BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA   DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   THE WARMING TREND BEGINS TODAY ON INCREASING SW WINDS WIND GUSTS TO WELL OVER 30 MPH AND A FEW OVER 40 MPH TEMPERATURES RISING PAST 40 DEGREES AFTER LONG COLD SPELL   The end of a 12-day stretch of below normal temperatures came yesterday after beginning December 7.  Today the mean temperature will average a few degrees above normal for quite a nice change for those of us who do not like the early arrival of winter temperatures.  Official astronomical winter begins with the winter solstice around noon this Saturday. The 10-inch snow cover here on the summit will be steadily melting down as this warmer than normal trend is expected to last through the coming weekend.    Today's Observations:   7 A.M. Weather: Overcast altocumulus, breaks in overcast, hazy  Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: SW at 12 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.08 ins. Hg, about steady   Visibility: 15 miles, hazy   6-hr. min temp: 22F  24-hr precip: none 24-hr snowfall: none Snow on ground: 10 inches BHO SA 1155 E95 OVC 15 187/27/19/2312/008/ BINOVC HAZY/ 8/07/ 4/010 51001 10027 20022    10 A.M.  Weather: Clear, altocumulus, cirrus NW-E, hazy Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: SW at 15 kts, Wind: Gust to 24 kts past hour Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg, falling slightly but more rapidly    Visibility: 15 miles, except 20 miles WNW, hazy   BHO SA 1455 CLR 15 182/32/20/2215/007/ AC/CI NW-E VSBY WNW 20 HAZY ALQDS WND GST TO 24 KTS PST HR/ 8/041 58005    1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few cirrus, hazy   Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SW at 15G19 kts, Wind: Peak wind 28 kts from SW @ 12:21 P.M., Wind: Direction variable SSW-W   Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly Visibility: 30 miles, hazy 6-hr max. temp. 41F  BHO SA 1755 CLR 30 153/40/22/2315G19/998/ FEW CI HAZY PK WND 2328/21 WND 20V27 8/001 56029 10041 20026   WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32    NORMAL.....38 MIN.....15    NORMAL.....23 MEAN....24    NORMAL.....31   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................-74 [-4.3 DEGREES/DAY]   HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............41  DEPARTURE.........+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............640  DEPARTURE........+72 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1864  DEPARTURE........+34 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1601  DIFFERENCE......+263   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................29 WNW AT 12:28 P.M. *                     AERO.......................30 NW  AT  8:48 A.M.                      ASOS.......................30 NW  AT  8:49 A.M.                      DAVIS......................28 WNW AT 12:27 P.M. RMY 29 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................23 WNW AT 12:28 P.M.  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................22 WNW AT 12:29 P.M.   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................20 WNW AT 12:27 P.M.   AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............14.8 NW                    ASOS.....................14.9                    DAVIS....................12.7 WNW [300 degrees] * last of several occurrences...   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE.............-0.16                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.25  DEPARTURE.............+0.32                          ASOS..............3.27 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........49.85  DEPARTURE.............-1.61                          ASOS..............N/A** ** ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals   SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.......0.0     DEPARTURE.............-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH............15.0*   DEPARTURE.............+8.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...........15.2     DEPARTURE.............+5.9   The recent storm total of 5.9 now corrected to 6.8 ins.    PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust RMY:  RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011 TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized   12/1  45/30/38/+1/0.28/T/000/00           22 SSE AERO 23 MPH SSE RMY 23 12/2  38/34/36/0/T/0.0/000/00             15 NW  AERO 15 MPH NW  RMY 16 12/3  45/32/39/+3/0.00/0.0/284/51         18 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY 20 12/4  43/29/36/+1/0.00/0.0/389/70         21 WNW AERO 21 MPH WNW RMY 21 12/5  53/38/46/+11/0.02/0.0/000/00        36 S   AERO 40 MPH S   RMY 39 12/6  55/33/44/+9/0.38/T/000/00           25 SSW AERO 28 MPH SSW RMY N/A 12/7  40/26/33/-1/0.12/T/287/52           23 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY N/A 12/8  30/22/26/-8/T/T/039/07              25 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY N/A 12/9  41/25/33/-1/0.35/0.6/000/00         28 E   AERO 28 MPH E   RMY 24 12/10 33/21/27/-6/0.14/2.1/000/00         28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 28 12/11 28/19/24/-9/0.00/0.0/345/63         27 SW  AERO 28 MPH SW  RMY 27 12/12 23/14/19/-14/0.00/0.0/.../..        28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 30 12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/.../..        31 W   AERO 32 MPH W   RMY 33 12/14 28/9/19/-13/0.45/4.8/000/00         30 E   AERO 26 MPH E   RMY N/A 12/15 36/21/29/-3/0.98/2.0/.../..         48 NE  AERO 50 MPH NE  RMY 51  12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/.../..        36 W   AERO    MPH W   RMY N/A  12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/.../..         28 N   AERO 30 MPH N   RMY 28 12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..         29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 29      12/19  morning low temp: 22F; the normal low is now 23F   DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013 None so far.                                      DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 19 HIGH 59 IN 1899 LOW -1 IN 1919 PRECIP 2.06 INS. IN 1986 SNOWFALL 14.1 INS. IN 1945 PEAK GUST 68 NE IN 1986   RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 20 HIGH 61 IN 1957 LOW -16 IN 1942 PRECIP 1.69 INS. IN 1936 SNOWFALL 13.7 INS. IN 2009 PEAK GUST 75 MPH S IN 2002   TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling