BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MA MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME IMPRESSIVE LATE OCTOBER WARMTH HAS TEMPERATURES RUNNING 20 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE! Temperatures today are running about 20 degrees above average! The low temperature only managed to reach 62F this morning, and a high of 77F has occurred through 1PM EST! While we are off by a few degrees from the record high maximum of 80F set in 1963, we will end up smashing the record high minimum temperature of 57F set in 1991 for today. With no significant change in air mass expected until late tomorrow and an expected low near 60F, a new record high minimum will be set for today's date. There is a possibility that the record high minimum temperature will be broken for the date tomorrow, which is 59F set in 1963. Today's air mass continues to be moist, with dew point temperatures running in the upper 50s to near 60. Southerly winds transporting the warm, moist air mass into the region were strong overnight, with gusts around 35 mph. Winds have backed off and are generally running in the 5-15 mph range this afternoon. A trace of rainfall occurred overnight. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken thin cirrus, few lower cumulus fractus NE, moderate stratocumulus NW, stratocumulus all quadrants except ENE and overhead, dark sky distant ESE-SW and W-N, distant haze Temperature: 62F, Dew point: 60F; Wind: SSW at 12 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.86 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 20 miles, 25 miles NE-ESE, distant haze 6-hour minimum temp: 62F 24-hour rainfall: Trace BHO SA 1155 20 SCT 250 –BKN 20 113/62/60/2012/986/ FEW LWR CUFRA NE MDT SC NW SC ALQDS XCPT ENE AND OVHD DRK SKY DSNT ESE-SW AND W-N DSNT HZ VSBY 25 NE-ESE/ 8/501 52017 10064 20062 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken thin cirrus, few moderate cumulus, cumulus fractus all quadrants, altocumulus WNW-NNE, few altocumulus lenticularus distant WNW-N, patches of dense cirrus NNE-ENE, few cirrocumulus WSW, distant haze Temperature: 70F, Dew point: 59F; Wind: SW at 9 kts Wind: Direction variable S to W Sea-level pressure: 29.93 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 40 miles, 50 miles WNW, distant haze BHO SA 1455 20 SCT 80 SCT 250 –BKN 40 135/70/59/2309/993/ FEW MDT CU CUFRA ALQDS AC WNW-NNE FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-N PTCHS DNS CI NNE-ENE FEW CC WSW DSNT HZ VSBY 50 WNW WND 19V27/ 8/242 51022 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken cirrus, moderate cumulus, cumulus fractus all quadrants, few altocumulus lenticularus distant SE-SSW, patches dense cirrus NNE-E, distant haze/fog over ocean NE-ENE, distant haze Temperature: 76F, Dew point: 59F; Wind: S at 7 kts Wind: Direction variable SE to SSW Sea-level pressure: 29.92 inches Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 35 miles, 45 miles WNW, distant haze 6-hour maximum temp: 77F BHO SA 1755 35 SCT 70 SCT 250 –BKN 35 131/76/59/1807/992/ MDT CU CUFRA ALQDS FEW ACC DSNT SE-SSW PTCHS DNS CI NNE-E DSNT HZ/FOG OVR OCEAN NE-ENE DSNT HZ VSBY 45 WNW WND 13V21/ 8/282 58004 10077 20062 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 25 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....65 NORMAL.....57 MIN.....47 NORMAL.....40 MEAN....56 NORMAL.....49 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..............+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.............-25 [-1.2 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............9 DEPARTURE........-8 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........338 DEPARTURE.......+21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........417 DEPARTURE.......-69 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....526 DIFFERENCE.....-109 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............36 S AT 11:14 P.M. AEROVANE..............38 S AT 11:11 P.M. ASOS..................37 SSW AT 11:14 P.M. DAVIS.................38 S AT 10:44 P.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........28 S AT 11:14 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............26 SSW AT 11:15 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........27 S AT 11:15 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........9.5 S ASOS................ 8.7 DAVIS.................7.8 SSE [156 DEG] * last of several occurrences.... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE........-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.59 DEPARTURE........+2.07 ASOS..............5.61 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........53.61 DEPARTURE.......+12.49 ASOS.............53.45** ** ASOS missing rainfall due to system failure on 6/24-25 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 2010 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 10/1 80/55/68/+11/0.56/035/05 55 SSE AERO 63 MPH SSE 10/2 65/46/56/0/0.00/688/98 28 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW 10/3 55/43/49/-7/T/133/19 35 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE 10/4 54/48/51/-5/0.78/000/00 39 NNE AERO 43 MPH NNE 10/5 57/51/54/-1/0.40/000/00 37 NE AERO 39 MPH NNE 10/6 57/49/53/-2/1.63/000/00 47 NE AERO 51 MPH NE 10/7 62/47/55/0/0.00/275/40 37 W AERO 40 MPH W 10/8 70/47/59/+5/0.00/610/89 35 WSW AERO 37 MPH WSW 10/9 62/43/53/-1/0.00/675/99 33 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW 10/10 64/38/51/-3/0.00/679/100 25 SW AERO 29 MPH SSW 10/11 68/47/58/+5/0.00/542/80 28 W 10/12 61/43/52/-1/0.01/297/44 24 ENE 10/13 61/38/50/-2/0.00/663/99 18 NW 10/14 59/45/52/0/0.41/294/44 29 ENE 10/15 51/39/45/-7/1.71/033/05 48 WSW AERO 50 MPH WSW TSTM * 10/16 55/39/47/-4/0.00/544/82 47 WNW AERO 54 MPH WNW 10/17 63/38/51/0/0.00/581/88 43 W AERO 47 MPH W 10/18 57/41/49/-2/0.00/519/79 32 W AERO 35 MPH W 10/19 57/38/48/-3/0.00/497/76 21 W 10/20 61/44/53/+3/T/.../.. 21 S 10/21 56/39/48/-2/0.07/.../.. 55 W AERO 62 MPH W 10/22 47/34/41/-9/T/T/.../.. 51 W AERO 56 MPH W trace snow 10/23 56/35/46/-3/0.00/.../.. 32 W AERO 37 MPH W 10/24 51/39/45/-4/0.01/013/02 17 SSE 10/25 65/47/56/+7/T/.../.. 36 S AERO 38 MPH S 10/26 our morning low temp: 62F; the normal low is now 40F NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2010 10/22: Daily snowfall: Trace; equals record set in 1969. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 26 HIGH 80 IN 1963 LOW 24 IN 1933 PRECIP 1.72 INCHES IN 1894 SNOW 3.0 INCHES IN 1962 WIND 59 MPH SSE IN 1967 RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 27 HIGH 83 IN 1963 LOW 21 IN 1936 PRE 1.79 INCHES IN 1886 SNOW 0.1 INCHES IN 1957 WIND 54 MPH WNW IN 1968 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser