BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME OCTOBER FINISHES 7TH DRIEST ON RECORD WITH 1.09 INCHES AND WARMER THAN AVERAGE... VERY LITTLE WIND TODAY AFTER GUSTS TO 60+ MPH ON FRIDAY... The wind has diminished substantially from yesterday when we recorded a peak gust on our official wind recorder to 60 mph SSW at 11:08 AN EST. A total of 614 miles of wind were measured on Friday, which translates to an average for the day of 25.6 mph. The peak gust today has been only 18 mph from the WSW at 12:15 AM EST. In contrast to yesterday, only 68 miles of wind have passed by the Observatory from midnight to today through 1 PM EST for an average of 5.2 mph today. The temperature has climbed once again to the middle 60s, with the dew point dropping into the upper 30s, making for a beautiful day. Colder weather is expected to return with the passage of an approaching cold front tonight or early on Sunday. There were frequent instances of colorful and bright iridescence within the high and middle clouds around the sun at mid-day today. OCTOBER 2013 PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: (departures relative to 1981-2010 average) TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 62.5F [+2.2F] Average Min Temp: 45.9F [+3.0F] Mean Temp: 54.2F [+2.6F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 53.4F Max Temp: 78F on 2nd Min Temp: 30F on 29th (first freeze of the season) Total heating degree day units (month): 331 [-90] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 477 [-86] *start July 1 (NCDC) Total cooling degree day units (month): 5 [0] *NCDC method Total cooling degree day units (season): 701 [+99] *start Jan 1 (NCDC) PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 1.09 inches [-3.60 inch] Greatest 24-hr precipitation: N/A WIND: Avg wind speed: 10.7 MPH Avg corrected wind speed: 11.2 MPH Prevailing wind direction: W [17%] Peak gust: 48 MPH S on 7TH Peak fastest mile: 40 MPH S on 7TH SUNSHINE: Total astronomical minutes: 11,757 (196.0 hrs.) out of possible 20,551 minutes (342.5 hrs.) or 57% Total Campbell Stokes card minutes; 11,358 (189.3 hrs.) out of possible 19,824 minutes (330.4 hrs.) or 57% BHO DRIEST OCTOBERS (INCHES, 1886-2013) 1) 0.22 IN 1924 2) 0.39 IN 1994 3) 0.50 IN 1946 4) 0.61 IN 1935 5) 0.63 IN 1897 6) 0.79 IN 2001 7) 1.09 IN 2013 8) 1.15 IN 1918 9) 1.25 IN 1940 10) 1.31 IN 1967 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus, few lower stratus fractus, breaks in overcast all quadrants, hazy Temperature: 54F; Dew Point: 41F; Wind: SSW at 4 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing Visibility: 45 miles, SW-NW 55 miles, ENE-SE 30 miles 6-hr min temp: 51F 24-hr precip: 0.00 inch BHO SA 1155 E65 BKN 85 OVC 45 053/54/41/2104/969/ FEW LWR STFRA BINOVC ALQDS HAZY VSBY SW-NW 55 ENE-SE 30 WND LGT/ 8/53/ 50003 70010 10054 20051 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus (2 layers), few cumulus fractus vicinity station, few stratocumulus distant ESE-SSE, thin smoke layer along horizon NNE-ENE, hazy Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 41F; Wind: SSW at 3 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.67 ins. Hg, decreasing Visibility: 50 miles BHO SA 1455 85 SCT 100 SCT 50 048/57/41/2003/967/ FEW CUFRA VCTY STN FEW SC DSNT ESE-SSE THN K LYR ALG HRZN NNE-ENE HAZY WND LGT/ 8/530 58005 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, thin broken altocumulus, thin broken cirrus, few cumulus distant SW-N, few lower altocumulus, few dense cirrus E-ESE, few cirrocumulus overhead-E, iridescence around sun, light haze Temperature: 63F; Dew Point: 38F; Wind: SSW at 5 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.62 ins. Hg, decreasing Visibility: 60 miles 6-hr max temp: 65F BHO SA 1755 100 SCT 150 –BKN 250 –BKN 60 032/63/38/2005/962/ FEW CU DSNT SW-N FEW LWR AC FEW DNS CI E-ESE CC OVHD-E IRIDESCENCE LGT HZ WND LGT/ 8/131 56016 10065 20054 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....68 NORMAL.....55 MIN.....56 NORMAL.....38 MEAN....62 NORMAL.....46 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................+16 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+16 [+16 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............3 DEPARTURE........-16 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...............3 DEPARTURE........-16 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............480 DEPARTURE.......-102 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......424 DIFFERENCE.......+56 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................60 SSW AT 11:08 A.M. AERO.......................N/A ASOS.......................66 SSW AT 11:08 A.M. DAVIS......................61 SSW AT 11:07 A.M. RMY 66 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................48 SSW AT 11:08 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................44 SSW AT 7:40 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................45 SSW AT 11:08 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............25.6 SSW ASOS.....................23.3 DAVIS....................23.7 SSW [208 degrees] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.10 DEPARTURE.............-0.06 ASOS..............0.10 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR OCTOBER............0.10 DEPARTURE.............-0.06 ASOS..............0.11 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........43.11 DEPARTURE.............-0.82 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..............0.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............0.0 DEPARTURE.............-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............0.0 DEPARTURE.............-0.3 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 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 10/1 75/50/63/+6/0.00/676/96 16 WNW AERO 16 MPH WNW RMY 18 10/2 78/56/67/+10/0.00/666/95 29 W AERO 30 MPH W RMY 29 10/3 77/56/67/+11/0.00/628/90 20 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A 10/4 67/56/62/+6/0.26/028/04 18 NW AERO 20 MPH NW RMY N/A 10/5 67/56/62/+6/0.01/125/18 14 ENE AERO 12 MPH ENE RMY N/A 10/6 58/53/56/+1/0.56/000/00 20 NE AERO 20 MPH NE RMY N/A 10/7 75/57/66/+11/0.07/213/31 48 S AERO 55 MPH S RMY 55 10/8 65/50/58/+4/0.00/581/85 25 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY 28 10/9 59/49/54/0/0.00/545/80 25 ENE AERO 24 MPH ENE RMY 25 10/10 61/46/54/0/0.00/095/14 18 NE AERO 17 MPH NE RMY 18 10/11 67/50/59/+6/0.00/473/70 20 NE AERO 20 MPH NE RMY N/A 10/12 59/50/55/+2/0.02/007/01 30 ENE AER0 31 MPH ENE RMY 32 10/13 59/46/53/0/0.00/482/72 23 ENE AERO 23 MPH ENE RMY 23 10/14 64/42/53/+1/0.00/580/87 15 SSW AERO 15 MPH SSW RMY 15 10/15 66/50/58/+6/0.00/266/40 16 ESE AERO 16 MPH ESE RMY N/A 10/16 60/49/55/+4/0.00/013/02 23 ESE AERO 24 MPH ESE RMY 23 10/17 70/52/61/+10/0.06/277/42 21 S AERO 23 MPH S RMY N/A 10/18 67/50/59/+8/T/630/96 32 WNW AERO 32 MPH W RMY 31 10/19 65/45/55/+5/0.00/379/58 21 W AERO 22 MPH W RMY N/A 10/20 61/44/53/+3/0.00/644/99 33 W AERO 36 MPH W RMY 34 10/21 67/43/55/+5/0.00/648/100 23 SSW AERO 25 MPH SSW RMY 27 10/22 69/44/57/+8/T/419/65 25 SSW AERO 27 MPH SSW RMY 27 10/23 50/40/45/-4/0.00/103/16 18 WNW AERO 18 MPH WNW RMY N/A 10/24 53/36/45/-4/0.00/640/100 31 W AERO 31 MPH W RMY 34 10/25 49/34/42/-7/0.00/401/63 25 WNW AERO 26 MPH WNW RMY 26 10/26 54/34/44/-4/0.00/521/82 35 SW AERO 36 MPH SSW RMY 39 10/27 55/39/47/-1/0.04/480/76 30 W AERO 30 MPH W RMY 29 10/28 58/35/47/-1/0.00/529/84 31 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 34 10/29 50/30/40/-7/0.00/614/98 15 N AERO 15 MPH N RMY 15 10/30 51/38/45/-2/0.02/094/15 16 W AERO 15 MPH W RMY N/A 10/31 61/43/52/+5/0.05/000/00 37 SSW AERO N/A N/A RMY N/A 11/1 68/56/62/+16/0.10/.../.. 60 SSW AERO N/A N/A RMY 66 11/2 morning low temp: 51F; the normal low is now 37F DAILY RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2013 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 2 HIGH 81F IN 1950 LOW 22F IN 1965 PRECIP 1.67 INCHES IN 1970 SNOWFALL 0.2 IN 1906,1951 PEAK GUST 63 WSW IN 1973 RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER 3 HIGH 75F IN 1990 LOW 21F IN 1891 PRECIP 1.92 INCHES IN 1951 SNOWFALL 0.1 IN 1951 PEAK GUST 96e SSE IN 1951 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono