Founded by American Meteorologist Abbott Lawrence Rotch in 1884, The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, located in Milton, Massachusetts, began operations on January 1st 1885. The Observatory, designated by the NOAA as 1 of just 26 International Benchmark Climate Stations in the United States and as a Reference Climatological Station by the World Meteorological Organization, is home to the oldest continuous record of climate observations in North America with data dating back to the early 1830’s. It was at Blue Hill that the first detailed cloud statistics in America were accumulated and these observations provided the first basic climatology of cloud type, height and velocity in the Western Hemisphere.
On 4 August 1894, a series of five Malay kites made by William Eddy lifted a special light-weight thermograph constructed by Observatory Engineer Sterling Fergusson to a height of 2,030 feet above the Sea Level. This marked the first time official Soundings were taken in history. The observatory would later set the record for highest flight by a weather kite in 1900 at a height of 15,790 feet. The observatory also made the first Soundings over water in Massachusetts Bay, and observatory staff later used a train to collect the first data over the open ocean. These experiments marked the beginning of worldwide soundings of pressure, temperature, humidity and sometimes wind speed and was the precursor to the data collected today by Weather Balloons.
When Abbot Rotch suddenly passed away in 1912, ownership of the Observatory passed to Harvard University. During this time, the Observatory became known around the world for its contributions to research and writing in the field of meteorology as well as training for the United State military in Weather Observing. Dr. Charles Franklin Brooks, a co-founder of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), was Director of the Observatory and under his leadership, the Observatory was the headquarters of the AMS and the library grew to an estimated 25,000 volumes. Scores of research projects and studies were conducted and numerous papers were published during this time. The observatory helped pioneer the radiosonde that attaches to weather balloons by conducting Radio transmission experiments at ultrashort wavelengths with the then new Observatory on Mount Washington. The Observatory was the first location to receive radio data from an aircraft in 1935. In 1938, The Observatory recorded a 186 mph wind gust during the Great New England Hurricane, this still stands as a record for the highest directly recorded wind guts during a hurricane.
In 1941, the United State military again utilized the Observatory, this time as an observation post to spot and record the appearance of airplanes and in 1954, the first of a series of contracts was signed with the U.S. Air Force for the study of clouds and precipitation as a weather radar facility was installed on the summit of Great Blue Hill for research into thunderstorms. 5 years later, the Blue Hill observational program was taken over, on a diminished scale, by the United States Weather Bureau and the work of the Observatory was to change to studies of the high atmosphere. During this time, the library was dismantled and transferred to Harvard, and the Observatory pioneered work on the upper atmosphere and airglow, the emission of radiation from atomic oxygen during the day, with work carried out by Dr. John Noxon.
Although research and numerous studies, as well as the daily observations, continued through the 1960’s, the long-time affiliation with Harvard came to an end in 1971. At that point, the Observatory was turned over to the Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission, which maintained the state park on which the Observatory was located, and the site was scheduled to be discontinued as a National Weather Service observing station. Fortunately, through the efforts of several loyal supporters, the National Weather Service’s decision was reversed, and the observations under contract from the NWS were continued. In 2002, the Observatory was recognized by the AMS with its Award for Outstanding Services to Meteorology by a Corporation for its historic climate record and its many contributions to weather research and education.
Located 10 miles south of Boston, The Observatory is located in the Blue Hills Reservation, a 6,000 acre state park and one of the few remaining urban parks in the region. The reservation is home to a very diverse ecology and contains a number of endangered species as well the American Bald Eagle, which has recently begun to use the reservation as a hunting ground from nearby nests at Silver Lake and near the Neponset River.
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, the Observatory is now in a state of disrepair and has for several years now had its budget cut by the state and it is in danger of receiving no budget from the state again this year. Run as a non profit, the Observatory now depends on volunteers to keep equipment running and for day to day operations. We recently ran a Gofundme page to raise money to repair an instrument that had gone down and are again well short of the budget we wish we had to keep our programs running and develop a new science center. We here all know Governor Baker isn’t interested in what we do so I now turn to you.
My request to you, if you are so inclined, is to go to our website and check out our membership options or donation page. We have some really great weather and climate information and a great set of webcams on top of the Prudential Center in Boston that record the weather 24 hours a day in our members only section and membership is as little as 30 dollars for a year. If you happen to live near by, come on up and visit with us. We have tours on the weekends for as little as 6 dollars and the view on a good day simply can not be beat.
Robert Millette
Meteorologist
DK Weather Center
Observer, Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory