BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 

WARMER AIR RETURNS AFTER SEVERAL FRIGID DAYS...
FEBRUARY NOW SEVERAL DEGREES COLDER THAN AVERAGE...
COLORFUL SUN PILLAR OBSERVED AT SUNRISE...
After another cold start this morning with a low of
16 on the summit and -1 at nearby Norwood Airport,
the temperature has climbed to near 40 degrees at
early afternoon.  The temperature departure of -12
for Friday has dropped the monthly departure to -17,
or about 3 degrees colder than average per day.  
A sun pillar was observed this morning from about
thirty minutes before to about twenty minutes after
sunrise.  This varied in color from red when it 
began to orange and yellow after sunrise, and it
grew in height as time passed up to about 5 degrees 
above the horizon. Its brightness also varied as the 
vertical shaft of light (reflected upward by ice 
particles) interacted with bands of distant dense 
cirrus on the eastern horizon.  

Today's observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few lower dense cirrus,
few higher cirrus, thin smoke layer all quadrants,
light haze, sun pillar
Temperature: 18F, Dew point: 6F, Wind: SSW at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.39 inches Hg, steady 
Visibility: 25 miles, light haze
6-hour minimum temperature: 16F
Snow depth on ground: 14 inches
BHO SA 1155 250 –BKN 25 290/18/6/2009/039/ FEW LWR 
DNS CI FEW HIR CI THN K LYR ALG HRZN BLO INVSN ALQDS 
LGT HZ SUN PILLAR/ 8/001 4/014 54000 10019 20016

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin overcast cirrus, few lower cirrus
Temperature: 30F, Dew point: 15F, Wind: S at 13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.34 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 20 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 250 –OVC 20 275/30/15/1813/034/ FEW LWR CI 
THN K LYR ABV HRZN WNW-NNE HAZY/ 8/001 58015

1 P.M.   
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, scattered cirrostratus,
thin broken cirrus, few cirrus uncinus
Temperature: 38F, Dew point: 23F, Wind: S at 18G25 kts
Wind: Peak gust 32 kts S at 11:58 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.26 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hour maximum temperature: 38F  
BHO SA 1755 120 SCT 200 SCT 250 –BKN 30 246/38/23/1818G25/
026/ HAZY PK WND 1832/1658/ 8/078 58029 10038 20018


WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....26    NORMAL.....35  
MIN......4    NORMAL.....19
MEAN....15    NORMAL.....27

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..............-12
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..............-17 [-3.0 DEGREES/DAY] 

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............50  DEPARTURE........+11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............249  DEPARTURE........+15
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........3817  DEPARTURE........+47
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3392  DIFFERENCE......+425

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............26 W   AT  1:22 A.M.
                   AEROVANE.............22 W   AT  1:21 A.M.
                   ASOS.................22 WNW AT  1:39 A.M.
                   DAVIS................22 W   AT 12:59 A.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............18 W   AT  1:38 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........17 W   AT 10:39 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........17 W   AT  1:40 A.M. 
                   AVERAGE............11.6 WSW
                   ASOS...............10.9
                   DAVIS..............10.0 WSW [246 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...........0.49  DEPARTURE.........-0.41
                         ASOS...............0.45
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............4.65  DEPARTURE.........-1.03
                         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..........0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................6.5   DEPARTURE.........+2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............61.6   DEPARTURE........+28.3
 
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  24/10/17/-9/0.05/0.9/.../..     37 WNW
2/5  17/3/10/-17/0/0/.../..          33 W
2/6  26/4/15/-12/0/0/.../..          26 W

2/7  morning low temp. 16F; normal low now 19F

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 7
HIGH 51F IN 1951,1953
LOW -8F IN 1910
PRECIP 2.12 INS. IN 1983
SNOWFALL 17.1 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978]
PEAK GUST 87e MPH SSE IN 1951

RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 8
HIGH 60F IN 1933
LOW -9F IN 1934
PRECIP 2.50 INS. IN 1945
SNOWFALL 11.0 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 63e MPH NE IN 1945

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Mike Iacono