BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
MUCH COOLER, DRIER, AND CALMER TODAY
 
Showers that began Friday morning and occurred off and on through Monday
evening totaled 0.90 inch of much needed rainfall.
 
Conditions yesterday were rather warm and humid, with a high topping out at
75F and dew points in the mid 60s.  South winds were quite strong ahead of
the cold front, reaching a peak of 48 mph on our official gust recorder at
2:18 P.M. EDT.  Other wind systems recorded gusts of up to 55 mph.  The daily
average wind was a brisk 18.8 mph on Monday.  Winds slackened after the cold
front passed late last night.  Winds gradually veered to WNW after the
frontal passage, bringing in cooler and drier air.
 
Today, winds are much lower, generally in the 10-15 mph range with a few
gusts in the 20-25 mph range.  Temperatures are still a little on the warm
side compared to the 30-year normal, but are about 10 degrees cooler than
yesterday.
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.  
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, scattered thin cirrus, few altocumulus
distant SE-E, patches of dense cirrus NE-SE-SW, mostly clear sky distant
W-NNE, thin smoke layer along/above horizon SSW-NW-NE
Temperature: 51F; Dew Point: 45F; Wind: WNW at 9 kts,
Wind: Direction variable W-NNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.13 ins. Hg, increasing then increasing more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
24-hr precip: 0.07 inch
6-hour min. temp: 50F
BHO SA 1155 220 SCT 250 –SCT 80 202/51/45/3009/013/ FEW AC DSNT SE-S PTCHS
DNS CI NE-SE-SW MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT W-NNE THN K LYR ALG/ABV HRZN
SSW-NW-NE WND 26V33/ 8/042 53032 MANUAL 70007 ASOS 70007 10056 20050
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered thin cirrus, few small cumulus distant WNW-NNE, few
altocumulus distant ESE-S, few patches dense cirrus E-S, cirrus mostly
E-S-WSW, thin smoke layer aloft distant W-N-NE
Temperature: 60F; Dew Point: 43F; Wind: NW at 8 kts.
Sea-level pressure: 30.20 ins. Hg, increasing then increasing more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 –SCT 80 227/60/43/3208/020/ FEW SML CU DSNT WNW-NNE
FEW AC DSNT ESE-S FEW PTCHS DNS CI E-S CI MSTLY E-S-WSW THN
K LYR ALF DSNT W-N-NE/ 8/142 51025
 
1 P.M. 
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, few small cumulus
distant NW, few altocumulus SE-E, patches of dense cirrus ESE-SW, mostly
clear sky distant W-N-ENE, partial halo, light distant haze
Temperature: 64F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: NW at 7 kts,
Wind: Direction variable W-NNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.20 ins. Hg, steady
Visibility: 80 miles, light distant haze
6-hr max temp: 64F
BHO SA 1755 220 SCT 250 –BKN 80 227/64/42/3207/020/ FEW SML CU DSNT NW
FEW AC DSNT SE-S PTCHS DNS CI ESE-SW MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT W-N-ENE
PARTIAL HALO LGT DSNT HZ WND 27V35/ 8/142 50000 10064 20051
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....75    NORMAL.....63
MIN.....57    NORMAL.....46
MEAN....66    NORMAL.....55
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....................+11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+51  [+7.1 DEGREES/DAY]
 
COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............1   DEPARTURE.........+1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............5   DEPARTURE.........+2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........701   DEPARTURE.......+101
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......766   DIFFERENCE.......-65
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............0   DEPARTURE........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............17   DEPARTURE........-49
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........163   DEPARTURE........-46
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......137   DIFFERENCE.......+26
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................48 S   AT  2:18 P.M.
                   AERO.......................55 S   AT  2:18 P.M.
                   ASOS.......................54 SSW AT  2:19 P.M.
                   DAVIS......................53 S   AT  2:18 P.M. RMY 55
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................40 S   AT  2:19 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................38 S   AT  2:20 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................36 S   AT  2:20 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............18.8 S
                   ASOS.....................17.5
                   DAVIS....................16.9 S [182 degrees]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.07   DEPARTURE.............-0.08
                         ASOS..............0.07
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.90   DEPARTURE.............-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.89
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........42.92   DEPARTURE.............+2.70
                         ASOS..............N/A*
*ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals 
     
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/.../..        20 WNW AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY N/A
10/4 67/56/62/+6/0.26/.../..         18 NW  AERO 20 MPH NW  RMY N/A
10/5 67/56/62/+6/0.01/.../..         14 ENE AERO 12 MPH ENE RMY N/A
10/6 58/53/56/+1/0.56/.../..         20 NE  AERO 20 MPH NE  RMY N/A
10/7 75/57/66/+11/0.07/.../..        48 S   AERO 55 MPH S   RMY 55
 
10/8 the morning low temp: 50F; the normal low is now 46F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 2013
None so far.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 8
HIGH 81F IN 1916,1990
LOW 28F IN 1919
PRECIP 2.31 INCHES IN 1891
SNOWFALL TRACE IN 1988, 2001 (EARLIEST DATE)
PEAK GUST 60 MPH NE IN 1996
 
RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 9
HIGH 82F IN 2011
LOW 29F IN 1907,1937
PRECIP 2.54 INCHES IN 1976
SNOWFALL 0.2 INCHES IN 1888
PEAK GUST 81e MPH S IN 1976 (RECORD FOR MONTH)
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser and Kevin Pecora