BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 NEW YEAR'S DAY ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLEAR AND SEASONABLY COLD START TO NEW YEAR WIND BACKING TO SOUTHWEST BECOMING GUSTY AT TIMES The low temperature was 18F this morning and was just one degree below the normal minimum. The air mass continues Arctic and very dry with dew points in the single numbers. SOME OF THE DECEMBER 2014 PRELIMINARY STATS TEMPERATURE: Deg. F Av. Max. 42.0 Av. Min. 29.3 MEAN 35.7 [+4.3] Max. temp: 63 deg. Dec. 1 Min. temp: 14 deg. Dec. 31 Total heating degree day units: 908 [-142] Total heating degree day units for the season beginning July 1: 2067 [-238] PRECIPITATION: Ins. Total: 7.21 [+2.32] Greatest in 24 hours; Snowfall: 2.3 [-11.1] Seasonal: 11.0 [-5.0 ] WIND: Av. uncorrected wind speed: 11.8 MPH Av. corrected wind speed: 12.2 MPH Prevailing wind direction: W @ 14% Additional stats will follow in coming days.... Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus/cumulus layer moderate tops along and offshore distant NE-SSW Temperature: 18F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: WSW at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.06 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze 6-hr max temp: 20F 6-hr min temp: 18F 24-hr precip.: 0.00 ins BHO SA 1155 CLR 35 178/18/5/2510/006/ SC MDT CUFRM TOPS/CU LYR XTDNG ALG HRZN/ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NE-SSW DSNT HZ GST 22 KTS PST HR/ 8/800 53009 10020 20018 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant S, few thin cirrus NW-E Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: SW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg, increasing, then decreasing slightly but higher than 3 hours ago Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 50 182/26/5/2311/007 FEW SC DSNT S FEW THN CI NNW-E DSNT HZ/ 8/501 50004 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cirrus, thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus near horizon distant SE-S, patches altocumulus lenticularis to the WNW-NW Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: SW at 17 kts, Wind: Gust to 24 kts past hour Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze 6-hr max temp: 30F 6-hr min temp: 18F BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 300 –BKN 60 155/29/5/2317/999/ FEW SC HR HRZN DSNT SE-S PTCH ACSL WNW-NW LGT DST HZ GST 24 KTS PST HR/ 8/541 58027 10030 20018 SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....28 NORMAL.....35 MIN.....14 NORMAL.....19 MEAN....21 NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........................-6 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+140 [+4.4 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............44 DEPARTURE...........+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............908 DEPARTURE.........-141 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2067 DEPARTURE.........-238 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2277 DIFFERENCE........-210 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................23 W AT 1:46 P.M. * ASOS.......................25 W AT 1:46 P.M. DAVIS......................23 W AT 1:16 P.M. N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................18 W AT 1:47 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................20 W AT 1:47 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................19 W AT 1:47 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............9.0 W ASOS.......................9.4 DAVIS......................7.9 W [260 degrees] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE.....-0.14 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........7.21 DEPARTURE.....+2.32 ASOS..............7.44 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........54.97 DEPARTURE.....+1.55 ASOS.............55.63 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE......-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.3 DEPARTURE.....-11.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............11.0 DEPARTURE......-5.0 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER-JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/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 63/37/50/+13/0.01/0.0/391/70 28 WNW RMY 31 12/2 37/30/34/-2/0.10/T/000/00 26 E RMY 29 12/3 49/34/42/+6/0.31/0.0/000/00 40 W RMY 43 12/4 41/27/34/-1/0.00/0.0/505/91 29 WNW RMY N/A 12/5 42/23/33/-2/0.12/0.0/382/69 21 E RMY 22 12/6 43/36/40/+5/0.99/0.0/000/00 25 NNW RMY N/A 12/7 36/18/27/-7/0.15/0.0/193/35 31 N RMY 34 12/8 25/16/21/-13/0.01/0.1/000/00 24 N RMY N/A 12/9 48/25/37/+3/3.23/0.0/000/00 48 ENE RMY 52 12/10 47/35/41/+8/0.43/0.0/000/00 35 NNE RMY 37 12/11 35/29/32/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00 27 SW RMY 27 12/12 36/26/31/-2/0.00/0.0/230/42 23 WNW RMY 25 12/13 40/27/34/+2/0.00/0.0/191/35 28 NW RMY 28 12/14 43/28/36/+4/0.00/0.0/377/69 20 NW RMY 20 12/15 41/28/35/+3/0.00/0.0/536/98 17 NW RMY 17 12/16 42/33/38/+7/T/T/011/02 17 E RMY N/A 12/17 45/37/41/+10/0.43/0.0/000/00 27 W RMY N/A 12/18 41/32/37/+6/0.02/T/213/39 35 WNW RMY 38 12/19 34/25/30/0/0.00/0.0/000/00 26 NW RMY 29 12/20 32/24/28/-2/..../.../164/30 21 NNE RMY 23 12/21 31/29/30/+0/..../.../000/00 20 NNE RMY 22 12/22 42/29/36/+7/..../0.0/.../.. 23 E RMY N/A 12/23 44/39/42/+13/..../0.0/000/00 28 ENE RMY 30 12/24 61/40/51/+22/..../0.0/000/00 32 SSW RMY 41 12/25 61/41/51/+23/..../0.0/.../.. 37 W RMY 43 12/26 47/35/41/+13/0.00/0.0/.../.. 24 WSW RMY 28 12/27 50/35/43/+15/0.00/0.0/.../.. 21 SSW RMY N/A 12/28 49/35/42/+14/0.02/0.0/.../.. 31 W RMY 36 12/29 41/26/34/+7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 23 WNW RMY 23 12/30 27/16/22/-5/0.00/0.0/.../.. 22 NW RMY N/A 12/31 28/14/21/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 23 W RMY N/A 1/1 morning low temp: 18F since midnight; normal low is now 19F DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 2014: -DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR DECEMBER 9 2014 Old record of 1.51 inches set in 1952, replaced with new record of 3.23 inches. -DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR DECEMBER 24 2014 Old record of 58F set in 1996, replaced with new record of 61F. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR JANUARY 1 HIGH 58F IN 1966 LOW -6F IN 1918 PRECIP 1.45 INS. IN 1982 SNOWFALL 7.2 INS. IN 1938 PEAK GUST 90e MPH S IN 1945 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2 HIGH 62F IN 1890 LOW -7F IN 1899,1918 PRECIP 2.10 INS. IN 1987 SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 1904 PEAK GUST 85e MPH S IN 1942 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling