BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
COLD AND BREEZY TODAY WITH EXCELLENT VISIBILITY...
Broken cirrus moved away early this morning leaving
the sky almost completely clear with just a few
small cumulus along the horizon since mid-morning.
The visibility has very high today near 75 miles,
with the horizon to the northeast through east 
looking very sharp. The south coast of Cape Ann
at Gloucester and nearby Thacher Island are both
clearly visible today 38-40 miles to the northeast.
Another sunny day today will raise the February
sunshine, which was up to 70% through the 18th,
even further, though clouds and rain or snow are
expected on Sunday. The peak gust has been 36 kts,
41 mph W at 8:10 AM this morning. 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, thin broken cirrus
Temperature: 23F, Dew point: 10F, Wind: W at 18G32 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 32 kts W at 6:48 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 55 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 23F
24-hourly precip. 0.00 inch
Snow depth on ground: Trace
BHO SA 1155 150 SCT 200 -BKN 250 –BKN 55 161/23/10/2818G32/001/
FEW SC DSNT ENE-ESE PK WND 2832/48/ 8/101 53038 10025 20023
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus NNW-NE, few small cumulus
distant SSE-NW
Temperature: 30F, Dew point: 12F, Wind: W at 16G30 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 32 kts W at 9:13 A.M.
Wind: Direction variable WSW-WNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 75 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 183/30/12/2716G30/007/ FEW CI NNW-NE FEW SML
CU DSNT SSE-NW PK WND 2732/13 WND 24V30/ 8/101 51022
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Clear, few small cumulus distant S-NW
Temperature: 35F, Dew point: 14F, Wind: W at 18G26 kts,
Wind: Peak gust past hour 28 kts W at 12:25 P.M.
Wind: Direction variable WSW-WNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 75 miles 
6-hour maximum temperature: 26F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 75 197/35/14/2718G26/011/ FEW SML CU DSNT S-NW
PK WND 2628/25 WND 24V30/ 8/100 50014 10035 20023
 
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....27    NORMAL.....37
MIN.....18    NORMAL.....21
MEAN....23    NORMAL.....29
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+48 [+2.2 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............42  DEPARTURE.........+6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............703  DEPARTURE........-52
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4271  DEPARTURE........-20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3896  DIFFERENCE......+375
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............50 W   AT 12:18 A.M.
                   AEROVANE.............48 W   AT 12:18 A.M.
                   ASOS.................48 WNW AT 12:18 A.M.
                   DAVIS................44 W   AT 12:18 A.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............36 W   AT  1:09 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........35 W   AT 12:18 A.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........32 W   AT  5:36 P.M.     
                   AVERAGE............22.8 WSW
                   ASOS...............20.2
                   DAVIS..............19.1 WSW [250 DEGREES]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00  DEPARTURE.........-0.14
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.34  DEPARTURE.........-1.53
                         ASOS...............1.28
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............5.50  DEPARTURE.........-2.15
                         ASOS...............6.48 #
# 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.........-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................8.5   DEPARTURE.........-3.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............63.6   DEPARTURE........+22.2
 
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 46/24/35/+6/0.34/0.4/.../..     43 W    AERO 44 MPH W
2/20 27/18/23/-6/T/T/.../..          50 W    AERO 48 MPH W
 
2/21 morning low temp. 23F 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 21
HIGH 62F IN 1930
LOW -6F IN 1950
PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1898
SNOWFALL 9.0 INCHES IN 1929
PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1967
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 22
HIGH 63F IN 1997
LOW -1F IN 1918
PRECIP 1.38 INCHES IN 1900
SNOWFALL 8.0 INCHES IN 1893
PEAK GUST 74 MPH S IN 1974
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Mike Iacono