BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME STRONG AND GUSTY WNW-NW WINDS EARLY THIS MORNING PEAK GUSTS REACH TO AROUND 50 MPH FULL SUNSHINE RETURNED TODAY AFTER A CLOUDY DAY ON WEDNESDAY Strong and gusty WNW-NW winds occurred between about 2 A.M. and around 6 A.M. this morning. The highest gusts included: Maximum, Inc. Maestro 52 MPH Maximum, Inc. Merlin 50 MPH WNW RM Young 50 MPH Davis 49 MPH W @ 3:27 A.M. ASOS 48 MPH WNW @ 3:26 A.M. Aerovane 48 MPH WNW @ 3:26 A.M. * 420C 47 MPH WNW @ 3:26 A.M. * last of several occurrences.. Maximum 2-minute average ASOS: 33 MPH WNW @ 2:26 A.M. Maximum 2-minute average Davis: 34 MPH WNW @ 3:28 A.M. Full sunshine returned today after a cloudy day on Wednesday, the first one of this very sunny month to date. The low of 36F this morning was far above the normal low of 17F! The air mass becAme drier during the arrival of very gusty WNW-NW winds this morning. Those wind were dying down by this afternoon. Ice still covers both Houghtons and Ponkapoag ponds but I'm sure we will begin to see some open water start to appear over the next several days as the weather continues unseasonably mild. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus, cumulus, stratocumulus offshore distant NE-ESE, few patches altocumulus lenticularis distant WNW, few cirrus SSE-W Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: WNW at 16G27 kts, Wind: Peak wind from NW at 34 kts @ 5:58 A.M. Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 30.25 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze Snow depth: 1 inch 6-hr min. temp: 36F 24-hour precip: trace BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 242/37/20/3016G27/025/ FEW CUFRA/CU/SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-ESE AND DSNT SSE-S FEW PTCHS ACSL DSNT WNW FEW CI SSE-W LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 3134/1058/ WND 27V33/ 8/841 4/001 51040 10041 20036 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant WNW-NNE, few cumulus and stratocumulus along and distant offshore NE-ESE, few cirrus mostly distant SE-WSW Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NW at 15G26 kts, Wind: Peak wind from NW at 27 kts @ 9:33 A.M. Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 30.33 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 271/40/22/3115G26/033/ FEW SC DSNT WNW-NNE FEW CU/SC DSNT ALG/OFFSHR NE-ESE CI MSTLY DSNT SE-WSW PK WND 3127/34/ WND 26V35/ 8/801 51029 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few cumulus and stratocumulus distant NNW-N and offshore distant NE-ESE, few cirrus distant SSE-WSW Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: WNW at 12 kts, Wind: Peak wind from NW at 30 kts @ 12:08 P.M., Wind: Direction variable WSW-NNW Sea-level pressure: 30.33 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly Visibility: 75 miles 6-hour max: 44F BHO SA 1755 CLR 75 270/44/22/3012/033/ FEW CU/SC DSNT NNW-N FEW CU/SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-ESE FEW DSNT SSE-WSW PK WND 3130/08/ WND 24V34/ 8/801 55001 10044 20036 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....42 NORMAL.....34 MIN.....31 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....37 NORMAL.....26 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+11 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+28 [+2.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............28 DEPARTURE.........-11 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........321 DEPARTURE.........-28 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........2349 DEPARTURE........-305 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2041 DIFFERENCE.......+308 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............40 W AT 11:15 P.M. AERO....................39 W AT 11:15 P.M. ASOS....................40 W AT 11:15 P.M. DAVIS...................38 WSW AT 11:15 P.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............29 W AT 11:14 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............30 W AT 11:16 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............28 W AT 11:16 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........12.8 SSW ASOS..................12.2 DAVIS.................11.6 SW [230 deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.14 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........Trace DEPARTURE..........-1.28 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........Trace DEPARTURE..........-1.28 ASOS..............0.00 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.0 DEPARTURE............-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............0.1 DEPARTURE............-5.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............15.5 DEPARTURE............-5.7 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 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 1/1 35/18/27/0/0.00/0.0/313/57 44 WNW AERO 44 MPH WNW RMY 45 1/2 29/11/20/-7/0.00/0.0/457/83 35 WNW AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 33 1/3 23/2/13/-13/0.00/0.0/529/96 24 WNW AERO 23 MPH WNW RMY 23 1/4 38/19/29/+3/0.00/0.0/320/58 35 W AERO 36 MPH W RMY 36 1/5 40/27/34/+8/0.00/0.0/536/97 36 WNW AERO 37 MPH WNW RMY 38 1/6 42/27/35/+9/T/0.1/471/85 29 SW AERO 29 MPH SW RMY 29 1/7 38/27/33/+7/0.00/0.0/538/97 29 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY N/A 1/8 45/27/36/+10/0.00/0.0/428/77 39 SW AERO 42 MPH SW RMY 41 1/9 42/31/37/+11/T/0.0/033/06 40 W AERO 39 MPH W RMY N/A 1/10 morning low temp: 36F; the normal low is now 17F DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2013 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 10 HIGH 54F IN 2000 LOW -7F IN 2004 PRECIP 2.16 INS. IN 1935 SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 1977 PEAK GUST 73e SE IN 1977 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 11 HIGH 59F IN 1975 LOW -7F IN 1968 PRECIP 1.58 INS. IN 2008 SNOW 10.2 INS. 1927 PEAK GUST 95e MPH S IN 1980 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling