BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURES WARMING, MOISTURE INCREASING WITH SOUTHERLY WINDS The early morning low temperature of 21F today was very close to the 30-year normal. As winds have gradually become more southerly today, a warmer and more moist air mass is being brought into the region. Before an extensive layer of clouds invading the sky early this afternoon, the high temperature managed to reach 45F, which is 7 degrees above normal. More impressively, the dew point has sky-rocketed from the lower single digits very early this morning into the lower 30s this afternoon. Consequently, haze has increased, limiting visibilty to about 35-40 miles. Wind speeds have increased this afternoon, with gusts now frequently reaching 25-35 mph. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus (2 levels), stratocumulus NW-NE-E, altocumulus mostly WNW-NE-SE, few altocumulus lenticularis distant S-W and distant NNW, thin smoke layer along horizon all quadrants, distant haze Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: SSW at 11 kts. Sea-level pressure: 30.13 ins. Hg, steady then falling slightly Visibility: 55 miles, distant haze Snow depth: 9 inches 6-hour min. temp: 21F BHO SA 1155 45 SCT 65 SCT 120 SCT 55 202/26/10/2111/013/ SC NW-NE-E AC MSTLY WNW-NE-SE FEW ACSL DSNT S-W AND DSNT NNW THN K LYR ALG HRZN ALQDS DSNT HZ/ 8/540 4/009 58003 10021 20026 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, broken thin cirrus, cirrostratus S-W-NW invading, thin smoke layer distant all quadrants, hazy Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: S at 11 kts. Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 45 miles, hazy BHO SA 1455 200 SCT 250 –BKN 45 189/39/24/1911/009/ CS S-W-NW INVADING THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS HAZY/ 8/005 56013 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altostratus, overcast cirrostratus, altocumulus/altocumulus lenticularis distant SSE-W and distant WNW and distant NW-NNW, mammatus SW-W, sun dimly visible, hazy Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: S at 16G26 kts, Wind: Peak wind of 26 kts. from the S at 12:45 P.M. Wind: Direction SE-SSW Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 45 miles, hazy 6-hr max temp: 45F BHO SA 1755 120 SCT E160 BKN 200 OVC 45 155/44/30/1716G26/999/ AC/ACSL DSNT SSE-W AND DSNT WNW AND DSNT NW-NNW MAMMA SW-W SUN DMLY VSBL HAZY PK WND 1826/45 WND 14V20/ 8/077 58034 10045 20026 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....31 NORMAL.....37 MIN.....11 NORMAL.....20 MEAN....21 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-8 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+3 [0.0 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............44 DEPARTURE............+7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........680 DEPARTURE............-4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3806 DEPARTURE..........-409 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3336 DIFFERENCE.........+470 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............52 WNW AT 8:39 A.M. AERO....................52 WNW AT 8:39 A.M. ASOS....................52 W AT 8:40 A.M. DAVIS...................52 W AT 8:39 A.M. RMY 53 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............39 W AT 12:32 A.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............36 WNW AT 12:33 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............36 WNW AT 12:06 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........21.9 W ASOS..................19.7 DAVIS.................19.0 WNW [285 deg] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE...........-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.60 DEPARTURE...........+1.09 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.02 DEPARTURE...........-1.84 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..............35.3 DEPARTURE...........+26.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............56.8 DEPARTURE...........+14.8 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/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 42/27/35/+7/T/T/.../.. 22 W AERO 17 MPH W RMY N/A 2/14 43/29/36/+8/T/0.1/.../.. 21 NNW AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY N/A 2/15 48/29/39/+11/0.00/0.0/.../.. 31 S AERO 30 MPH S RMY 32 2/16 35/29/32/+4/0.07/1.2/.../.. 25 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY 40 2/17 29/15/22/-6/0.41/5.2/000/00 54 NW AERO 54 MPH NW RMY 58 2/18 31/11/21/-8/0.00/0.0/.../.. 52 WNW AERO 52 MPH WNW RMY 53 2/19 the morning low temp: 21F; the normal low is now 20F 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 19 HIGH 66F IN 1981 LOW -5F IN 1923 PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1972 SNOWFALL 12.0 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1972 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 20 HIGH 66F IN 1930 LOW -4F IN 1966 PRECIP 1.90 INCHES IN 1934 SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1921,1934 PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1972 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser