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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
LAST EVENING'S SNOWFALL OF 1.6 INCHES MELTS AWAY
QUICKLY AND IS GONE BY MID-MORNING TODAY
FIRST SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION SINCE FEB.3-4
 
Light snow began late yesterday afternoon and
accumulated to an estimated 1.6 inches by the
time it changed to rain late in the evening.
Half of the snow was melted away by 7 a.m. this
morning with rain and temperatures rising to
38 degrees early today. Measurement of the new
snow was better estimated by measuring on the top
of the remaining patches of old snow. 
Precipitation totaled 0.62 for the event, the most
since 0.49 inch fell on February 3-4. Downpours of
rain left 0.24 inch in the hour from 7 to 8 a.m.
this morning. The barometer had dropped to near
29.30 inches by early this afternoon.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Obscurement, moderate rain and fog 
Temperature: 34F, Dew point: 34F, Wind: WSW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.32 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 1/16 mile
6-hour minimum temperature: 33F
6-hourly precip: 0.05 inch
24-hourly precip. 0.38 inch
24-hourly snowfall: 1.6 inches
Snow depth on ground: 1 inch
BHO SA 1155 W2 X 1/16RF 930/34/34/2406/932/
TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.6 INS RB50/ 8////
4/001 56018 MANUAL 6008/ ASOS 60005 ASOS 70031
MANUAL 70038 10038 20033
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Partial obscurement with 7/10 fog and an
overcast of stratus base drifting over summit
Temperature: 36F, Dew point: 36F, Wind: W at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.31 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 1/8 mile, but 1 mile ESE, 3/4 mile south
3-hourly precip: 0.24 inch
BHO SA 1455 –X E3 OVC 1/8F 927/36/36/2706/931/
F7 SUN DMLY VSB STRA DRFTG OVR SMT
VSBY ESE 1 S 3/4/ 8/6//
58003 MANUAL 6024/ ASOS 60024
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, occasionally broken,
and numerous breaks in overcast 
Temperature: 41F, Dew point: 36F, Wind: W at 10 kts,
Wind: direction variable WSW-NW 
Wind: gust to 21 kts past hour
Sea-level pressure: 29.30 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 50 miles 
6-hour maximum temperature: 41F
6-hourly precip: 0.24 inch
BHO SA 1755 E20 OVC 50 923/41/36/2710/930/
OVC V BKN HIER SC VSB W/ WND 24V31 GST 21 KTS
PST HR/ 8/500 58004 ASOS 60024 MANUAL 6024/
10041 20033
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....41    NORMAL.....37
MIN.....24    NORMAL.....21
MEAN....33    NORMAL.....29
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+48 [+2.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............32  DEPARTURE.........-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............631  DEPARTURE........-52
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4199  DEPARTURE........-20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3822  DIFFERENCE......+377
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............33  E  AT 10:06 P.M.
                   AEROVANE.............33  E  AT 10:06 P.M.
                   ASOS.................33  E  AT 10:06 P.M.     
                   DAVIS................31  E  AT 10:06 P.M. *     
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............23 SSE AT  3:19 P.M. *  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........23 SSE AT  3:10 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........23 SSE AT  3:10 P.M.     
                   AVERAGE............13.3 SSE
                   ASOS...............12.0
                   DAVIS..............12.7  SE [130 DEGREES]
* last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.38  DEPARTURE.........+0.24
                         ASOS...............0.31
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.00  DEPARTURE.........-1.59
                         ASOS...............0.93
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............5.16  DEPARTURE.........-2.21
                         ASOS...............6.03 #
# 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..........1.6   DEPARTURE.........+1.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................8.1   DEPARTURE.........-2.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............63.2   DEPARTURE........+23.3
 
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/+4/0/0/402/67          35 SW
2/2  50/32/41/+15/0/0/568/94         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/-9/0.05/0.9/572/94     37 WNW
2/5  17/3/10/-17/0/0/538/88          33 W
2/6  26/4/15/-12/0/0/509/83          26 W
2/7  42/16/29/+2/0/0/314/51          45 S    AERO 44 MPH S
2/8  49/30/40/+13/0/0/433/70         54 W    AERO 54 MPH W
2/9  37/21/29/+2/0/0/621/100         38 WNW  AERO 38 MPH WNW
2/10 36/22/29/+2/0/0/006/01          21 SSE
2/11 59/34/47/+20/0/0/482/77         29 SSE  AERO 24 MPH SSE
2/12 51/37/44/+16/0.13/0/063/10      54 WSW  AERO 54 MPH WSW
2/13 38/24/31/+3/0/429/68            47 W    AERO 47 MPH W
2/14 39/20/30/+2/0/0/595/94          42 W    AERO 40 MPH W
2/15 39/23/31/+3/0/0/637/100         30 NW   AERO 28 MPH NW
2/16 35/21/28/0/0/0/633/99           23 NW   
2/17 35/19/27/-2/0/0/641/100         21 NW 
2/18 41/24/33/+4/0.25/1.6/.../..     33 E    AERO 33 MPH E
 
2/19 morning low temp. 32F since midnight; our normal low 21F
 
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 19
HIGH 66F IN 1981
LOW -5F IN 1923
PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1972
SNOWFALL 12.0 INCHES IN 1893
PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1972
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 20
HIGH 66F IN 1930
LOW -4F IN 1966
PRECIP 1.90 INCHES IN 1934
SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1921,1934
PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1972
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling