BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME ONE WEEK OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES POISED TO COME TO AN END! SNOW BEGAN EARLY THIS AFTERNOON, MAY LEAVE AN INCH OR TWO LATER TODAY. PRECIPITATION DEFICIT FOR JANUARY HAS INCREASED TO MORE THAN 3 INCHES! Temperatures which fell below freezing one week ago yesterday evening will ilkely rise above freezing tomorrow. The long streatch of sub-freezing temperatures has reduced the monthly positive temperature departure from plus eight degrees one week ago, to plus three degrees through January 27. Light snow began early this afternoon by 2:45 PM and visibility had decreased to 2 miles. A very dry month of January continues with a departure of -3.06 inches through January 27. As such, the list below is subject to change in the coming days. 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: Scattered altocumulus, overcast dense cirrostratus, breaks in overcast/clear sky band NE-ESE, dense cirrostratus layer invading sky. Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 0F; Wind: W at 7 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.40 ins. Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze Snow depth: 1 inch 6-hour min temp: 17F BHO SA 1155 150 SCT E220 OVC 40 295/18/0/2607/040/ PTCHS ACSL ALQDS LGE BINOVC/CLR SKY BND NE-ESE DNS CS LYR INVDNG DSNT HZ 8/046 4/001 56004 10018 20017 10 A.M. Weather: Overcast altostratus/virga, sun dimly visible Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: Estimated SSW at 2 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.39 ins. Hg, falling then steady Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze BHO SA 1455 E70 OVC 30 290/25/4/E2002/039/ BRGHT SPTS IOVC DSNT E-S VIRGA ALQDS SUN DMLY VSBY THN SHLW K LYR ALL HRZN HVY SHLW K LYR ALG HRZN N-E HAZY WND LGT/ 8/01/ 58005 1 P.M. Weather: Overcast altostratus/virga, sun dimly visible Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: S at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.28 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze 6-hour max temp: 29F 6-hour min temp: 18F BHO SA 1755 E65 OVC 35 255/29/6/1908/028/ SUN DMLY VSB VIRGA ALQDS DSNT HZ/ 8/01/ 58035 10029 20018 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 27 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....29 NORMAL.....34 MIN......9 NORMAL.....17 MEAN....19 NORMAL.....25 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-6 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+90 [+3.1 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............46 DEPARTURE..........+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........979 DEPARTURE.........-89 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3007 DEPARTURE........-366 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....2665 DIFFERENCE.......+342 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............32 NW AT 12:18 P.M. AERO....................28 NW AT 12:18 P.M. ASOS....................31 NNW AT 12:19 P.M. DAVIS...................30 WNW AT 9:34 A.M. RMY 31 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............23 NW AT 12:19 P.M.* MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............23 NW AT 11:38 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............23 NW AT 10:56 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........15.2 WNW ASOS..................14.9 DAVIS.................13.8 WNW [300 deg.] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.13 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.75 DEPARTURE..........-3.06 ASOS..............0.72 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........0.75 DEPARTURE..........-3.06 ASOS..............0.72 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.........0.0 DEPARTURE............-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............5.2 DEPARTURE............-9.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............20.6 DEPARTURE...........-10.4 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 23/9/16/-9/0.01/0.1/.../.. 35 WNW AERO 31 MPH WNW RMY 33 1/27 29/9/19/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 32 NW AERO 28 MPH NW RMY 31 1/28 morning low temp: 17F; 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 28 HIGH 59F IN 1916 LOW -9F IN 1888, 1924 PRECIP 2.18 INS. IN 1897 SNOWFALL 15.0 INS. IN 1897 PEAK GUST 78e MPH SSE IN 1977 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 29 HIGH 66F IN 2002 LOW -11F IN 1888 PRECIP 1.48 INS. IN 1973 SNOWFALL 8.0 INS. IN 1943 PEAK GUST 72 MPH NW IN 1973 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling and Patrick Peters