Monday, March 9, 2015

Monday, March 9, 2015

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MODERATING TEMPERATURES CONTINUE, TEMPS REACH
LOWER 40S BY MID MORNING, 45F BY 1:00 PM EST

Yesterday’s maximum of 41F fell quickly with
the setting sun, dropping below freezing by
8:00 PM EST. Following an overnight low temperature
of 28F, temps climbed into the lower 40s by
9:00 AM EST this morning. Skies were generally
clear, though hazy, with visibility reduced
to just 35 miles during the morning hours.

Seasonal snowfall has now reached 143.4 inches, just
1.0 inch below the snowiest season on record set
in 1995-1996. For more information about this historic
winter, visit our web site at bluehill.org.

The snow depth has remained at 33 inches as of this
morning based on measurements in the instrument
enclosure and a survey in a nearby clearing to
the north of the Observatory done Saturday. This
is the 35th consecutive day with 20 inches or more
of snow on the ground which is firmly in second
place all time.  The record is 53 days
set back in 1948.

BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015):

1) 144.4 in 1995-1996
2) 143.4 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM March 7th)
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

BHO Longest Duration of 20″+ Snow Depth, (1885-2015):

1) 53 days, 27 Dec, 1947 – 17 Feb, 1948
2) 35 days, 3 Feb – 9 Mar, 2015 (through 1 PM March 9th)
3) 34 days, 5 Feb – 9 Mar, 1920
34 days, 7 Feb – 12 Mar, 1978
5) 23 days, 25 Feb – 19 Mar, 1969
6) 21 days, 27 Jan – 16 Feb, 2011
7) 11 days, 15-25 Mar, 1916
11 days, 5-15 Jan, 1961
Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: SSW at 14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, falling, then rising
Visibility: 35 miles, except 50 miles WNW-NW, light distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 30F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
24-hr snowfall: Trace
24-hr precip: Trace
Snow depth: 33 inches
BHO SA 1155 E180 BKN 250 BKN 35 190/30/19/2114/009/
VSBY WNW-NW 50 MI LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/
8/031 4/033 53002 10030 20028

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus lenticularis distant WSW-NE
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: W at 13G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.26 ins. Hg, falling, then rising
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 CLR 35 246/42/22/2613G20/026/
FEW ACSL DSNT WSW-NE HAZY/ 8/040 55004

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus fractus in all directions
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 20F; W at 23G30 kts
Peak Wind: 31 knots W @ 12:18 PM EST
Sea-Level Pressure: 30.24 ins. Hg, rising, then falling
Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 45F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 241/44/20/2723G30/024/
FEW CUFRA ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS PK WND 2831/18/
8/700 58005 10045 20030
SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..41   NORMAL…..42
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..24
MEAN….33   NORMAL…..33

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….+0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-44 [-5.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..32  DEPARTURE………..+0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….308  DEPARTURE……….+44
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5016  DEPARTURE………+152
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4912  DIFFERENCE……..+104

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………38 WNW AT  4:37 P.M.*
ASOS…………………..42 W   AT  4:36 P.M.
DAVIS………………….37 WNW AT  4:23 P.M. RMY 41
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..31 WNW AT  4:27 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29 W   AT  4:37 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….27 WNW AT  4:28 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………10.7 WNW
ASOS…………………11.3
DAVIS………………..9.4 W [273 degrees] * last of several occurrences..

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…TRACE  DEPARTURE…..-0.18
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.64  DEPARTURE…..-0.75
ASOS…………..0.66
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.98  DEPARTURE…..+2.30
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……..TRACE  DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….5.9  DEPARTURE……+1.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….143.4  DEPARTURE…..+92.3

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1  28/8/18/-8/0.00/0.0/582/97               29 WNW RMY N/A
2/2  29/8/19/-7/1.53/16.5/000/00              44 NE  RMY 46
2/3  21/0/11/-15/0.00/0.0/593/98              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/4  36/14/25/-1/0.00/0.0/164/27              31 S   RMY 33
2/5  34/4/19/-7/0.15/3.5/000/00               38 NW  RMY 39
2/6  19/-2/9/-17/0.00/0.0/392/64              28 NW  RMY 27
2/7  25/14/20/-7/0.08/1.1/000/00              25 WSW RMY N/A
2/8  29/11/20/-7/0.78/12.2/000/00             30 NNE RMY 29
2/9  19/12/16/-11/1.59/13.6/000/00            29 N   RMY 28
2/10 28/12/20/-7/0.10/0.8/081/13              29 N   RMY 29
2/11 24/15/20/-7/0.03/1.4/000/00              30 N   RMY 29
2/12 28/14/21/-6/0.02/0.6/000/00              31 NW  RMY N/A
2/13 20/2/11/-17/0.00/0.0/630/100             35 NW  RMY 35
2/14 26/1/14/-14/…./…/241/38              24 NW  RMY N/A
2/15 18/-6/6/-22/…./…/000/00              53 NW  RMY 59
2/16 17/-8/5/-23/0.00/0.0/606/95              43 NW  RMY N/A
2/17 21/5/13/-15/0.12/2.0/064/10              18 NW  RMY 16
2/18 28/15/22/-7/…./…/039/06              17 W   RMY N/A
2/19 26/6/16/-13/0.02/0.3/116/18              40 W   RMY 43
2/20 15/0/8/-21/0.00/0.0/630/97               38 W   RMY 40
2/21 32/3/18/-11/…./…/462/71              39 SSW RMY 42
2/22 39/27/33/+4/…./…/327/50              25 WSW RMY N/A
2/23 28/1/15/-15/0.00/0.0/204/31              38 WNW RMY 44
2/24 18/-6/6/-24/…./…/574/87              26 S   RMY 27
2/25 32/11/22/-8/…./…/650/98              35 W   RMY 36
2/26 21/15/18/-12/0.04/0.6/000/00             25 NE  RMY 24
2/27 25/9/17/-14/0.00/0.0/669/100             20 NW  RMY N/A
2/28 30/5/18/-13/0.00/0.0/671/100             22 NW  RMY N/A

3/1  29/14/22/-9/…./…/…/..              25 SSW RMY 25
3/2  35/22/29/-2/…./…/…/..              44 WNW RMY 48
3/3  32/13/23/-9/…./2.8/…/..              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/…/..              28 NW  RMY 25
3/7  38/13/26/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..              30 WSW RMY 30
3/8  41/25/33/0/T/T/…/..                    38 WNW RMY 41

3/9 morning low temp: 28F since midnight, normal low is now 33F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

– NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 2 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 16.5 INS. surpasses previous record:
5.5 ins. in 1916, 1934

-NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL FOR 9 FEBRUARY 2015
SNOWFALL 13.6 INS. surpasses previous record:
13.0 ins. in 1969

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

RECORDS FOR MARCH 9
HIGH 71 IN 2000
LOW 1 IN 2007
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1998
SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 102e MPH S IN 1942 [RECORD FOR MONTH]

RECORDS FOR MARCH 10
HIGH 69 IN 1977
LOW 2 IN 1984
PRECIP 2.00 INS. IN 1994
SNOWFALL 4.0 INS. IN 1997
PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1974

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald