BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME RAINSTORM BEGINS IN THE EARLY HOURS OF TODAY STRONG EAST WINDS INCREASE WITH GUSTS OVER 45 MPH FEBRUARY PRECIPITATION TOTAL SURPASSES 6 INCHES FEBRUARY TEMPS. EDGING OVER 1 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL WINTER SEASON (DEC-JAN-FEB) 3+ DEGREES ABOVE Light rain began just after 1 A.M. early today and had accumulated to 0.25 inch by 7 A.M. and 0.65 inch by 1 P.M. Strong east winds have been gusting past 40 MPH by late this morning and early this afternoon. The peak gusts have reached 45 to 49 MPH just after 1 P.M. The February precipitation has surpassed 6 inches. February temperatures have edged up to close to 1 degree above the the 30-year normal (1981-2010) and the winter season of December, January and February is running plus 3.3 degrees through February 26. This is about half of the departure last year in the winter of 2011-2012 which was +6.4 degrees. 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 (through Feb. 26) 6) 37.0 in 1893 FROM THE RECORD BOOKS...44TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREATEST SNOWSTORM ON RECORD AT THE OBSERVATORY...24-28 FEBRUARY 1969 Shortly after midnight on Feb. 24, 1969, snow began and continued uninterrupted for more than four days. The storm total snowfall 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: Partial obscurement, overcast stratus fractus, light rain occurring, 5/10 of sky obscured by surface based fog, stratus drifting over the summit Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 39F; Wind: E at 20G28 kts, Wind: Peak wind from E at 28 kts at 6:52 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, falling steadily Visibility: 1/4 variable from 1/8 to 1/2, briefly 1 mile ESE-WSW, light rain and fog 6-hour min. temp: 36F 6-hour precip. 0.25 in. 24-hour precip: 0.25 in. Snow depth: 5 inches BHO SA 1155 –X E4 OVC 1/4VR-F 137/39/39/0920G28/994/ F5 STRA DRFTG OVR SMT VSBY 1/8V1/2 BRFLY 1 ESE-S-WSW PK WND 0828/52/ 8/7// 4/005 56039 ASOS 60026 MANUAL 6025/ ASOS 70026 MANUAL 70025 10039 20036 10 A.M. Weather: Broken variable overcast stratus fractus, overcast with nimbostratus, light rain and fog Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 40F; Wind: E at 19G30 kts, Wind: Peak wind from ESE at 31 kts at 9:23 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly Visibility: 5 miles, light rain and fog 3-hourly precip: 0.25 in. BHO SA 1455 E5V BKN 10 OVC 5R-F 111/40/40/1019G30/986/ 5 BKN V OVC/ PK WND 1131/23/ 8/72/ 56026 ASOS 60026 MANUAL 6025/ 1 P.M. Weather: Overcast stratus fractus, light rain and fog, thin stratus fractus drifting over and below summit Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 39F; Wind: E at 24G37 kts, Wind: Peak wind from E at 38 kts at 12:29 P.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.75 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly Visibility: 3 miles, light rain and fog 6-hr max temp: 40F 6-hr precip: 0.40 in. BHO SA 1755 E6 OVC 3R-F 075/39/39/1024G37/975/ THN STFRA DRFTG OVR/BLO SMT PK WND 0938/29/ 8/7// 58036 ASOS 60041 MANUAL 6040/ 10040 20039 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....43 NORMAL.....39 MIN.....31 NORMAL.....21 MEAN....37 NORMAL.....30 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+27 [+0.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............28 DEPARTURE............-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........940 DEPARTURE...........-29 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4066 DEPARTURE..........-433 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3592 DIFFERENCE.........+474 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............25 E AT 10:39 P.M. AERO....................23 E AT 10:24 P.M. ASOS....................25 E AT 10:39 P.M. DAVIS...................25 E AT 10:24 P.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............19 E AT 10:40 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............20 E AT 10:40 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............18 E AT 10:40 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........7.5 E ASOS...................6.5 DAVIS..................6.9 ESE [105 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.25 DEPARTURE...........+0.09 ASOS..............0.26 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.79 DEPARTURE...........+2.05 ASOS..............N/A* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........7.21 DEPARTURE...........-0.88 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..............39.7 DEPARTURE...........+26.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............61.2 DEPARTURE...........+15.2 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/-2/0.00/0.0/438/67 40 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW RMY 43 2/22 37/22/30/+1/0.00/0.0/387/59 28 NW AERO 24 MPH NW RMY 24 2/23 37/30/34/+4/0.31/T/000/00 21 SE AERO 18 MPH SE RMY N/A 2/24 37/29/33/+3/1.19/4.3/000/00 31 NNE AERO 29 MPH NNE RMY 33 2/25 40/27/34/+4/0.01/0.1/.../.. 16 NNW AERO 13 MPH NW RMY 15 2/26 43/31/37/+7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 E AERO 23 MPH E RMY N/A 2/27 the morning low temp: 35F; since midnight; the normal low is now 22F 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 27 HIGH 61F IN 1976 LOW -8F IN 1900 PRECIP 0.90 INCHES IN 1922 SNOWFALL 6.0 INCHES IN 1922 PEAK GUST 67 MPH W IN 1985 RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 28 HIGH 62F IN 1976 LOW -2F IN 1907,1934 PRECIP 1.79 INCHES IN 1958 SNOWFALL 8.5 INCHES IN 2005 PEAK GUST 88e MPH SSW IN 1943 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling