BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2009 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME DECEMBER 2008 STATS Mean temp: 32.8F [+1.6] Mean corr. to 24 hours: 33.2F High: 61F on 12th,15th Low: 5F on 31st Total heating units: 990 [-50] Seasonal total: 2240 [-89] Precipitation: 9.16 ins. [+4.60] Snowfall: 30.4 ins. [+19.7] Greatest depth on ground at 7 a.m.: 15 ins. on 22nd Sunshine: 6570 astronomical minutes or 109.5 hours or 39% Sunshine: 6363 Campbell Stokes card minutes or 106.1 hours or 39% Av. wind speed uncorrected: 16.5 MPH Av. wind speed corrected: 16.7 MPH Prevailing wind direction: W @ 23% DECEMBER 2008 MONTHLY NOTES.... December 2008 with 9.16 inches ranks 3rd wettest on record, and 30.4 inches of snowfall ranks 4th highest on record. Highest December Precipitation (inches) 1) 12.60 in 1969 2) 9.80 in 1992 3) 9.16 in 2008 4) 9.01 in 1936 5) 8.31 in 1996 Highest December Snowfall (inches) 1) 45.2 in 1945 2) 39.5 in 1947 3) 32.0 in 1902 4) 30.4 in 2008 5) 29.7 in 2003, 2007 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, altocumulus distant NE-SE Temperature: 24F, Dew point: 19F, Wind: W at 15G22 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.75 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 20 miles, hazy 6-hour minimum temperature: 23F 24-hour precipitation: trace 24-hour snowfall: trace Snow depth on ground: 5 ins. BHO SA 1155 CLR 20 076/24/19/2615G22/975/ AC/AC LYR DSNT NE-SE HAZY/ 8/070 4/005 53027 MANUAL 6000/ ASOS 70001 10025 20023 ASOS PRECIP ERROR INOP 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus forming Temperature: 30F, Dew point: 16F, Wind: WNW at 25G35 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 33 kts WNW at 9:53 a.m., Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW, gradually veering Sea-level pressure: 29.78 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 40 miles BHO SA 1455 30 SCT 40 084/30/16/2925G35/978/ SC FRMG ALQDS PK WND 2935/53/ WND 25V32 GRDLY VEERING/ 8/500 51008 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus, few cirrus NW-NE Temperature: 31F, Dew point: 11F, Wind: W at 13G23 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 31 kts NW at 12:25 p.m. Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.80 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 55 miles BHO SA 1755 CLR 55 091/31/11/2813G23/980/ FEW CURRA ALQDS FEW CI DSNT NW-NE PK WND 3131/25/ WND 24V31/ 8/101 51007 10032 20024 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....35 MIN......9 NORMAL.....19 MEAN....21 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...............-6 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..............-24 [January dep. is -11.8 deg.] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............44 DEPARTURE.........+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............100 DEPARTURE........+24 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........2340 DEPARTURE........-65 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....2246 DIFFERENCE.......+94 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............28 S AT 12:37 P.M. * AEROVANE.............25 S AT 12:55 P.M. ASOS.................28 S AT 12:13 P.M. DAVIS................27 S AT 11:45 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............23 S AT 12:02 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........22 S AT 12:03 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........22 S AT 12:24 P.M. AVERAGE........... 13.8 SW ASOS...............13.0 DAVIS..............12.8 SW [230 deg] * last of several occurrences.... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....trace DEPARTURE.........-0.15 ASOS...............0.01 * TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR DECEMBER............9.16 DEPARTURE.........+4.60 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR JANUARY.............trace DEPARTURE.........-0.30 ASOS (DEC).........9.15 # TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2008)....59.45 DEPARTURE.........+8.23 ASOS..............62.16 ## * Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 12/31/08 and 1/1/09,1/2/09. # Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on several dates during December 2008. ## Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08 and several dates during December 2008. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........trace DEPARTURE.... -0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR DECEMBER................30.4 DEPARTURE....+19.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY.................trace DEPARTURE.....-1.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............30.4 DEPARTURE....+15.8 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2008 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 12/1 59/43/51/+15/0.12/0.0/374/67 43 SSW 12/2 47/32/40/+4/0.00/0.0/451/81 33 SSW 12/3 44/29/37/+2/0.00/0.0/556/100 24 SSW 12/4 53/33/43/+8/T/0.0/122/22 42 SSW Aero 43 MPH S 12/5 38/26/32/-3/0.00/0.0/404/73 26 WNW 12/6 37/23/30/-4/0.00/0.0/309/56 21 S 12/7 32/20/26/-8/0.12/1.6/000/00 54 W Aero 53 MPH W 12/8 21/10/16/-17/0.00/0.0/462/84 50 W Aero 50 MPH W 12/9 53/13/33/0/0.01/T/000/00 48 S Aero 50 MPH S 12/10 60/37/49/+16/0.43/0.0/000/00 55 S Aero 58 MPH S 12/11 37/34/36/+4/1.52/T/000/00 38 NNE Aero 35 MPH NNE 12/12 61/28/45/+13/2.32/0.0/088/16 75 SSE Aero 76 MPH SSE 12/13 28/17/23/-9/0.00/0.0/531/97 33 W 12/14 43/17/30/-1/0.00/0.0/328/60 36 S 12/15 61/43/52/+21/0.00/0.0/076/15 55 S Aero 56 MPH S 12/16 57/26/42/+11/0.14/T/000/00 43 W 12/17 38/25/32/+1/0.46/1.2/000/00 26 E Aero 22 MPH E 12/18 37/28/33/+3/0.00/0.0/261/48 23 WSW 12/19 29/14/22/-8/1.28/8.0/000/00 46 NE Aero 45 MPH NE 12/20 20/11/16/-14/0.35/4.5/000/00 30 NNW 12/21 33/17/25/-5/0.97/7.2/000/00 43 W Aero 44 MPH W 12/22 22/12/17/-12/0.00/0.0/544/100 47 W Aero 45 MPH W 12/23 27/9/18/-11/0.00/0.0/463/85 30 W 12/24 50/23/37/+8/0.23/T/000/00 53 S 12/25 52/27/40/+11/0.08/0.0/518/95 54 W Aero 54 MPH W 12/26 35/23/29/+1/0.00/0.0/311/57 25 SE 12/27 47/33/40/+12/0.37/0.0/000/00 37 S 12/28 58/41/50/+22/0.0/0.0/000/00 43 SW 12/29 42/29/36/+8/0.0/0.0/257/47 39 W 12/30 36/23/30/+2/0.03/0.4/515/94 60 W Aero 58 MPH W 12/31 24/5/15/-12/0.73/7.5/000/00 54 WNW JANUARY 2009 1/1 16/1/9/-18/0/0/538/98 ** 44 WNW Aero 44 MPH WNW 1/2 32/9/21/-6/0/0/.../.. 28 S 1/3 our morning low temp: 23F; normal low is now 19F a trace of snow and precip. has been recorded during the early hours of today in a snow flurry.... ** the trace of precip. and snowfall reported in yesterday's report for 1/1/09 has been corrected to zero NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2008... 12/12 PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSE; PREVIOUS 74 MPH W IN 2000 12/28 RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 41; PREVIOUS 39 IN 1907 12/31 RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL 7.5 INCHES; PREVIOUS 6.0 IN 1886 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 3 HIGH 64F IN 2000 LOW -4F IN 1904 PRECIP 1.93 INS. IN 1999 SNOW 11.3 INS. 1996 WIND 92 MPH S IN 1960 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 4 HIGH 60F IN 2000 LOW -8F IN 1904, 1981 PRECIP 1.79 INS. IN 1982 SNOW 8.6 INS. 1923, 1941 WIND 84 MPH S IN 1982 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling