BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015   ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPS DROP TO 30S AND 40S ON WEDNESDAY,  TEMPS STILL WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH RAIN ON THE WAY Yesterday's maximum temperature of 45F was reached at midnight yesterday morning as cooler air worked into the region.  Temperatures struggled to a daytime high of 43F and dropped  into the 30s after sundown. With a mean temperature of 40F, temperatures were still 9 degrees warmer than normal. Drizzle began this morning at approximately 7:45 AM EST with foggy conditions. Winds had become gusty from the SE, gusting near 30 MPH by mid morning. By the 1:00 PM EST observation drizzle had temporarily stopped; however, fog had grown thicker with visibility of just 1/4 of a mile. A maximum temperature of 48F had been recorded so far. BHO Warmest NWS Mean Temperature, December 1st-15th, deg F (1885-2015): 1) 45.4 in 2015 2) 44.0 in 2001 3) 43.5 in 1998 4) 43.3 in 1953 5) 40.7 in 2011 BHO Warmest Average Maximum Temperature, December 1st-15th, deg F (1885-2015): 1) 52.6 in 2015 2) 51.4 in 1953 3) 51.3 in 1998 4) 50.7 in 2001 5) 48.8 in 1891 BHO Warmest Average Minimum Temperature, December 1st-15th, deg F (1885-2015): 1) 38.2 in 2015 2) 37.2 in 2001 3) 35.6 in 1998 4) 35.1 in 1953 5) 33.7 in 1999 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altostratus, breaks in overcast E-ESE Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 38F; Wind: SE at 14G22 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower    Visibility: 20 miles, except 15 miles SW, thin fog 6-hr Max temp: 39F  6-hr Min temp: 36F 24-hr precip: 0.00 ins   BHO SA 1155 E12 BKN 80 OVC 20 188/39/38/1314G22/009/  VSBY SW 15 MI BINOVC E-ESE THN FG ALQDS/ 8/52/ 58009 10039 20036 10 A.M. Weather: Light drizzle, fog    Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 43F; Wind: SE at 16 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly      Visibility: 3/4 miles, fog and light drizzle 3-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1455 W4 X 3/4L-F 182/43/43/1416/007/ 8//// 58006 MANUAL 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Thick fog Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: SE at 10 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, falling rapidly Visibility: 1/4 of a mile, thick fog   6-hr max. temp: 48F 6-hr min. temp: 39F 6-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/4F 132/47/47/1410/992/  PRESFR/ 8//// 58050 MANUAL 6000/ 10048 20039  SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015     TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....45   NORMAL.....39 MIN.....34   NORMAL.....24  MEAN....40   NORMAL.....31   DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+9 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................+182  [+11.2 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............25   DEPARTURE..........-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............316   DEPARTURE........-183 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........1318   DEPARTURE........-443 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......1634   DIFFERENCE.......-316   PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................25 N   AT  2:22 A.M.                        ASOS........................27 N   AT  2:32 A.M.                               DAVIS.......................26 NNW AT  2:21 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................17 N   AT  2:22 A.M.        MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................17 NNW AT  2:33 A.M.                  MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................16 N   AT  2:21 A.M.                  AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............9.3 N                    ASOS.......................9.3                             DAVIS......................8.2 ENE [066 Deg.]     * Last of several occurrences  PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.16                          ASOS...............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.00  DEPARTURE......-1.62                          ASOS...............1.01 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........40.42  DEPARTURE.....-10.74                            ASOS................N/A *** *** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0  DEPARTURE......-5.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............TRACE  DEPARTURE......-8.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA   DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY GUST RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 12/1  42/30/36/-1/..../0.0/000/00           19 NNE RMY 19 12/2  53/37/45/+9/..../0.0/000/00           25 SSE RMY 25 12/3  53/37/45/+9/..../0.0/162/29           43 WNW RMY 42 12/4  47/32/40/+5/0.00/0.0/444/80           32 NW  RMY 32 12/5  50/33/42/+7/0.00/0.0/548/99           21 W   RMY N/A 12/6  57/35/46/+11/0.00/0.0/531/96          22 SW  RMY N/A 12/7  54/37/46/+12/0.00/0.0/353/64          31 NE  RMY N/A 12/8  42/35/39/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 NE  RMY 31 12/9  44/34/39/+5/..../0.0/044/08           28 SSE RMY N/A 12/10 57/41/49/+16/T/0.0/.../..             29 SE  RMY N/A 12/11 56/44/50/+17/0.00/0.0/.../..          28 SSW RMY 28 12/12 59/46/53/+20/0.00/0.0/.../..          23 W   RMY N/A  12/13 54/44/49/+17/0.00/0.0/.../..          18 ESE RMY 19 12/14 60/43/52/+20/..../0.0/000/00          32 S   RMY N/A 12/15 61/45/53/+21/..../0.0/.../..          48 W   RMY 51  12/16 45/34/40/+9/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 N   RMY N/A 12/17 since midnight is 36F; normal low is now 23F   DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2015 **12/13/2015- NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 44F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43F SET IN 1919, TIED 1983** DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):  RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 17 HIGH 63 IN 2000 LOW -10 IN 1942 PRECIP 3.03 INS. IN 1888 SNOWFALL 7.5 INS. IN 1988 PEAK GUST 78 MPH SSE IN 2000 RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 18 HIGH 59 IN 1928 LOW -11 IN 1919 PRECIP 1.44 INS. IN 1915 SNOWFALL 7.0 INS. IN 1904 PEAK GUST 76e W IN 1978 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald