BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CALM WEATHER RETURNS AFTER MAJOR SNOWSTORM PRELIMINARY STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL: 26.6 INCHES TOTAL MELTED PRECIPITATION: 2.84 INCHES PEAK WIND GUST: 63 MPH E AT 8:32 PM ON FEB 8TH In the wake of one of our largest snowfalls on record, much quieter weather returned to the summit today, with clear skies dominating, and high visibilities making for an excellent view of the now snow- covered landscape. Temperatures are running near average today, making it a couple degrees above freezing so far, and the strengthening February sun has allowed for a little bit of melting to occur. This storm erased our snowfall deficit for the season, as we are now running a seasonal surplus of just over one foot, while February now has a surplus of just over two feet! The 2.84 inches of melted precipitation from this storm also helped to put a major dent in what had been a growing precipitation deficit for the year. Winds have calmed significantly today, particularly since 7AM this morning. No gusts greater than 25mph have been observed since then. The peak wind gust from this past storm will officially be recorded as 63mph. The preliminary storm total snowfall of 26.6 inches puts this storm in 5th place for greatest snowstorms in the history of Blue Hill Observatory. Thanks to observer Mike Iacono for assembling the following lists. BLUE HILL GREATEST SNOWSTORMS (inches): 1) 38.7 on Feb 24-28, 1969 2) 30.3 on Mar 3-5, 1960 3) 30.1 on Feb 6-7, 1978 4) 30.0 on Mar 31 - Apr 1, 1997 5) 26.6 on Feb 8-9, 2013 6) 24.7 on Feb 17-18, 2003 7) 24.3 on Dec 5-7, 2003 BHO Greatest February Snowstorms, inches (1885-2013) 1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb, 1969 2) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb, 1978 3) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb, 2013 4) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb, 2003 5) 22.2 on 16-17 Feb, 1958 6) 21.0 on 9-10 Feb, 1969 7) 18.0 on 20-21 Feb, 1921 BHO Greatest February Calendar Day Snowfalls, inches (1885-2013) 1) 27.4 on 24 Feb, 1969 2) 20.0 on 17 Feb, 2003 3) 18.6 on 16 Feb, 1958 4) 17.1 on 7 Feb, 1978 5) 16.1 on 8 Feb, 2013 6) 16.0 on 5 Feb, 1907 7) 15.0 on 20 Feb, 1921 15.0 on 20 Feb, 1934 15.0 on 4 Feb, 1961 15.0 on 12 Feb, 2006 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore ENE-ESE, few altocumulus distant offshore NE-ESE Temperature: 10F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: WNW at 15 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 24-hr snowfall: 1.7 inches 24-hr precip: 0.10 inches Snow depth: 20 inches 6-hour min. temp: 9F BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 266/10/-1/2915/032/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR ENE-ESE FEW AC DSNT OFFSHR NE-ESE LT DSNT HZ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.7 INS/ 8/470 51027 4/020 MANUAL 70010 10012 20009 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore ESE, few altocumulus distant SW-W, few cirrus SSW-WSW, thin smoke layer SSW-ENE Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: NW at 13 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.39 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 290/21/-1/3113/039 FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR ESE FEW AC DSNT SW-W FEW CI SSW-WSW THN K LYR SSW-ENE/ 8/471 51024 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant W-WNW, few cirrus distant S-NE, thin smoke layer NNE-ESE Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 3F; Wind: WNW at 5 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.37 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 70 miles 6-hr max temp: 35F 6-hr min temp: 9F BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 286/34/3/3005/037/ FEW AC DSNT W-WNW FEW CI DSNT S-NE THN K LYR NNE-ESE WND L/V/ 8/071 58004 10035 20009 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....20 NORMAL.....36 MIN.....12 NORMAL.....18 MEAN....16 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................-11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................-26 [-2.7 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............49 DEPARTURE..........+11 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........374 DEPARTURE..........+25 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3499 DEPARTURE.........-381 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3062 DIFFERENCE........+437 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............51 NNW AT 1:28 A.M. AERO....................52 N AT 12:39 A.M. ASOS....................54 N AT 12:41 A.M. DAVIS...................54 NNW AT 1:28 A.M. RMY 51 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............36 NNW AT 1:56 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............37 N AT 1:56 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............37 N AT 1:56 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........23.8 NW ASOS..................21.7 DAVIS.................21.3 NNW [333 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.10 DEPARTURE...........-0.03 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.97 DEPARTURE...........+1.76 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........4.39 DEPARTURE..........-1.17 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.........1.7 DEPARTURE............+1.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............28.8 DEPARTURE...........+24.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............50.3 DEPARTURE...........+12.8 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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 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 25/18/22/-4/0.04/0.8/000/00 21 W AERO 16 MPH W RMY N/A 2/6 37/22/30/+4/0.01/0.2/.../.. 35 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 35 2/7 29/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/.../.. 24 NW AERO 21 MPH NW RMY 24 2/8 31/18/25/-2/1.86/16.1/000/00 63 NE AERO 61 MPH NE RMY 66 2/9 20/12/16/-11/0.98/10.5/.../.. 51 NNW AERO 52 MPH N RMY 51 2/10 the morning low temp: 9F; the normal low is now 18F DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2013 2/8 - NEW RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL OF 16.1 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 11.0 inches in 1891 2/8 - TIED DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 63e MPH NE IN 1945 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 10 HIGH 56F IN 1909 LOW -8F IN 1899 PRECIP 1.34 INS. IN 1909 SNOWFALL 12.1 INS. IN 1926 PEAK GUST 64 MPH W IN 2001 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 11 HIGH 60F IN 1981 LOW -10F IN 1899 PRECIP 1.07 INCHES IN 1955 SNOWFALL 9.6 INCHES IN 1933 PEAK GUST 95 MPH S IN 1981 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien