BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA   DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   MILD DAY ON THE SUMMIT WITH WARM SW BREEZE CLOUDS BUILD AFTER NEARLY CLEAR SUNRISE, RAPIDLY CLEAR AFTER NOON   Only a few thin altocumulus clouds were passing during this morning's orange sunrise. Shortly afterward a few layers of stratocumulus and altocumulus obscured the sky, which in turn cleared out rapidly just before 1:00 P.M. leaving clear skies for the rest of the afternoon.   A steady SW wind brought mild air to the region, with high temps reaching the mid-40s. All remaining snow on the ground has nearly melted, with only trace patches left in shady areas.   Today's Observations:   7 A.M. Weather: Clear with few thin altocumulus in the vicinity, stratocumulus distant SSW-N-NE Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SW at 16 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.13 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly Visibility: 35 miles, hazy 6-hr. min temp: 25F BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 203/27/22/2016/013/ FEW THN AC VCNTY SCT SC DSNT SSW-N-NE HAZY/ 8/800 58020 10027 20025   10 A.M.  Weather: Sun dimly visible through scattered and broken stratocumulus with altocumulus (2 layers) Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: SW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, falling then rising Visibility: 35 miles, hazy BHO SA 1455 110 SCT E130 OVC 35 201/35/24/2211/012/ SUN DMLY VSBL THRU BKN AC HAZY/ 8/8// 55002   1 P.M. Weather: Clear with few cumulus in the vicinity after rapid clearing, stratocumulus and altocumulus distant WNW-E-WSW Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.03 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly Visibility: 40 miles, hazy 6-hr max temp: 44F BHO SA 1755 CLR 40 171/44/25/2512/003/ FEW CU INVCY SC/AC DSNT WNW-E-WNW HAZY/ 8/800 58030 10044 20027     WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013   TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32    NORMAL.....36 MIN.....22    NORMAL.....20 MEAN....27    NORMAL.....28   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-1 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................-22 [-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.............913  DEPARTURE........+21 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2137  DEPARTURE........-17 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1874  DIFFERENCE......+263   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................25 W  AT 10:11 A.M.                    AERO.......................25 W  AT 10:18 A.M.                         ASOS.......................27 W  AT 10:16 A.M.                        DAVIS......................26 W  AT 10:16 A.M. RMY 26 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................20 W  AT 10:16 A.M.   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................22 W  AT 10:13 A.M.    MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................20 W  AT 10:13 A.M.    AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............12.3 W                    ASOS.....................12.4                    DAVIS....................11.1 W [258 deg.]   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..........4.04  DEPARTURE.............-0.28                          ASOS..............4.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........50.64  DEPARTURE.............-2.21                          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.............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH............15.4     DEPARTURE.............+4.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON...........15.6     DEPARTURE.............+1.8   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 32/22/27/-1/0.00/0.0/000/00         25 W   AERO 25 MPH W   RMY 26   12/28  morning low temp: 25F; 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 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   RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 29 HIGH 72 IN 1984 LOW -19 IN 1933 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER) PRECIP 1.91 INS. IN 1945 SNOWFALL 18.4 INS. IN 1945 PEAK GUST 95 MPH S IN 1966 (RECORD FOR DECEMBER)   TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Forrest Iwanik