BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CHILLY, BUT CALM; SKIES REMAIN CLOUDY WITH A FEW FLURRIES Temperatures continue to run a few degrees below the 30 year normal. Brisk winds yesterday dropped wind chill values into the lower teens and single digits. However, today winds have been quite low, so the cold is a little easier to bear. The sky has been ~90% covered by a layer of mid level clouds today, which at times have produced a few flurries. In fact, intermittent flurries and even some brief light snow occurred this morning. There was no accumulation at all. February 6th and 7th mark the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of 1978. The storm dumped 30.1 inches of snow on the summit, and produced a wind gust to 84 mph. 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): 1,098 [-128] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 3,126 [-405] *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 S on 31st Peak fastest mile: 62 MPH S on 31st SUNSHINE: Total astronomical minutes: 9,824 of possible 17,702 or 55% Total Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 9,438 of possible 17,130 or 55% Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altostratus, broken altocumulus, few cumulus along/ offshore distant NE-ENE, higher altocumulus visible distant NW-ENE, line of clearing distant NW-ENE, snow shower/virga distant SE-SW-W moving E, thin smoke layer distant all quadrants Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: Estimated WSW at 2 kts. Wind: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 65 miles, E-S-W 50 miles, NW 75 miles Snow depth: Trace 6-hour min. temp: 19F BHO SA 1155 E65 BKN 90 BKN 65 155/20/12/E2402/999/ FEW CU ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NE-ENE HIER AC VSBL DSNT NW-ENE LINE CLRG DSNT NW-ENE SHSN/VIRGA DSNT SE-SW-W MOVG E THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS VSBY E-S-W 50 NW 75 WND LGT/ 8/170 52010 10020 20019 10 A.M. Weather: Light snow, broken altostratus, broken altocumulus, higher altocumulus visible distant NW-NE, line of clearing distant NW-ENE, sun occasionally dimly visible, distant haze, light snow very light and intermittent becoming steady at unknown time and continuing Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: Estimated WNW at 2 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 40 miles, light snow and distant haze, SE-SW 20 miles, NW 70 miles 3-hr snowfall: Trace 3-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1455 E50 BKN 90 BKN 40S- 166/23/12/E3002/002/ HIER AC VSBL DSNT NW-NE LINE CLRG DSNT NW-ENE SUN OCNLY DIMLY VSBL DSNT HZ VSBY SE-SW 20 NW 70 WND LGT AND VRB S- VRY LGT AND INTMT BCMG STDY UKN S- CTD/ 8/020 51011 MANUAL 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Light snow, broken altostratus, broken altocumulus, higher altocumulus visible distant WNW-NNW, line of clearing distant NW-NNW, hazy light snow very light and continuing Temperature: 24F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: Estimated S at 2 kts. Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 30 miles, light snow and hazy, ESE-WSW 15 miles, NW 65 miles 6-hr snowfall: Trace 6-hr precip: Trace 6-hr max temp: 25F BHO SA 1755 E50 BKN 90 BKN 30S- 155/24/15/E1802/999/ HIER AC VSBL DSNT WNW-NNW LINE CLRG DSNT NW-NNW HAZY VSBY ESE-WSW 15 NW 65 WND LGT AND VRB S- VRY LGT AND INTMT CTD/ 8/020 58011 MANUAL 6000/ 10025 20020 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....29 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....17 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....23 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................-3 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................-9 [-2.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............42 DEPARTURE..........+3 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........165 DEPARTURE..........+9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3290 DEPARTURE........-397 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2898 DIFFERENCE.......+392 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............44 W AT 12:00 P.M. AERO....................46 W AT 12:00 P.M. ASOS....................44 W AT 12:02 P.M. DAVIS...................39 WNW AT 11:24 A.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............33 W AT 12:02 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............32 W AT 12:02 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............30 W AT 12:02 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........16.8 W ASOS..................15.7 DAVIS.................14.4 W [277 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..........0.08 DEPARTURE...........-0.46 ASOS..............0.05 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.50 DEPARTURE..........-3.39 ASOS..............1.53 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.0 DEPARTURE............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............1.2 DEPARTURE............-0.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............22.7 DEPARTURE...........-12.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY 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 43/35/39/+14/0.02/0.0/000/00 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/+18/0.37/0.0/228/38 74 S AERO 81 MPH S RMY N/A 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 26/19/23/-3/0.08/1.2/.../.. 22 W AERO 21 MPH WSW RMY N/A 2/4 29/17/23/-3/T/T/.../.. 44 W AERO 46 MPH W RMY N/A 2/5 the morning low temp: 19F; 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 5 HIGH 65F IN 1991 LOW -14F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.55 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 16.0 INS. IN 1907 PEAK GUST 67 MPH WNW IN 1969 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 6 HIGH 54F IN 1909 LOW -10F IN 1895 PRECIP 1.88 INS. IN 1896 SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1978 [BLIZZARD OF 1978] PEAK GUST 84e MPH NE IN 1978 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser