BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015   
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
FIRST SUNSHINE IN TWO DAYS BUT SKIES
CLOUD OVER AHEAD OF APPROACHING ARCTIC
COLD FRONT IN EARLY AFTERNOON
SNOW SHOWERS AND VIRGA VISIBLE TO THE WEST
 
The sun rose into a mostly clear sky this morning
after two gloomy days.  The sun disappeared early
this afternoon as clouds approached ahead of an
Arctic cold front.  Temperature rose up to 35F at
12:06 P.M. before falling back slightly when the sun
disappeared behind the clouds. West winds were 
gradually veering toward the WNW as gusts began
reaching past 30 MPH.
 
Today's Observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, patches altocumulus and altocumulus lenticularis
to the W-NNE, altocumulus layer distant NE, lone patch of
altocumulus lenticularis distant south
Temperature: 20F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: SW at 13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, falling then rising but
lower than 3 hours ago                    
Visibility: 15 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 20F
6-hr min temp: 19F
24-hr precip.: 0.05 Trace
24-hr snowfall: 0.4 inch
Snow Depth: 1 inch
BHO SA 1155 CLR 15 064/20/14/2313/972/ LONE ACSL DSNT S PTCHS
AC/ACSL W-NNE AND LAYER AC DSNT NE HAZY TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.4 IN/
8/040 4/001 55004 MANUAL 70005 ASOS 70004 10020 20019
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, NE-S-Overhead-SW 
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: WSW at 11G19 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, rising slightly  
Visibility: 20 miles, hazy 
BHO SA 1455 75 SCT 20 071/28/18/2511G19/974/ AC NE-S-OVHD-SW
HAZY/ 8/030 53007
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, showers of snow/virga WSW-NW,
small breaks in overcast
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: W at 14G22 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.68 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly 
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr max temp: 35F
6-hr min temp: 20F
BHO SA 1755 E45 OVC 30 050/34/19/2614G22/968/ SHSN AND VIRGA WSW-NW   
SML BINOVC HAZY/ 8/5// 56021 10035 20020
 
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....27   NORMAL.....33
MIN.....20   NORMAL.....17
MEAN....24   NORMAL.....25
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........................-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........................-42 [-3.0 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............41  DEPARTURE...........+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............631  DEPARTURE..........+44    
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........2691  DEPARTURE.........-201
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......2845  DIFFERENCE........-154
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................20  WSW  AT 11:58 P.M.    
                   ASOS.......................23  WSW  AT 11:58 P.M.   
                   DAVIS......................18  W    AT 11:57 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................15  WSW  AT 11:59 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................16  WSW  AT 11:59 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................14  WSW  AT 11:59 P.M.    
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............. 9.1 NNW
                   ASOS......................10.6  
                   DAVIS..................... 6.4 NW [310 degrees] **
** Davis speed somewhat low due to glaze   
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.05  DEPARTURE.....-0.10
                         ASOS..............0.04
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.58  DEPARTURE.....-0.56
                         ASOS..............1.60 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........1.58  DEPARTURE.....-0.56
                         ASOS..............1.60 
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.4  DEPARTURE......-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................4.9  DEPARTURE......-3.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............15.9  DEPARTURE......-8.6 
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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
 
1/1  31/18/25/-2/0.00/0.0/544/99              29 SSW RMY 30
1/2  37/26/32/+5/0.00/0.0/314/57              35 WSW RMY 38
1/3  34/21/28/+2/0.67/2.5/.../..              25 SE  RMY 26  
1/4  51/33/42/+16/0.48/0.0/000/00             30 SSW RMY N/A
1/5  46/13/30/+4/0.00/0.0/.../..              48 W   RMY 54
1/6  15/10/13/-13/0.02/0.4/000/00             29 W   RMY N/A
1/7  22/01/12/-14/0.01/0.3/.../..             43 WNW RMY 47 
1/8  16/-5/6/-20/0.00/0.0/.../..              39 WNW RMY N/A
1/9  27/16/22/-4/0.08/0.9/.../..              35 WSW RMY 38 
1/10 22/11/17/-8/0.00/0.0/.../..              26 WNW RMY 27
1/11 31/9/20/-5/45/0.00/0.0/.../..            26 SSW RMY N/A
1/12 36/31/34/+9/0.23/T/000/00                29 NNW RMY N/A
1/13 33/11/22/-3/0.00/0.0/.../..              30 NNW RMY 29
1/14 22/11/17/-8/T/T/000/00                   18 NNW RMY 16
1/15 27/20/24/-1/0.09/0.8/000/00              20 WSW RMY 22
 
1/16 morning low temp: 19F since midnight; normal low is now 17F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2015
None so far.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):    
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 16
HIGH 63F IN 1995
LOW -12F IN 2004
PRECIP 1.32 INS. IN 1936
SNOWFALL 14.0 INS. IN 1965
PEAK GUST 79 MPH WNW IN 1960
 
RECORDS FOR JANUARY 17
HIGH 55F IN 1973,1995
LOW -8F IN 1907,1982
PRECIP 1.43 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 13.4 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 62 MPH S IN 1994
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling