutes: 10106 or 168.4 hours 
Total card minutes: 9762 or 162.7 hours 
Av. vapor pressure: 2.7 millibars
 
FEBRUARY THAW BRINGS HIGH TEMP. OF 50F TODAY
A FOOT OF SNOW ON GROUND ONLY SLOWLY MELTING
 
After a very cold January with a record low monthly
maximum temperature of 39F, (see monthly summary),
February has started out with much warmer weather.
Yesterday's high of 45F was our warmest since 58F
on December 28th.  Temperatures remained just above
freezing here on the summit overnight last night
with a low of 33F despite 20-degree readings in
the surrounding countryside below a temperature
inversion.  In fact, the thermometer registered 40F
here just a few minutes past 7 a.m. and hit 50F just
before noon today. A continuous snow cover remains
on the ground starting with the December 31st snowstorm
and the depth has been in the double digits since
January 18th.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, stratus layer along the
horizon east through south and south-southwest 
Temperature: 38F, Dew point: 29F, Wind: WSW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 12 miles, thin fog, 20 miles above inversion
to the west-northwest
6-hour minimum temperature: 33F
Snow depth on ground: 12 inches
BHO SA 1155 E100 BKN 12 137/38/29/2406/994/ STRA LYR
ALG HRZN E-SSW THN FG BLO INVSN ESTMTD TOP 3 HND OVR
CTY N VSBY WNW 20 ABV INVSN/ 8/030 4/012 55004 10039 20033
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, a layer is SW-NW-NNE 
Temperature: 42F, Dew point: 30F, Wind: WNW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.96 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 12 miles, hazy 
BHO SA 1455 100 SCT 12 145/42/30/2806/996/
AC LYR SW-NW-NNE HAZY/ 8/030 53008
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Clear, altocumulus layer SW-N
Temperature: 49F, Dew point: 27F, Wind: W at 5 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.90 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 25 miles, hazy, 12 miles NE-E
6-hour maximum temperature: 50F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 25 126/49/27/2805/990/ AC LYR SW-N 
VSBY NE-E 12 HAZY ALQDS/ 8/030 58019 10050 20035
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....45    NORMAL.....34 
MIN.....15    NORMAL.....18
MEAN....30    NORMAL.....26
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...............+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...............+4
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............35  DEPARTURE.........-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............35  DEPARTURE.........-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........3603  DEPARTURE........+28
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3262  DIFFERENCE......+341
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............35  SW AT 12:57 P.M. *
                   AEROVANE.............33  SW AT 12:37 P.M.  
                   ASOS.................33  SW AT 12:37 P.M. 
                   DAVIS................34 SSW AT 12:53 P.M. 
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............23  SW AT 12:32 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........23  SW AT 12:32 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........24 SSW AT 1:01 P.M. 
                   AVERAGE............12.9 SSW 
                   ASOS...............12.6
                   DAVIS..............12.4 SSW [200 DEGREES]
 
* last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00  DEPARTURE.........-0.15
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........0.00  DEPARTURE.........-0.15
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............4.16  DEPARTURE.........-0.77
                         ASOS...............5.20 #
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 1/1/09 and 1/2/09
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............55.1   DEPARTURE........+25.1
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
   TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
1/1  16/1/9/-18/0/0/538/98           44 WNW   Aero 44 MPH WNW
1/2  32/9/21/-6/0/0/005/01           28 S
1/3  32/21/27/0/T/T/539/98           43 WNW   Aero 44 MPH WNW
1/4  35/17/26/-1/0/0/512/93          36 W     Aero 33 MPH W
1/5  36/26/31/+4/0.06/0/000/00       30 W   
1/6  33/21/27/+1/0/0/183/33          27 W 
1/7  36/26/31/+5/1.26/0.8/000/00     46 NE    Aero 45 MPH NE
1/8  38/21/30/+4/0.01/0.1/389/70     47 W     Aero 45 MPH W
1/9  25/16/21/-5/0/0/546/98          37 W     Aero 36 MPH W
1/10 24/11/18/-8/0.10/1.0/329/59     28 W
1/11 31/19/25/-1/0.55/5.3/000/00     30 NW
1/12 27/18/23/-3/0.02/0.4/410/73     24 WNW
1/13 34/16/25/-1/0.04/T/107/19       25 SE
1/14 33/10/22/-4/0/0/518/92          47 W     Aero 48 MPH W
1/15 16/5/11/-15/0/0/000/00          20 NW
1/16 17/0/9/-17/0/0/557/98           26 W
1/17 19/1/10/-16/0/0/450/79          23 W
1/18 29/14/22/-4/0.58/9.5/000/00     24 E
1/19 32/19/26/+1/0.24/3.5/057/10     18 NW
1/20 30/17/24/-1/T/T/247/43          30 NW
1/21 23/9/16/-9/0/0/462/80           25 SW
1/22 31/14/23/-2/0/0/505/87 *        31 SW
1/23 39/24/32/+7/0/0/389/67 *        31 S
1/24 36/9/23/-3/0/0/280/48           40 W    Aero 42 MPH W
1/25 23/3/13/-13/0/0/532/91          25 SW
1/26 25/10/18/-8/0/0/535/91          17 W
1/27 27/14/21/-5/0/0/448/76          22 W
1/28 37/19/28/+2/1.30/4.1/000/00     39 WSW
1/29 34/20/27/+1/0/0/529/89          48 WSW  Aero 50 MPH WSW
1/30 36/17/27/+1/0/0/447/75          25 SSW
1/31 26/15/21/-5/0/0/592/99          38 W
 
* sunshine minutes and %'s have
  been updated and the increase is
  2% for each day 
 
2/1  45/15/30/+4/0/0/.../..          35 SW
 
2/2  morning low temp. 33F; our normal low is now 18F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2009...
 
Record low maximum temperature for the month;
39F; previous record 40F in 2003    
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2
HIGH 55F IN 1951, 1973
LOW -12F IN 1961
PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1999
SNOWFALL 5.5 INS. IN 1916, 1934
PEAK GUST 92 MPH SW IN 1970
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 3
HIGH 58F IN 1991
LOW -7F IN 1955
PRECIP 2.14 INS. IN 1970
SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1913
PEAK GUST 102 MPH S IN 1970 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling