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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
WINDS RELAX OVERNIGHT, MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOL
CONDITIONS FOR MONDAY….NORTHERN SHORE OF HOUGHTON’S POND
NOW OPEN WATER, CURRENTLY TIED FOR 8TH LATEST THAW DATE ON
RECORD, PONKAPOAG POND REMAINS FROZEN AND ALSO AMONG LATEST THAWS
Mostly cloudy skies and slightly below normal temperatures
have characterized today and yesterday, with a maximum temperature
of 47F for Easter Sunday. An overnight low of 33F, just one
degree below today’s daily normal minimum temperature.
By the 1:00 PM EST observation skies were still mostly cloudy
with thin layers allowing some sunlight. Visibility had improved
since this morning’s light haze and thin fog, and a maximum temperature
of 48F had been reached.
Recent warm temperatures and rainfall have melted almost all
of the remaining snow cover on the summit. The northern shoreline
of Houghton’s Pond is now open water, with the pond still 90% frozen,
and this date is already tied for 8th place on the list of latest
thaws for Houghton’s Pond. Only a mile away, the larger Ponkapoag Pond
is still 100% frozen in appearance from the summit. As of today,
April 6th, this is already among the top 3 latest thaws on record for
that pond.
The month of March averaged 4.3 degrees colder than normal,
and also finished 2.33 inches of total liquid precipitation
drier than normal. Snowfall however, was just about normal,
with 13.3 inches falling, just 0.6 inches above the norm.
Seasonal snowfall was a new record at 150.8 inches.
A cold March along with an even colder January through
February have resulted in the coldest start to any
year since 1934, and the third coldest average minimum
temperature on record:
BHO Coldest Jan-Mar Mean Temperature, deg F (1885-2015)
1) 21.4 in 1885
2) 22.1 in 1923
3) 22.8 in 1904
4) 23.2 in 1888
5) 23.5 in 1920
23.5 in 1934
7) 23.6 in 1893
23.6 in 1912
9) 23.8 in 2015
10) 24.2 in 1916
BHO Coldest Jan-Mar Average Minimum Temperature, deg F (1885-2015)
1) 13.4 in 1885
2) 14.9 in 1923
3) 15.0 in 2015
4) 15.2 in 1888
15.2 in 1934
6) 15.3 in 1904
7) 16.6 in 1920
8) 16.7 in 1912
9) 16.8 in 1887
16.8 in 1893
BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015):
1) 150.8 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM April 4th)
2) 144.4 in 1995-1996
3) 136.0 in 1947-1948
4) 119.4 in 2004-2005
5) 113.1 in 2002-2003
6) 111.5 in 1915-1916
7) 109.6 in 1966-1967
8) 106.8 in 1955-1956
9) 103.4 in 1903-1904
10)102.5 in 1922-1923
Latest Houghton’s Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2015)
1) April 14, 1926
2) April 10, 1887
April 10, 1888
4) April 9, 1923
5) April 8, 1993
6) April 7, 1899
April 7, 1956
8) April 6, 1916
April 6, 1917
April 6, 1924
April 6, 1940
April 6, 2015
13) April 5, 1895
April 5, 1920
April 5, 1941
April 5, 1969
April 5, 1994
Latest Ponkapoag Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2015)
1) April 10, 1926
2) April 9, 1923
3) April 6, 1940
April 6, 2015
5) April 5, 1916
April 5, 1924
7) April 4, 1967
April 4, 1994
——————————————————-
PRELIMINARY STATS FOR MARCH 2015
TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 39.6 [-4.8]
Avg. Min. 22.8 [-3.8]
Mean 31.2 [-4.3]
Corrected mean: 31.0
Max. for month: 55 on 3/11
Min. for month: 5 on 3/6
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 1035 [+119]
Total for the season: 5743 [+259]
Total for last season: 5627
PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.25 [-2.33]
Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A
SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 13.3 [+0.6]
Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A
WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 13.0
Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.4
Prevailing wind direction: NW @ 16%
Peak gust and direction: 53 NW on the 17th
SUNSHINE:
Astronomical total minutes: 11107/22218 or 50%
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 10758/21516 or 50%
For more information about this historic winter, visit our
web site at bluehillobservatory.org.
——————————————————-
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Thin overcast of altocumulus, few stratocumulus ESE
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: estimated NE at 3 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.39 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, except 25 miles SE-SSW, thin fog and hazy
6-hr Max temp: 38F
6-hr Min temp: 24F
6-hr precip: none
24-hr precip: none
Snow depth: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E90 -OVC 40 292/38/24/E0403/039/ VSBY SE-SSW 25 MI
FEW SC ESE THN FG ALQDS HAZY ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/53/ 51015 10038
20033
10 A.M.
Weather: Thin overcast of altostratus, few altocumulus ESE
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: estimated SSE at 4 kts,
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 30.39 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 E130 -OVC 70 291/44/22/E1504/039/ FEW AC ESE LGT DSNT
HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/01/ 58001
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cirrus, few cumulus ESE-SW, few altocumulus ESE
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 31F; Wind: NE at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 38F
BHO SA 1755 E250 -BKN 50 266/47/31/0508/032/ FEW CU ESE-SW FEW AC
ESE LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/10 58025 10048 20038
SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2015
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..47 NORMAL…..51
MIN…..30 NORMAL…..34
MEAN….39 NORMAL…..43
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………..-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+3 [+0.4 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..26 DEPARTURE………..+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….114 DEPARTURE………..-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5857 DEPARTURE………+257
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5738 DIFFERENCE……..+119
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………40 W AT 11:51 A.M.
ASOS…………………..44 W AT 11:41 A.M.
DAVIS………………….42 WSW AT 11:37 A.M. RMY 45
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..33 W AT 11:48 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..32 W AT 11:49 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….31 W AT 11:49 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………14.1 WSW
ASOS…………………14.0
DAVIS………………..12.5 WSW [254 degrees]
* Last of several occurrences…
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…..0.00 DEPARTURE…..-0.17
ASOS……………0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH………..0.34 DEPARTURE…..-0.51
ASOS……………0.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..14.93 DEPARTURE…..+0.21
ASOS…………….N/A ***
*** ASOS annual totals not available due to erroneous readings
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M………..0.0 DEPARTURE…..-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………..0.0 DEPARTURE…..-0.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..150.8 DEPARTURE….+90.2
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH AND APRIL 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
3/1 29/14/22/-9/…./…/000/00 25 SSW RMY 25
3/2 35/22/29/-2/…./…/480/71 44 WNW RMY 48
3/3 32/13/23/-9/…./2.8/340/50 33 S RMY N/A
3/4 41/32/37/+5/…./…/000/00 33 SW RMY 36
3/5 36/16/26/-6/0.02/0.2/000/00 28 NW RMY 29
3/6 26/5/16/-16/0.00/0.0/681/99 28 NW RMY 25
3/7 38/13/26/-7/0.00/0.0/567/82 30 WSW RMY 30
3/8 41/25/33/0/T/T/208/30 38 WNW RMY 41
3/9 45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/565/81 40 W RMY 39
3/10 52/32/42/+9/…./0.0/252/36 28 S RMY 27
3/11 55/38/47/+13/…./0.0/604/86 37 WNW RMY N/A
3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/677/96 44 N RMY 48
3/13 40/18/29/-5/0.00/0.0/581/82 23 SSW RMY 26
3/14 41/29/35/0/0.84/0.0/000/00 23 SSW RMY 23
3/15 41/24/33/-2/0.03/0.6/021/03 39 NW RMY 39
3/16 44/23/34/-1/0.00/0.0/516/72 28 NW RMY N/A
3/17 48/25/37/+1/0.17/T/173/24 53 NW RMY 63
3/18 30/19/25/-11/0.00/0.0/700/97 51 NW RMY 56
3/19 31/15/23/-13/0.00/0.0/696/96 37 NW RMY 39
3/20 32/19/26/-11/…./…/102/14 17 NNW RMY 15
3/21 41/25/33/-4/…./…/000/00 36 WNW RMY N/A
3/22 36/17/27/-10/0.00/0.0/712/97 50 W RMY 55
3/23 31/14/23/-15/0.00/0.0/700/95 36 WNW RMY 35
3/24 39/16/28/-10/0.00/0.0/636/86 20 NNW RMY N/A
3/25 48/25/37/-1/0.08/0.0/572/77 32 S RMY 31
3/26 54/35/45/+6/…./…/052/07 32 SSW RMY 32
3/27 41/36/39/+0/…./0.0/000/00 22 NNE RMY N/A
3/28 36/26/31/-8/0.44/5.0/000/00 30 NNW RMY 30
3/29 40/21/31/-9/0.00/0.0/701/93 26 NW RMY N/A
3/30 43/28/36/-4/T/T/091/12 36 SSW RMY 39
3/31 46/32/39/-2/0.00/0.0/479/63 28 W RMY 30
4/1 44/26/35/-6/0.00/0.0/…/.. 30 WNW RMY 31
4/2 59/29/44/+3/T/0.0/…/.. 39 SSW RMY 43
4/3 56/47/52/+10/0.02/0.0/…/.. 36 SW RMY N/A
4/4 49/32/41/-1/…./0.0/…/.. 54 NW RMY 64
4/5 47/30/39/-4/…./0.0/…/.. 40 W RMY 45
4/6 low since midnight is 33F normal low is 34F
DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015
3/28- NEW RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL: 5.0 INCHES;
surpasses the previous record of 3.0 ins. in 1932
DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2015
4/3 – NEW RECORD DAILY HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 47F
surpasses the previous record of 46F in 1892
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
RECORDS FOR APRIL 6
HIGH 82 IN 1921
LOW 16 IN 1982
PRE 1.72 INS IN 1886
SNOW 12.3 INS IN 1982
WIND 71e MPH WNW IN 1940
RECORDS FOR APRIL 7
HIGH 90 IN 2010
LOW 13 IN 1982
PRECIP 1.72 IN. IN 1924
SNOWFALL 4.5 IN. IN 1967, 1996
PEAK GUST 65 MPH WNW IN 1982
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald
