BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME AN EXCITING AFTERNOON ATOP GREAT BLUE HILL.... Today started with partly cloudy skies and a limited visibility of only 30 miles due to haze. Pressure dropped very rapidly, decreasing by more than 10 millibars over the span of 6 hours. This led to overcast skies, and then some strong thunderstorms with the approaching cold front. Heavy rainfall and high winds lasted for about 5 minutes, leaving us with a 10th inch in the gauge. This was accompanied by pea-sized hail, frequent lightning, and very strong wind; gusting to 76 mph for the max. This breaks the record of 54 mph from the west, set in 2009. What else is staggering is the precipitation deficit, which is 0.87 ins. under for the month and 5.52 ins. under for the year to date.   The drought monitor was updated on Thursday revealing yet another escalation. 55% of MA now in a "severe drought" and 29% considered in an "extreme drought" (approximately Boston to Providence and points south and east). -Drought section written by Andrew Swanson The high so far today is 74F, 10 degrees above the daily normal of 64F. The low since midnight is 51F, which is 4 degrees above the normal low of 47F. PRELIMINARY STATS FOR SEPTEMBER 2020 TEMPERATURE, Deg. F Avg. Max. 73.2 [+1.6] Avg. Min. 54.9 [+0.3] Mean      64.1 [+1.0] 24-hour corrected mean: 63.6 Max. for month: 82F on the 8th Min. for month: 39F on the 22nd HEATING DEGREE DAYS Total heating units:    95 [-22] Total for the season:   98 [-44] Total for last season:  93 COOLING DEGREE DAYS Total cooling units:     73  [+13] Total for the season:   830  [+233] Total for last season:  680 PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 1.61 [-2.45] Greatest in 24 hrs: 1.02 ins. on 29th-30th WIND, mph Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 10.6 mph Avg. corrected wind speed:   11.1 mph Prevailing wind direction:   S [20%] Peak gust and direction:     71 S on the 30th SUNSHINE: Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 12150 minutes of a possible 21582 or 56% Astronomical total minutes: 12593 minutes of a possible 22403 or 56% Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken cirrostratus Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 96% Wind: SSW at 12 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg: falling steadily Visibility: 35 miles, thin fog 6-hr Max temp: 55F 6-hr Min temp: 54F 24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1155 100 SCT 220 BKN 35 081/55/54/2112/978/ THN FG ALQDS/ 8/031 56012 10055 20054 10 A.M. Weather: Broken cirrus Temperature: 67F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 63% Wind: SSW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg: falling rapidly Visibility: 35 miles 3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1455 220 BKN 35 048/67/54/2011/969/ 8/001 58033 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast cirrostratus Temperature: 70F; Dew Point: 50F; Relative Humidity: 49% Wind: SW at 15G30 kts, peak wind of 35 mph at 12:42 P.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg: falling rapidly Visibility: 30 miles, hazy 6-hr Max temp: 74F 6-hr Min temp: 55F 6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1755 55 SCT 250 OVC 30 002/70/50/2415G30/959/ HAZY PK WND 2530/42/ 8/808 56046 10074 20055 SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....69   NORMAL.....64 MIN.....51   NORMAL.....47 MEAN....60   NORMAL.....55 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................+5 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+12 [+1.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............5  DEPARTURE..... -5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............42  DEPARTURE.....-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........135  DEPARTURE.....-58 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......160  DEPARTURE.....-20 COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC) TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............. 0  DEPARTURE...... 0                   TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............. 1  DEPARTURE..... -1 TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........831  DEPARTURE....+232 TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......680  DEPARTURE....+151 PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY (MPH)                    420C/Official................28 S   AT 12:17 P.M.                      AERO.........................28 S   AT 12:18 P.M.                    ASOS.........................28 SSW AT 12:21 P.M.                    DAVIS........................27 SSW AT 12:18 P.M.                    RMY 29  MERLIN 29 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................23 S   AT 12:19 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................22 S   AT 12:20 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................22 SSW AT 12:20 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............12.3 S (296 total miles)                            ASOS......................12.5                    DAVIS.....................11.4 SSW [196 deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE....-0.15                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.02  DEPARTURE....-0.87                          ASOS..............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........34.45  DEPARTURE....-5.52                          ASOS.............35.23 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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 M:    Missing data 09/01  76/59/68/0/0.00/698/88              22 SSE  AERO 21 SE   RMY 20 09/02  69/59/64/-4/0.18/102/13             23 SSE  AERO 23 SSE  RMY 24 09/03  75/66/71/+4/0.04/000/00             22 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A 09/04  82/62/72/+5/0.00/763/98             26 WNW  AERO 26 WNW  RMY 25 09/05  76/55/66/-1/0.00/760/98             25 W    AERO 25 W    RMY 24 09/06  78/58/68/+1/0.00/356/46             24 W    AERO 24 W    RMY N/A 09/07  79/61/70/+4/0.00/632/82             27 SSE  AERO 30 SSE  RMY 28 09/08  82/61/72/+6/0.00/545/71             17 S    AERO 16 S    RMY 17 09/09  80/62/71/+5/0.00/214/28             16 S    AERO 15 S    RMY 16 09/10  81/69/75/+10/0.28/015/02            21 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A 09/11  72/55/64/-1/0.01/152/20             25 N    AERO 25 N    RMY N/A 09/12  68/51/60/-5/0.00/666/88             21 ENE  AERO 21 ENE  RMY 21 09/13  74/53/64/0/0.00/611/81              26 SSW  AERO 26 SSW  RMY 26 09/14  74/50/62/-2/0.00/511/68             29 NNW  AERO 33 NNW  RMY 30 09/15  64/44/54/-10/0.00/583/78            18 S    AERO 18 S    RMY N/A 09/16  72/49/61/-2/0.00/603/81             31 SSW  AERO 31 SSW  RMY 31 09/17  76/57/67/+4/0.00/453/61             26 WSW  AERO 28 W    RMY N/A 09/18  64/48/56/-6/0.00/163/22             28 NE   AERO 30 NNW  RMY N/A 09/19  59/42/51/-11/0.00/722/98            23 N    AERO 23 N    RMY N/A 09/20  58/40/49/-13/0.00/602/82            25 NE   AERO 25 NE   RMY 27 09/21  61/41/51/-10/0.00/694/95            29 NE   AERO 27 NE   RMY 29 09/22  63/39/51/-10/0.00/022/03            28 NNW  AERO 30 NNW  RMY 29 09/23  78/50/64/+4/0.00/617/85             31 NW   AERO 32 WNW  RMY 32 09/24  76/57/67/+7/0.00/347/48             20 SW   AERO 18 WSW  RMY 19 09/25  77/57/67/+7/0.00/655/91             18 ENE  AERO 18 WSW  RMY N/A 09/26  77/57/67/+8/0.00/516/72             21 S    AERO 21 S    RMY 21 09/27  79/64/72/+13/0.01/121/17            24 S    AERO 25 S    RMY 24 09/28  78/64/71/+13/0.07/199/28            24 SSE  AERO 24 S    RMY 25 09/29  76/62/69/+11/0.01/234/33            30 S    AERO 30 S    RMY N/A 09/30  72/56/64/+6/1.01/395/56             71 S    AERO 88 S    RMY N/A PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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 M:    Missing data 10/01  75/56/66/+9/0.00/.../..             28 SW   AERO 28 SW   RMY N/A 10/02  63/49/56/-1/0.02/.../..             20 NW   AERO 21 NW   RMY 20 10/03  65/45/55/-1/0.00/.../..             19 WNW  AERO 19 WNW  RMY 19 10/04  65/45/55/-1/0.00/.../..             17 ESE  AERO 18 ESE  RMY 18 10/05  62/52/57/+1/0.00/.../..             17 ENE  AERO 17 ENE  RMY N/A 10/06  69/51/60/+5/0.00/.../..             28 S    AERO 28 S    RMY 29 10/07 The low since midnight is 54F, the daily normal low is 46F DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR OCTOBER 7 HIGH 88F IN 1963 (RECORD FOR MONTH) LOW 30F IN 1904,1986 PRECIP 1.75 INCHES IN 1972 PEAK GUST 76 W IN 2020 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 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner