BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME A LITTLE WARMER TODAY WITH LIGHT WINDS; CLOUDS AND MOISTURE INCREASING Although the morning temperature started out at 22F like yesterday morning, the afternoon temperature today has risen into the mid 30s. Also in contrast to yesterday, winds today have been on the low side, generally in the 10-20 mph range. The wind direction has gradually veered from NW this morning to NE this afternoon. An extensive stratocumulus layer of clouds that was present this morning has gradually dissipated into this afternoon, however, an extensive layer of cirrostratus has overtaken much of the sky this afternoon. Visibility to the NW this morning was quite crisp and near 85 miles. Moisture has increased throughout the day as evidenced by the dew point temperature creeping up from the teens into the lower 20s. Consequently, haze has increased and visibility has decreased to near 70 miles. Plenty of snow has fallen this month, and more appears to be in the forecast. Below are the snowiest Februarys on record at Blue Hill. BLUE HILL SNOWIEST FEBRUARYS, INCHES (1886-2012) 1) 65.4 in 1969 2) 51.3 in 2003 3) 45.2 in 1967 4) 40.4 in 1920 5) 37.0 in 1893 6) 36.0 in 1899 7) 35.3 in 2013 (through Feb. 21) 8) 34.7 in 1926,1934 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken cirrus, few stratocumulus lenticularis SSW-WSW and NW and N-NE, cirrus distant SW-WNW, distant haze Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: NW at 9 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.36 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 65 miles, NE-S 50 miles, NW 85 miles, distant haze 6-hour min. temp: 22F Snow depth: 7 inches BHO SA 1155 E30 BKN 250 BKN 65 280/23/18/3209/036/ FEW SCSL SSW-WSW AND NW AND N-NE CI DSNT SW-WNW DSNT HZ NE-S VSBY NE-S 50 NW 85/ 8/501 53030 4/007 10024 20022 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, few lower cumulus distant NE-E, few stratocumulus lenticularis SW-W and N-NE, few patches of dense cirrus distant SSW-NNW, cirrus distant SSW-NW-NNE, light distant haze Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: N at 9G15 kts, Wind: Direction variable NNW-NNE Sea-level pressure: 30.37 ins. Hg, rising slightly Visibility: 70 miles, E-S lower, NW 80 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 E25 BKN 220 BKN 250 BKN 70 285/32/23/3609G15/037/ FEW LWR CU DSNT NE-E FEW SCSL SW-W AND N-NE FEW PTCHS DNS CI DSNT SSW-NNW CI DSNT SSW-NW-NNE LGT DSNT HZ VSBY E-S LWR NW 80 WND 33V03/ 8/802 50005 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken cirrostratus, broken dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, few cumulus all quadrants, stratocumulus ENE-S, few moderate cumulus/stratocumulus tops ENE-SE-SW, light distant haze Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NE at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable N-E Sea-level pressure: 30.36 ins. Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 37F BHO SA 1755 30 SCT E200 BKN 220 BKN 250 BKN 70 282/36/22/0408/036/ FEW CU ALQDS SC ENE-S FEW MDT CU/SC TOPS ENE-SE-SW LGT DSNT HZ WND 01V08/ 8/507 58003 10037 20023 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....31 NORMAL.....38 MIN.....22 NORMAL.....20 MEAN....27 NORMAL.....29 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+8 [+0.2 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............38 DEPARTURE............+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........783 DEPARTURE...........-10 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3909 DEPARTURE..........-414 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3432 DIFFERENCE.........+477 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............40 WNW AT 9:14 A.M. AERO....................40 WNW AT 9:14 A.M. ASOS....................41 WNW AT 9:15 A.M. DAVIS...................41 NW AT 2:49 P.M. RMY 43 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............32 NW AT 2:48 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............31 NW AT 2:49 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............32 NW AT 2:49 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........18.5 NW ASOS..................17.9 DAVIS.................16.4 WNW [300 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..........4.03 DEPARTURE...........+1.07 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.45 DEPARTURE...........-1.86 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...........+24.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............56.8 DEPARTURE...........+13.3 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/+10/0.00/0.0/606/96 39 W AERO 37 MPH S RMY 39 2/13 42/27/35/+7/T/T/615/97 22 W AERO 17 MPH W RMY N/A 2/14 43/29/36/+8/T/0.1/564/89 21 NNW AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY N/A 2/15 48/29/39/+11/0.00/0.0/566/89 31 S AERO 30 MPH S RMY 32 2/16 35/29/32/+4/0.07/1.3/000/00 25 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY 40 2/17 29/15/22/-6/0.41/5.1/000/00 54 NW AERO 54 MPH NW RMY 58 2/18 31/11/21/-8/0.00/0.0/632/98 52 WNW AERO 52 MPH WNW RMY 53 2/19 45/21/33/+4/0.43/0.0/201/31 33 SSW AERO 32 MPH SSW RMY 36 2/20 40/23/32/+3/T/0.0/189/29 44 W AERO 43 MPH W RMY 47 2/21 31/22/27/-2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 40 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW RMY 43 2/22 the morning low temp: 22F; 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 22 HIGH 63F IN 1997 LOW -1F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.38 INCHES IN 1900 SNOWFALL 8.0 INCHES IN 1893 PEAK GUST 74 MPH S IN 1974 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 23 HIGH 62F IN 1990 LOW -8F IN 1907 PRECIP 1.48 INCHES IN 1967 SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1967 PEAK GUST 73 MPH WNW IN 1974 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser