BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013   
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
Mostly clear sky today through early this afternoon
has allowed 100% of the possible bright sunshine.
Temperatures have risen to the low 40's with winds
which are light and backing to southwest and are much
diminished compared to the past two days. 
 
Temperatures remain on the mild side with high of 44F yesterday
and low down to only 30F by midnight last night.  Tuesday
averaged 10 degrees above normal leaving the month only
slightly over 1 degree colder than normal.  This warmer than
normal trend began on Monday after the first 10 days of the
month averaged 3 degrees colder than normal.
 
The mild weather of the past few days has had a significant
impact on the snow depth on the summit, reducing it to 12
inches by the 7 a.m. observation this morning. 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant NE-SE along the
horizon and distant SSE-W along the horizon
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: W at 10 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze
Snow depth: 12 inches
24-hr precip: 0.00 inch                                    
6-hour min. temp: 27F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 111/28/20/2610/986/ FEW SC DSNT ALG HRZN
NE-SE OFFSHR AND FEW SC DSNT ALG HRZN SSE-W DSNT HZ ALQDS/
8/500 4/012 51003 10030 20027  
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant WSW-WNW 
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts,
Wind: Direction variable WSW-NNW  
Sea-level pressure: 29.70 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 40 miles, except 45 miles WNW, distant haze
in all quadrants   
BHO SA 1455 CLR 40 110/35/23/2908/985/ FEW SC DSNT WSW-WNW
WND 25V34 VSBY WNW 45 DSNT HZ ALQDS WND 25V34/ 8/500 58001 
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus
Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: S at 6 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.82 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly
Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp:  42F 
6-hr min. temp: 28F
BHO SA 1755 38 SCT 45 097/41/23/1906/982/ SC ALQDS DSNT HZ
WND LGT/ 8/500 56013 10042 20028
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....44      NORMAL.....36
MIN.....30      NORMAL.....19                        
MEAN....37      NORMAL.....27  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................-13 [-1.3 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............28   DEPARTURE..........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........475   DEPARTURE..........+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3600   DEPARTURE.........-393
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3164   DIFFERENCE........+436
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............39 W   AT 12:22 P.M. *
                   AERO....................37 W   AT 12:22 P.M.
                   ASOS....................38 W   AT  2:25 P.M.
                   DAVIS...................38 W   AT  1:01 P.M. RMY 39
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............29 W   AT  2:43 P.M. * 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............29 W   AT  2:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............27 W   AT 12:55 P.M
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........17.5 W
                   ASOS..................16.7
                   DAVIS.................15.0 W [270 deg]
* last of several occurrences...
 
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..........3.12  DEPARTURE...........+1.49
                         ASOS..............N/A*
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........4.54  DEPARTURE...........-1.44
                         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..............28.8   DEPARTURE...........+22.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............50.3   DEPARTURE...........+11.3
 
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/325/54           39 WSW AERO 38 MPH W   RMY 42
2/2   30/15/23/-3/0/0/452/75          28 SSW AERO 23 MPH SSW RMY 28
2/3   26/19/23/-3/0.08/1.2/000/00     22 W   AERO 21 MPH WSW RMY N/A
2/4   29/17/23/-3/T/T/547/90          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/+4/0.01/0.2/521/85     35 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 35
2/7   29/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/306/52     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/-11/0.98/10.5/000/00   51 NNW AERO 52 MPH N   RMY 51
2/10  37/9/23/-4/0.00/0.0/623/100     29 NW  AERO 27 MPH NW  RMY N/A
2/11  44/23/34/+7/0.15/T/000/00       33 S   AERO 35 MPH S   RMY 39
2/12  44/30/37/+10/0.00/0.0/.../..    39 W   AERO 37 MPH S   RMY 39
 
2/13  the morning low temp: 27F; the normal low is now 19F
 
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 13
HIGH 64F IN 1951
LOW -10F IN 1967
PRECIP 2.80 INCHES IN 2008
SNOWFALL 13.5 INCHES IN 1894
PEAK GUST 60 MPH SE IN 1972
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 14
HIGH 56F IN 1949
LOW -8F IN 1979
PRECIP 2.09 INCHES IN 2007
SNOWFALL 11.0 INCHES IN 1914
PEAK GUST 83 MPH SSW IN 2000
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling