BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME MESSY MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW TODAY Snow began falling at the summit yesterday evening, but quickly changed to rain with no signs of snow accumulation visible at 7AM this morning. The rain began to mix with snow and sleet shortly before 11AM this morning. The mix changed over to all snow after noon and was frequently heavy, adding up to 0.4 inches by 1PM, with accumulation continuing. The storm total precipitation stands at 1.08 inches so far, and this will likely rise more. February will likely finish well on the wetter side of normal, with more precipitation expected this week. The rain, snow, and fog has held visibilities way down today, as low as 1/16 of a mile at times. Winds have not been particularly strong with this storm, with 30mph being today’s peak gust through 1PM. February continues to run slightly on the warmer side of normal, and it will likely finish this way. This will also be one of the snowiest Februarys on record, despite a lack of snow accumulation from this storm. 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. 23) 8) 34.7 in 1926,1934 FROM THE RECORD BOOKS...44TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREATEST SNOWSTORM ON RECORD AT THE OBSERVATORY...24-28 FEBRUARY 1969 While this storm is proving to be less than impressive, that certainly was not the case 44 years ago today, on February 24, 1969. Shortly after midnight that night snow began and continued uninterrupted for more than four days. A storm total of 38.7 inches is the largest on record at the Observatory, and the calendar day total of 27.4 inches on 24 February 1969 is also the largest snowfall for any single day. The total melted precipitation for this storm was 4.53 inches. The peak gusts were 60 mph NE on the 24th and 64 mph NE on the 26th of February, 1969. The snow depth reached 41 inches near the end of this storm and reached a high of 43 inches following another snowfall in early March. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Sky obscured by light rain and fog Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: NNE at 11G18 kts, Wind: Direction variable NNW-NE Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 1/8 mile, light rain and fog 6-hour min. temp: 34F Snow depth: 4 inches 24-hr precip: 0.67 ins. 24-hr snowfall: Trace BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/8R-F 085/36/36/0311G18/978/ WND 34V05 8//// 4/004 57004 MANUAL 70067 ASOS 70068 10036 20034 10 A.M. Weather: Sky partly obscured by light rain and fog, overcast nimbostratus Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: N at 14G21 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.73 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly Visibility: 11/2 miles, light rain and fog 3-hr. precip: 0.24 ins. BHO SA 1455 –X E6 OVC 11/2R-F 069/36/36/0114G21/973/ 8/72/F8/ 58016 MANUAL 60024 ASOS 60026 1 P.M. Weather: Sky obscured by heavy snow and fog Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 32F; Wind: NNW at 13G20 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly Visibility: 1/16 mile, heavy snow and fog 6-hr max temp: 36F 6-hr precip: 0.41 ins. 6-hour snowfall: 0.4 ins. BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/16S+F 061/32/32/3313G20/971/ WND 30V36 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 6 HR 0.4 INS 8//// 56008 60041 ASOS 60042 10036 20032 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....37 NORMAL.....39 MIN.....30 NORMAL.....21 MEAN....34 NORMAL.....30 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+13 [+0.4 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............31 DEPARTURE............-4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........849 DEPARTURE...........-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3975 DEPARTURE..........-419 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3472 DIFFERENCE.........+503 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............21 SE AT 11:09 A.M. AERO....................18 SE AT 11:09 A.M. ASOS....................21 NE AT 11:59 P.M. DAVIS...................21 SSE AT 11:09 A.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............16 ENE AT 11:57 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............16 NE AT 11:59 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............15 ENE AT 11:59 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........9.3 SE ASOS...................9.1 DAVIS..................8.5 SE [125 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.67 DEPARTURE...........+0.51 ASOS..............0.68 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.70 DEPARTURE...........+1.44 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........6.12 DEPARTURE...........-1.49 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.......Trace DEPARTURE............-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............35.3 DEPARTURE...........+23.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............56.8 DEPARTURE...........+12.2 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 37/22/30/+1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 28 NW AERO 24 MPH NW RMY 24 2/23 37/30/34/+4/.../T/000/00 21 SE AERO 18 MPH SE RMY N/A 2/24 the morning low temp: 32F; the normal low is now 21F 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 24 HIGH 68F IN 1985 [RECORD FOR MONTH] LOW -11F IN 1894 PRECIP 3.10 INCHES IN 1969 SNOWFALL 27.4 INCHES IN 1969 [HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY AMOUNT ON RECORD] PEAK GUST 63 MPH NE IN 1998 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 25 HIGH 67F IN 1976 LOW -10F IN 1894 PRECIP 2.40 INCHES IN 1981 SNOWFALL 13.6 INCHES IN 1966 PEAK GUST 75 MPH S IN 1965 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien and Peter Volpe