Experimental Weather Radar Station - Blue Hill - Milton, MA
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NorStar
N 42° 12.767 W 071° 06.823
19T E 325527 N 4675564
On Blue Hill, part of a modest range just outside of Boston, was an Air Force radar installation specifically used for experiments on using radar for weather data from 1954 to 1962, but nothing exists of the installation, today.
Waymark Code: WMBP8W
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2011
Views: 35
In Milton, on the summit of Blue Hill, a modest range just outside of Boston, was an Air Force radar installation that was used specifically for research related to detecting weather. This installation existed from 1954 to 1962.
There is a report, link below, that has a detailed history of the research done. The Air Force unit responsible for the radar was the Air Weather Service, Detachment 6, 4th Weather Group, at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA. They were assisted by the Blue Hill Observatory, which was located on the same summit a couple hundred feet away, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including their Lincoln Laboratories facility.
The report stated that previous operations were on Katahdin Hill in Lexington. These operations had to move since a water tower was being installed on the hill. The first radar installed on Blue Hill was a "CPS-9 3.2-cm weather surveillance radar, one of about 45 which were being built by Raytheon Co. on contract from the Army Signal Corps for operational use by the Air Force and the Navy." There is a picture in the report showing an aireal photo of the summit showing the radar (the image is not very good in the report at the link provided). Most of the research conducted concerned detecting precipitation, which included observing Hurricane Edna. In 1962, the Air Force wanted to expand their installation, but the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), the state agency that owned the land, was cool to the idea. So, they decided to move to another hill in Sudbury.
The entire installation was removed. Today, nothing is left. I am told by the Blue Hill Observatory staff that the installation was located where a flat gravel parking lot in the trees is located presented.
Access to the site is within the Blue Hill Reservation, and, thus is publically accessible. However, you must park at one of the parking lots for either the Trailside Museum or the Blue Hill Reservation, off Route 138, and hike up approximately a mile, round trip. The total vertical climb is about 500 ft.
The Blue Hill Observatory is open for tours on Saturdays for a donation of $4. Check their web site at (
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