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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0557E
SUNSET: 1750E
POWERFUL NOR’EASTER BROUGHT COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION
AND STRONG WINDS…
The nor’easter, which began as light rain around 12pm EST on
Monday, finally came to an end around 1am EST this morning.
Rain became moderate to heavy Monday evening and continued
that way into Tuesday morning. From 12pm Monday to 7am Tuesday,
1.94″ of rain was measured. Snow began mixing with the rain
by mid morning Tuesday and finally flipped to all snow during
the early afternoon hours. Snow continued through the balance
of the afternoon and evening, before coming to an end around
1am this morning. Another 1.79″ of liquid was measured between
7am yesterday morning and the end of the precipitation early
this morning. A storm total of 3.73″ of liquid was recorded
as well as a storm total of 7.2″ of snow. This is the biggest
snow event we’ve seen all “winter”.
In addition to the heavy precipitation, gusty winds were
buffeting the hill most of the day yesterday. The strongest
wind gusts came during the mid afternoon hours with several
of our wind systems clocking gusts over 50mph. Officially,
the peak gust was 51mph from the NNE at 3:20pm EST.
The minimum station pressure for the event was 966.7mb
(28.548 in/hg) at around 3:10pm EST yesterday. This was
990.5mb (29.249 in/hg) when reduced to sea-level.
As for today, more clouds than sun is the theme with a
gusty northwest wind continuing.
The temperature has only managed to reach the mid-upper 30s
here on the summit, which is below normal for this time of
year. With the gusty wind, it feels even colder as the wind
chill has been hanging out in the mid 20s!
As mentioned, winds have been gusty all day alternating
between northwest and north-northwest. The average speed for
the day so far is around 20mph. Frequent gusts of 30-40mph
are occurring, with a peak in the last hour to 46mph.
Visibility is excellent today with views of 70-80 miles being
the rule.
The high so far today is 37, which is 7 degrees below the normal
maximum of 44F. The low temperature since midnight is 30F, which
is 4 degrees above the normal low of 26F.
————————————————————–
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratus fractus, overcast stratocumulus,
few breaks in overcast ENE-SE, virga distant SW-WNW
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 28F; Relative Humidity: 89%
Wind: NNW @ 17G28 kts, peak wind NNW 33mph at 6:32 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 999.5 mb; 29.52 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 70 miles, 30 miles SW-WNW
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip: 1.79 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 7.2 ins.
Snow Depth: 5 ins.
BHO SA 1155 30 SCT E40 OVC 70 995/31/28/3317G28/952/ FEW BINOVC
ENE-SE VIRGA DSNT SW-WNW VSBY 30 SW-WNW PK WND 3329/32/
NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 7.2 INS/ 8/7// 4/005 53033 6000/ 70179 10031
20030
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 28F; Relative Humidity: 80%
Wind: NNW @ 21G34 kts, peak wind NNW 39mph at 9:46 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1001.2 mb; 29.57 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E30 BKN 55 BKN 70 012/34/28/3321G34/957/ PK WND 3334/46/
8/530 51017
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, few breaks in overcast all quadrants
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 25F; Relative Humidity: 63%
Wind: NNW @ 23G32 kts, peak wind NNW 46mph at 12:13 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1002.3 mb; 29.60 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 3 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E40 OVC 80 023/36/25/3323G32/960/ FEW BINOVC ALQDS
PK WND 3440/13/ 8/5// 4/003 51011 10037 20031
————————————————————–
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2023
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….39 NORMAL…..43
MIN…….31 NORMAL…..26
MEAN……35 NORMAL…..35
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………..0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+35 [+2.5 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………30 DEPARTURE………0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..413 DEPARTURE…….-36
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4133 DEPARTURE……-748
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4494 DEPARTURE……-361
PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
420C, Contacting, Merlin and Richards are all Main Tower.
420C (Official)…………51 NNE @ 3:20 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….52 NNE @ 3:20 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….54 NE @ 3:20 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….52 NNW @ 3:20 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………46 NE @ 2:41 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..55 NNE @ 3:20 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..57 NE @ 3:20 P.M.
MERLIN…………………50 NE
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……53 @ 3:20 P.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………34 NNE @ 3:26 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..30 @ 3:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..33 @ 6:12 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………32 NE @ 3:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………32 E @ 6:12 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..30 NE @ 3:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..32 NE @ 3:10 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………30 @ 3:10 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….21.8 NE [524 total miles]
VECTOR #1……………..19.5
VECTOR #2……………..21.2
DAVIS #1………………20.9 NE
DAVIS #2………………20.8 NE
RMY #1………………..20.1 NE
RMY #2………………..20.9 NE
RICHARDS (C5C)…………20.0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..1.79 DEPARTURE…..+1.62
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..5.01 DEPARTURE…..+2.58
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..13.66 DEPARTURE…..+2.73
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..7.2 DEPARTURE……+6.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….10.6 DEPARTURE……+2.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……34.9 DEPARTURE…..-25.4
————————————————————–
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY: R.M. Young wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M: Missing data
3/1 43/27/35/+4/0.00/0.0/425/63 20 NW VEC1 21 SE RMY 21
3/2 40/34/37/+5/0.31/0.0/000/00 35 NW VEC1 36 NW RMY 39
3/3 44/29/37/+5/0.01/0.1/462/68 33 NW VEC1 34 NW RMY 36
3/4 33/28/31/-1/0.82/3.3/000/00 48 E VEC1 49 NE RMY 52
3/5 41/25/33/+1/0.00/0.0/240/35 35 NW VEC1 36 NW RMY 37
3/6 46/31/39/+6/0.00/0.0/571/83 46 WNW VEC1 48 NW RMY 51
3/7 38/26/32/-1/T/T/387/56 41 NW VEC1 42 NW RMY 46
3/8 44/26/35/+2/T/T/194/28 32 N VEC1 34 N RMY 34
3/9 47/32/40/+7/0.00/0.0/473/68 28 NW VEC1 28 NW RMY 29
3/10 49/27/38/+4/T/0.0/616/88 18 W VEC1 18 SE RMY 17
3/11 36/29/33/-1/0.14/T/000/00 32 NE VEC1 34 NE RMY 34
3/12 41/28/35/+1/0.00/0.0/571/81 26 NNE VEC1 26 NNE RMY 27
3/13 41/32/37/+3/0.52/0.0/000/00 29 E VEC1 31 E RMY 33
3/14 39/31/35/0/3.18/6.9/000/00 51 NNE VEC1 52 NNE RMY 55
3/15 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 26F
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR MARCH 15
HIGH 80 IN 1990
LOW 6 IN 1993
PRE 2.86 INS. IN 2010
SNOW 12.0 INS. 1967
WIND 73e MPH ESE IN 1940
RECORDS FOR MARCH 16
HIGH 73 IN 1990
LOW 8 IN 1932
PRE 1.95 INS. IN 1900
SNOW 10.0 INS. IN 1896
WIND 79 MPH NE IN 1956
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
