BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME MOSTLY SUNNY AND COLD TODAY...LIGHT SNOW BRINGS 0.7 INCH OVERNIGHT... Today marks our 6th consecutive day of below normal temperatures, though the frigid temperatures of the past few days are finally beginning to moderate somewhat. After a minimum of 9F this morning, the temperature may climb into the mid-20s later today for the first time since last Monday. The average temperature departure for January has dropped to four degrees above normal per day. A weak storm system moved south of New England overnight, bringing a short period of light snow to eastern Massachusetts. The snow that began before 10 PM Friday evening and ended after 1 AM Saturday morning brought a total of 0.7 inch of new snow and a melted equivalent of 0.056 inch. January remains very dry with a monthly total precipitation of 0.75 inch, and unless there is significant precipitation in the next few days, it may finish among the driest on record. Driest Januarys, inches (1885-2012) 1) 0.89 in 1955 2) 0.97 in 1980 3) 1.00 in 1989 4) 1.07 in 1970 5) 1.25 in 1981 6) 1.31 in 1985 7) 1.72 in 2004 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus layer with a few moderate tops along/offshore distant N-SSW, few cirrus NE-ENE, light distant haze Temperature: 9F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: NW at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 40 miles, light distant haze 24-hour precipitation: 0.06 inch 24-hour snowfall: 0.7 inch Snow depth: 1 inch 6-hour min temp: 9F BHO SA 1155 CLR 40 164/9/5/3210/001/ SC LYR FEW MDT TOPS ALG/OFFSHR DSNT N-SSW FEW CI NE-ENE LGT DSNT HZ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.7 IN/ 8/501 4/001 51010 6001/ 70006 10014 20009 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus layer offshore distant NNE-SSE, few altocumulus distant WNW-NW, few altocumulus lenticularis distant ENE-E, few cirrus distant SE-SSE Temperature: 15F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: NW at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 177/15/5/3210/005/ SC LYR OFFSHR DSNT NNE-SSE FEW AC DSNT WNW-NW FEW ACSL DSNT ENE-E FEW CI DSNT SE-SSE/ 8/531 53013 1 P.M. Weather: Few stratocumulus offshore distant NE-SE, few altocumulus distant SW and distant WNW-NW Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: WNW at 11 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NW Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max temp: 22F BHO SA 1755 –SCT 250 75 165/22/5/3111/002/ FEW SC OFFSHR DSNT NE-SE FEW AC DSNT SW AND DSNT WNW-NW WND 28V34/ 8/531 58012 10023 20009 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 25 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....22 NORMAL.....34 MIN......4 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....13 NORMAL.....25 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-12 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+105 [+4.0 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............52 DEPARTURE.........+12 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........884 DEPARTURE........-105 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........2912 DEPARTURE........-381 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2609 DIFFERENCE.......+303 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............33 WNW AT 1:25 A.M. AERO....................27 WNW AT 12:44 A.M. ASOS....................31 WNW AT 1:26 A.M. DAVIS...................32 WNW AT 1:26 A.M. RMY 32 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............24 WNW AT 1:14 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............23 WNW AT 1:15 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............21 W AT 1:16 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........12.2 W ASOS..................11.3 DAVIS.................10.5 WNW [286 deg.] * last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.06 DEPARTURE..........-0.08 ASOS..............0.06 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.75 DEPARTURE..........-2.79 ASOS..............0.72 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........0.75 DEPARTURE..........-2.79 ASOS..............0.72 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.7 DEPARTURE............+0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............5.2 DEPARTURE............-8.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............20.6 DEPARTURE............-9.3 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 45/32/39/+14/0.00/0.0/548/98 47 WNW AERO 48 MPH WNW RMY 50 1/11 38/29/34/+9/0.15/0.0/050/09 23 SE AERO 21 MPH SE RMY 23 1/12 43/35/40/+15/0.02/0.0/000/00 21 SE AERO 18 MPH SE RMY 15 1/13 50/41/46/+21/0.01/0.0/000/00 30 SW AERO 30 MPH SW RMY N/A 1/14 59/40/50/+25/T/0.0/175/31 36 S AERO 37 MPH S RMY 39 1/15 40/33/37/+12/T/0.0/045/08 17 N AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY 17 1/16 33/29/31/+6/0.45/3.5/000/00 16 NNE AERO 14 MPH N RMY 15 1/17 39/28/34/+9/0.00/0.0/519/91 36 WNW AERO 35 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/18 28/16/22/-3/0.00/0.0/566/99 39 NW AERO 39 MPH NW RMY 43 1/19 47/21/34/+9/0.00/0.0/350/61 46 SSW AERO 45 MPH SSW RMY 48 1/20 52/26/39/+14/0.00/0.0/408/71 48 SW AERO 52 MPH SW RMY 51 1/21 26/18/22/-3/0.06/0.9/144/25 35 WNW AERO 32 MPH WNW RMY N/A 1/22 23/10/17/-8/T/T/544/94 35 WNW AERO 30 MPH WNW RMY 35 1/23 15/4/10/-15/0.00/0.0/569/98 39 W AERO 35 MPH W RMY 37 1/24 17/0/9/-16/0.00/0.0/.../.. 43 WNW AERO 39 MPH WNW RMY 44 1/25 22/4/13/-12/0.05/0.6/.../.. 33 WNW AERO 27 MPH WNW RMY 32 1/26 morning low temp: 9F; 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 26 HIGH 68F IN 1950 [RECORD FOR MONTH] LOW -5F IN 1920 PRECIP 1.60 INS. IN 1958 SNOW 9.0 INS. IN 1898 WIND 90e MPH SE IN 1978 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 27 HIGH 63F IN 1974 LOW -12F IN 1924 PRECIP 1.59 INS. IN 1996 SNOWFALL 11.7 INS. IN 2011 PEAK GUST 91 MPH SSE IN 1996 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono/Forrest Iwanik/Peter Volpe