BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME A WARMER DAY WITH SMOKE ALOFT AND PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES.... Today the sky was mostly, if not fully obscured by smoke. That did not stop the visibility from being 65 miles at the 1 P.M. observation. Today consisted of a warm southwesterly wind, with a max gust of 26 mph. Pressure dropped off overnight, making way for partly cloudy skies. The other story is the continued dry conditions. We could really use some rain as our rainfall deficit continues to mount. We've only recorded 0.51" of rain so far in September, this is 1.51 inches below normal to date. For the year our deficit has dropped to 3.72 inches below normal. Moderate to severe drought continues to plague the region. -Rainfall section written by Matthew Douglas The high so far today is 75F, 4 degrees above the daily normal max of 71F. The low since midnight is 57F, which is 3 degrees above the normal low of 54F. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrostratus, smoke layer aloft Temperature: 59F; Dew Point: 55F; Relative Humidity: 87% Wind: SW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg: falling unsteadily Visibility: 25 miles 6-hr Max temp: 60F 6-hr Min temp: 57F 24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1155 50 SCT 250 BKN 25 174/59/55/2311/004/ K LYR ALF/ 8/108 56002 10060 20057 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrostratus, smoke layer aloft Temperature: 68F; Dew Point: 56F; Relative Humidity: 65% Wind: WSW at 11G20 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg: falling, then rising Visibility: 45 miles 3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 250 BKN 45 175/68/56/2411G20/005/ K LYR ALF/ 8/108 50001 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken cirrostratus, smoke layer aloft Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 55F; Relative Humidity: 50% Wind: WSW at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg: falling, then more slowly Visibility: 65 miles 6-hr Max temp: 75F 6-hr Min temp: 59F 6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 250 BKN 65 158/75/55/2408/000/ K LYR ALF/ 8/108 56017 10075 20059   SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....72   NORMAL.....72 MIN.....49   NORMAL.....55 MEAN....61   NORMAL.....63 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL................ -2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................ +10 [+0.1 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............4  DEPARTURE.......0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............26  DEPARTURE......-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............29  DEPARTURE.....-31 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......48  DEPARTURE.....-19 COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC) TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............  0  DEPARTURE......-2                   TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............ 48  DEPARTURE..... +3 TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........805  DEPARTURE....+223 TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......647  DEPARTURE....+158 PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY (MPH)                    420C/Official................31 SSW AT  9:24 A.M.                      AERO.........................31 SSW AT 11:06 A.M.                    ASOS.........................31 SSW AT  9:24 A.M.                    DAVIS........................33 S   AT  1:23 P.M.                    RMY 31  MERLIN 33 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................24 SSW AT  8:40 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................24 SSW AT 10:46 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................24 SSW AT  8:46 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............16.4 SSW                             ASOS.......................16.6                    DAVIS......................15.5 SSW [218 deg.] 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..........0.51  DEPARTURE....-1.51                          ASOS..............0.51 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........33.32  DEPARTURE....-3.72                          ASOS.............34.09 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/.../..              22 SSE  AERO 21 SE   RMY 20 09/02  69/59/64/-4/.../.../..              23 SSE  AERO 23 SSE  RMY 24 09/03  75/66/71/+4/.../.../..              22 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A 09/04  82/62/72/+5/0.00/.../..             26 WNW  AERO 26 WNW  RMY 25 09/05  76/55/66/-1/0.00/.../..             25 W    AERO 25 W    RMY 24 09/06  78/58/68/+1/0.00/.../..             24 W    AERO 24 W    RMY N/A 09/07  79/61/70/+4/0.00/.../..             27 SSE  AERO 30 SSE  RMY 28 09/08  82/61/72/+6/0.00/.../..             17 S    AERO 16 S    RMY 17 09/09  80/62/71/+5/0.00/.../..             16 S    AERO 15 S    RMY 16 09/10  81/69/75/+10/0.28/.../..            21 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A 09/11  72/55/64/-1/0.01/.../..             25 N    AERO 25 N    RMY N/A 09/12  68/51/60/-5/0.00/.../..             21 ENE  AERO 21 ENE  RMY 21 09/13  74/53/64/0/0.00/.../..              26 SSW  AERO 26 SSW  RMY 26 09/14  74/50/62/-2/0.00/.../..             29 NNW  AERO 33 NNW  RMY 30 09/15  64/44/54/-10/0.00/.../..            18 S    AERO 18 S    RMY N/A 09/16  72/49/61/-2/0.00/.../..             31 SSW  AERO 31 SSW  RMY 31 09/17 The low since midnight is 57F, the daily normal low is 54F DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 17 HIGH 87F IN 2015 LOW 38F IN 1959 PRECIP 2.73 INCHES IN 1933 PEAK GUST 60 MPH WNW IN 1999 RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 18 HIGH 88F IN 1906 LOW 36F IN 1919 PRECIP 4.25 INCHES IN 1996 PEAK GUST 77e MPH WNW IN 1948 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner