BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
WEEKEND STORM WAS RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW
INCH AND HALF LIQUID AND 4.4 INCHES OF SNOWFALL
 
Precipitation began early Saturday evening as a mixture of rain,
ice pellets and snow but soon changed to rain and some light
freezing rain.  If there was any slight accumulation of snow and
ice pellets it was all melted away by all rain and temperatures
which rose into the mid 30's after midnight. There was no trace
of it left by 7 a.m. Sunday morning. 
 
Rain began changing to snow late Sunday morning and precipitation
was soon all snow during the afternoon and evening with a total
snow accumulation of 4.4 measured this Monday morning.  This
brings the total on the ground back up to 8 inches (had settled
to 4 inches by 7 a.m. Sunday).  Also, the total for the month is
now up to 39.7 inches or 27 inches more than normal. The monthly
rankings below:
 
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) 39.7 in 2013 (thru Feb. 25)(7 A.M.)
6) 37.0 in 1893
7) 36.0 in 1899
 
FROM THE RECORD BOOKS...44TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREATEST SNOWSTORM
ON RECORD AT THE OBSERVATORY...24-28 FEBRUARY 1969
 
While the weekend storm proved to be less than impressive, that certainly
was not the case 44 years ago on February 24, 1969. Shortly after
midnight that day 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: Overcast stratus/stratocumulus, cumulus along a line
extending distant NE-SE, break in overcast (mostly clear sky
band extending distant NNE-SSE)
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: NNW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility:  30 miles, light distant thin fog and haze
6-hour min. temp: 27F
24-hour precip: 0.84 in.
24-hour snowfall: 4.4 ins.
Snow depth: 8 inches
BHO SA 1155 E17 OVC 30 167/28/27/3407/002/ CU ALG LINE DSNT NE-SE BINOVC 
NNE-SSE DSNT THN FG/HZ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 4.4 INS/ 8/8// 4/008 51023 
ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6001/ ASOS 70085 MANUAL 70084 10029 20027
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, lower cumulus fractus, cumulus, and
stratocumulus distant all quadrants
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: N at 5 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly  
Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze 
BHO SA 1455 E30 BKN 30 189/35/28/3605/009/ LWR CUFRA/CU/SC DSNT ALQDS
DSNT HZ/ 8/800 51022
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus formed by spreading out of cumulus
and cumulus present, altocumulus and few lenticularis NE-SE 
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: NNE at 3 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.11 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 40F
6-hr min temp: 28F 
BHO SA 1755 E26 BKN 70 BKN 35 197/38/28/0304/011/ CU/SCCU ALQDS AC/FEW 
ACSL NE-SE DSNT HZ/ 8/440 51008 10040 20028
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....37      NORMAL.....39
MIN.....29      NORMAL.....21                        
MEAN....33      NORMAL.....30  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+16 [+0.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............32   DEPARTURE............-3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........881   DEPARTURE...........-18
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4007   DEPARTURE..........-423
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3501   DIFFERENCE.........+506
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............31 NNE AT  1:33 P.M.
                   AERO....................29 NNE AT  1:33 P.M.
                   ASOS....................33 NNE AT  1:33 P.M.
                   DAVIS...................32 N   AT  1:32 P.M. RMY 33
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............20 NNE AT  2:04 P.M. * 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............21 NNE AT  2:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............21 N   AT  1:54 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........14.1 N
                   ASOS..................14.1
                   DAVIS.................13.1 NNE [020 deg]
* Last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.84  DEPARTURE...........+0.68
                         ASOS..............0.85
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.54  DEPARTURE...........+2.12
                         ASOS..............N/A*
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........6.96  DEPARTURE...........-0.81
                         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.........4.4   DEPARTURE............+3.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............39.7   DEPARTURE...........+27.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............61.2   DEPARTURE...........+16.1
 
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  37/29/33/+3/..../4.3/000/00     31 NNE AERO 29 MPH NNE RMY 33 
 
2/25  the morning low temp: 27F; 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 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
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 26
HIGH 67F IN 1957
LOW -7F IN 1928
PRECIP 2.24 INCHES IN 1979
SNOWFALL 11.1 INCHES IN 1933
PEAK GUST 66 MPH W IN 1961
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling