BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2009 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
SNOWSTORM BROUGHT 6.5 INCHES OF FLUFFY SNOW
RATIO OF SNOW TO WATER WAS 13:1
 
The snow which began around 8:40 a.m. yesterday
morning continued throughout the day and evening
and didn't end until just before dawn this morning
in the hour between 5 and 6 a.m.  Our best estimate
is that 5.6 inches fell by midnight last night with 
an additional amount of 0.9 inch in this morning's
early hours. Melted precipitation for the event
was 0.49 inch. 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, stratocumulus NNE-SE-S, few
altocumulus, and altocumulus lenticularis  
Temperature: 12F, Dew point: 9F, Wind: WNW at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.87 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 20 miles, thin fog and haze
6-hour minimum temperature: 12F
24-hourly precip: 0.49 inch
24-hourly snowfall: 6.5 ins.
Snow depth on ground: 17 inches
BHO SA 1155 250 –SCT 20 116/12/9/2910/987/
SC NE-S FEW ACSL FRMG THN FH TOTAL NEW SNW
PST 24 HRS 6.5 INS/ 8/541 4/017 ASOS 70045
MANUAL 70049 10021 20012
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, statocumulus layer visible
to the distant northeast, hazy  
Temperature: 18F, Dew point: 7F, Wind: WNW at 11 kts,
Wind: direction variability from W to NNW 
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles, light haze 
BHO SA 1455 250 –BKN 30 138/18/7/2911/994/
SC LYR DSNT NE HAZY WND 26V33/ 8/501 51022
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant NE-E
Temperature: 23F, Dew point: 6F, Wind: WNW at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.93 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 40 miles, light haze
6-hour maximum temperature: 23F 
BHO SA 1755 CLR 40 134/23/6/3006/993/ FEW
SC DSNT NE-E LGT HZ/ 8/500 58004 10023 20012
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....33    NORMAL.....34 
MIN.....22    NORMAL.....18
MEAN....28    NORMAL.....26
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...............+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..............+21 [+6.8 deg. per day]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............37  DEPARTURE.........-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............96  DEPARTURE....... -21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........3664  DEPARTURE........+11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3310  DIFFERENCE......+354
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............34  N  AT 12:10 P.M.  
                   AEROVANE.............38  N  AT 12:10 P.M.    
                   ASOS.................39  N  AT 11:11 A.M.   
                   DAVIS................47  N  AT 12:09 P.M. *  
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............26  N  AT 12:11 P.M. #   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........21  N  AT 12:21 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........28  N  AT 11:12 A.M. *  
                   AVERAGE............ 14.0 NNW 
                   ASOS................13.2
                   DAVIS...............13.5 N [350 DEGREES]
* higher due obstruction in anemometer's orientation
# LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES…
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.49  DEPARTURE.........+0.34
                         ASOS...............0.45
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........0.49  DEPARTURE.........+0.04
                         ASOS...............0.45
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............4.65  DEPARTURE.........-0.58
                         ASOS...............5.65 #
# 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..........6.5   DEPARTURE.........+5.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................6.5   DEPARTURE.........+4.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............61.6   DEPARTURE........+30.4
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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
 
2/1  45/15/30/+4/0/0/.../..          35 SW
2/2  50/32/41/+15/0/0/.../..         29 NNW
2/3  33/22/28/+2/0.44/5.6/000/00     39  N   AERO 38 MPH N 
 
2/4  morning low temp. 12F; normal low is now 18F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2009...
 
None to date
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 4
HIGH 63F IN 1991
LOW -4F IN 1886, 1908
PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1926
SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1961
PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1972
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5
HIGH 65F IN 1991
LOW -14F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907
PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling