BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME LIGHT WINDS AND SCATTERED SNOW FLURRIES Today has been a slow wind day here at the summit, with an average speed just below 5 MPH so far. Snow has been lightly falling for most of today leaving 0.5 inch since early this morning. This number is expected to be near the 1 inch mark by the end of the day. Temperatures have settled back down to fairly standard winter numbers after the wild weather earlier in the week. The first two days of February have been normal and colder than normal respectively, a trend that is expected to continue in the next few days. Driest Januarys, inches (1885-2013) 1) 0.89 in 1955 2) 0.97 in 1980 3) 1.00 in 1989 4) 1.07 in 1970 5) 1.25 in 1981 6) 1.31 in 1985 7) 1.42 in 2013 JANUARY 2013 PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 36.8F [+3.0F] Average Min Temp: 21.8F [+4.7F] Mean Temp: 29.3F [+3.8F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 29.5F [+3.3F] Max Temp: 59F on 14th, 30th Min Temp: 0F on 24th Total heating degree day units (month): 1,097 [-129] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 3,125 [-406] *start July 1 (NCDC) PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 1.42 ins. [-2.93 ins.] Greatest 24-hr precipitation: 0.45 ins. on 16th, 30th/31st Total snowfall: 6.1 inches [-9.9 ins.] *using 1890-2010 mean Greatest snow depth: 4 ins. on 1st WIND: Avg wind speed: 13.6 MPH Avg corrected wind speed: 14.0 MPH Prevailing wind direction: WNW [23%] Peak gust: 74 MPH SSE on 31st Peak fastest mile: 62 MPH SSE on 31st SUNSHINE: Suncard minutes: 9528 of possible 17130 (56%) * Preliminary estimate Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Few cumulus fractus, scattered stratocumulus, broken cirrus, light snow, thin fog all quadrants Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: N at 6 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly Visibility: 10 miles 24-hour snowfall: 0.4 inch 24-hour precip: 0.04 inch 6-hour min. temp: 19F BHO SA 1155 18 SCT 32 OVC 10S- 143/20/17/3506/995/ FEW CUFRA PCPN VRY LGT THN F ALQDS WND LGT TOTAL NEW SNW 24 HRS 0.4 IN/ 8/5// 58016 MANUAL 70004 ASOS 70003 10023 20019 10 A.M. Weather: Few cumulus fractus, overcast altocumulus, light snow, thin fog all quadrants Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: NW at 5 kts, Wind: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 10 miles BHO SA 1455 28 OVC 10S- 140/23/19/3205/994/ FEW CUFRA PCPN VRY LGT THN F ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/8/// 58003 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, thin scattered cirrus, stratocumulus layer distant offshore NE-ESE, few cumulus fractus overhead Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: WNW at 10G19 kts, Wind: Direction variable ESE-SSW Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 29F BHO SA 1755 15 SCT 28 OVC 20S- 105/25/22/3408/984/ PCPN VRY LGT DSNT HZ NNE DSNT HZ NNE-S-NW VSBY NW 35 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 0.1 IN/ 8/5// 58035 10025 20020 MANUAL 6001/ WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....30 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....15 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....23 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................-3 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................-3 [-1.7 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............42 DEPARTURE.........+3 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............81 DEPARTURE.........+3 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3206 DEPARTURE........-403 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2832 DIFFERENCE.......+374 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............28 SSW AT 4:52 P.M. AERO....................23 SSW AT 4:50 P.M. ASOS....................28 SSW AT 4:53 P.M. DAVIS...................27 W AT 12:01 A.M. RMY 28 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............22 SSW AT 4:59 P.M.* MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............22 SSW AT 5:01 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............22 SSW AT 4:55 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........11.1 WNW ASOS...................11.7 DAVIS..................10.2 WSW [241 deg.] * DENOTES MULTIPLE OCCURANCES PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.14 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.27 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.42 DEPARTURE..........-3.20 ASOS..............1.48 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........Trace DEPARTURE............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............Trace DEPARTURE............-1.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............21.5 DEPARTURE...........-12.6 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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 1/1 35/18/27/0/0.00/0.0/313/57 44 WNW AERO 44 MPH WNW RMY 45 1/2 29/11/20/-7/0.00/0.0/457/83 35 WNW AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 33 1/3 23/2/13/-13/0.00/0.0/529/96 24 WNW AERO 23 MPH WNW RMY 23 1/4 38/19/29/+3/0.00/0.0/320/58 35 W AERO 36 MPH W RMY 36 1/5 40/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/536/97 36 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 38 1/6 42/27/35/+9/T/0.1/471/85 29 SW AERO 29 MPH SW RMY 29 1/7 38/27/33/+7/0.00/0.0/538/97 29 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY N/A 1/8 45/27/36/+10/0.00/0.0/428/77 39 SW AERO 42 MPH SW RMY 41 1/9 42/31/37/+11/T/0.0/033/06 40 W AERO 39 MPH W RMY N/A 1/10 45/32/39/+14/0.00/0.0/548/98 47 WNW AERO 48 MPH WNW RMY 50 1/11 38/29/34/+9/0.15/0.0/050/09 23 SE AERO 21 MPH SE RMY 23 1/12 43/35/40/+15/0.02/0.0/000/00 21 SE AERO 18 MPH SE RMY 15 1/13 50/41/46/+21/0.01/0.0/000/00 30 SW AERO 30 MPH SW RMY N/A 1/14 59/40/50/+25/T/0.0/175/31 36 S AERO 37 MPH S RMY 39 1/15 40/33/37/+12/T/0.0/045/08 17 N AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY 17 1/16 33/29/31/+6/0.45/3.5/000/00 16 NNE AERO 14 MPH N RMY 15 1/17 39/28/34/+9/0.00/0.0/519/91 36 WNW AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/18 28/16/22/-3/0.00/0.0/566/99 39 NW AERO 39 MPH NW RMY 43 1/19 47/21/34/+9/0.00/0.0/350/61 46 SSW AERO 45 MPH SSW RMY 48 1/20 52/26/39/+14/0.00/0.0/408/71 48 SW AERO 52 MPH SW RMY 51 1/21 26/18/22/-3/0.06/0.9/144/25 35 WNW AERO 32 MPH WNW RMY N/A 1/22 23/10/17/-8/T/T/544/94 35 WNW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 35 1/23 15/4/10/-15/0.00/0.0/569/98 39 W AERO 35 MPH W RMY 37 1/24 17/0/9/-16/0.00/0.0/583/100 43 WNW AERO 39 MPH WNW RMY 44 1/25 22/4/13/-12/0.05/0.6/386/66 33 WNW AERO 27 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/26 23/9/16/-9/0.01/0.1/488/83 35 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 33 1/27 29/9/19/-6/0.00/0.0/590/100 32 NW AERO 28 MPH NW RMY 31 1/28 29/17/23/-2/0.16/0.9/000/00 20 WNW AERO 14 MPH WNW RMY N/A 1/29 33/25/29/+4/0.06/0.0/000/00 17 SSE AERO 14 MPH SSE RMY N/A 1/30 59/33/46/+20/0.08/0.0/006/01 50 SSW AERO 48 MPH SSW RMY N/A 1/31 58/29/44/+18/0.37/0.0/246/41 * 74 SSE AERO 81 MPH SSE RMY N/A * Sunshine for the 31st is a preliminary estimate... 2/1 32/19/26/0/T/T/.../... 39 WSW AERO 38 MPH W RMY 42 2/2 30/15/23/-3/0/0/.../... 28 SSW AERO 23 MPH SSW RMY 28 2/3 this morning's low was 18.7 F; the normal low is now 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2013 1/31 - TIED DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 58F; ties the record of 58F in 1913, 1947 DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2013 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 3 HIGH 58F IN 1991 LOW -7F IN 1955 PRECIP 2.14 INS. IN 1970 SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1913 PEAK GUST 102 MPH S IN 1970 [RECORD FOR MONTH] RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 4 HIGH 63F IN 1991 LOW -4F IN 1886, 1908 PRECIP 1.80 INS. IN 1926 SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1961 PEAK GUST 89 MPH SSE IN 1972 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Forrest Iwanik