BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
A CHILLY DAY WITH INCREASING CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON
LIGHT SNOW YESTERDAY LEAVES UNDER HALF AN INCH OF SNOW
 
The morning began with a seasonably cool low temperature of 22F, which is just
slightly above average.  The temperature increased steadily this morning with
mostly sunny skies, but it has only made it to 32F for a high so far, which
is a few degrees below average.  Clouds have increased rather quickly late
morning through early this afternoon, which has stopped the temperature from
rising much further.  A steady 10-15 mph breeze from the west has helped keep
the air cool and dry.        
 
A couple periods of snow yesterday left only 0.4 inches of snow, with a
total melted precipitation for the event of only 0.05 inches.  Yesterday was
the 10th day of this unusually cloudy month with no sunshine observed.
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, stratocumulus distant offshore ENE-E and distant SE-S,
altocumulus distant NW-NNE, few cirrus distant offshore E
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: W at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.26 ins. Hg, decreasing then increasing
Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze
6-hr. min temp: 22F
24-hr precip: 0.05 inches
24-hr snowfall: 0.4 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 30 247/23/17/2611/026/ SC DSNT OFFSHR ENE-E AND DSNT SE-S
AC DSNT NW-NNE FEW CI DSNT OFFSHR E DSNT HZ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.4 INS/
8/571 53007 MANUAL 70005 ASOS 70005 10024 20022  
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, altocumulus distant SW-NNE, few cirrus distant WNW
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: W at 14G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.28 ins. Hg, increasing slightly
Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze 
BHO SA 1455 CLR 30 254/28/19/2714G21/028/ AC DSNT SW-NNE FEW CI DSNT WNW
DSNT HZ/ 8/071 53007
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast altocumulus, few stratocumulus N-NE, higher altocumulus
visible distant SSE-SSW
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: W at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.22 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 32F
BHO SA 1755 E110 OVC 40 235/32/18/2711/022/ FEW SC N-NE HIER AC VSBL
DSNT SSE-SSW DSNT HZ/ 8/55/ 56019 10032 20023
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2013
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....35    NORMAL.....36
MIN.....19    NORMAL.....20
MEAN....27    NORMAL.....28
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................-21 [-1.0 DEGREE/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............38  DEPARTURE.........+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............875  DEPARTURE........+20
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2099  DEPARTURE........-18
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1847  DIFFERENCE......+252
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................24 W  AT  7:36 P.M.
                   AERO.......................25 W  AT  8:18 P.M.     
                   ASOS.......................25 W  AT  7:37 P.M.    
                   DAVIS......................23 W  AT  8:19 P.M. RMY 25
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................20 W  AT  7:39 P.M.*  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................20 W  AT  6:25 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................16 W  AT  6:25 P.M.   
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............10.9 W
                   ASOS.....................10.6
                   DAVIS.....................9.8 SSW [199 deg.]
* last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.05  DEPARTURE.............-0.11
                         ASOS..............0.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.04  DEPARTURE.............-0.14
                         ASOS..............4.02
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........50.64  DEPARTURE.............-2.07
                         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.......0.4     DEPARTURE.............-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH............15.4     DEPARTURE.............+4.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...........15.6     DEPARTURE.............+2.3
 
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/-14/0.00/0.0/542/99        28 WNW AERO 31 MPH NW  RMY 30
12/13 28/14/21/-11/0.00/0.0/405/74        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/-3/0.98/2.0/000/00         48 NE  AERO 50 MPH NE  RMY 51 
12/16 27/14/21/-10/0.00/0.0/529/97        36 W   AERO 37 MPH W   RMY N/A 
12/17 23/7/15/-16/0.53/5.5/104/19         28 N   AERO 30 MPH N   RMY 28
12/18 32/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/436/80         29 WNW AERO 30 MPH NW  RMY 29   
12/19 42/22/32/+2/0.00/0.0/425/78         38 SW  AERO 44 MPH SW  RMY 42
12/20 52/34/43/+13/0.00/0.0/.../..        26 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 29
12/21 58/42/50/+20/0.00/0.0/.../..        28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30
12/22 63/35/49/+20/..../0.0/.../..        37 SW  AERO 41 MPH SW  RMY 41
12/23 37/32/35/+6/..../0.0/000/00         24 NW  AERO 25 MPH NW  RMY 25
12/24 36/25/31/+2/T/T/.../..              25 NW  AERO
12/25 25/13/19/-9/0.00/0.0/.../..         29 NW  AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 30
12/26 35/19/27/-1/0.05/0.4/000/00         24 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 25
 
12/27  morning low temp: 22F; the normal low is now 20F   
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2013
12/22- NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F;
       surpasses previous record of 62F set in 1994                                
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 27
HIGH 57 IN 1895,1949
LOW -4 IN 1903
PRECIP 2.43 INS. IN 1969
SNOWFALL 11.2 INS. IN 1947
PEAK GUST 73 S IN 2011
 
RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 28
HIGH 60 IN 1982
LOW -2 IN 1933
PRECIP 2.16 INS. IN 1967
SNOWFALL 9.5 INS. IN 1967
PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1983
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien and Brian Fitzgerald