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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0615E
SUNSET: 1738E
SIGNIFICANT ICING OVERNIGHT; BRIGHTER AND MUCH MILDER TODAY….
The snow that began just after 12:30pm yesterday mixed with
sleet and freezing rain by late afternoon before changing to
freezing rain during the early evening. A half inch of snow and
sleet was measured before the mixing. Freezing rain continued for
several hours, ending after 3am this morning. The rain came
down moderately at times with temperatures that ranged between
28F and 31F. This led to fairly significant icing here on the
summit, with a maximum ice accretion of 0.40″ on some flat
surfaces. Overall the accretion was generally between 0.25″-
0.30″ on all surfaces.
Clouds moved out pretty quickly once the precipitation stopped
with sunshine being the theme since sunrise. With a much milder
air mass now in place, temperatures have been rising rapidly
through the 30s into the upper 40s by early this afternoon. As
such, plenty of melting is taking place today.
As mentioned, the temperature has reached the upper 40s to near
50F by early this afternoon, which is finally above seasonal
normals for the date. Dew point values have also risen above
the freezing mark with readings reaching the mid 30s. This
is also helping to facilitate some melting of the ice and snow
pack.
The wind has been very much on the light side today. While it
has been variable at times, the overall direction has been
west-northwest so far for the day. The average speed so far is
only around 6mph. The peak gust for the day so far is 14mph,
which occurred just after 8am this morning.
Visibility was excellent early this morning with a view of
around 70 miles, but it has slipped back a bit to around 60
miles due to some increasing haziness.
The maximum temperature so far today is 49F degrees, which is
9 degrees above the normal high of 40F. The minimum temperature
since midnight is 30F degrees, which is 7 degrees above the
normal low of 23F.
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Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratus fractus E-S
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 93%
Wind: WNW @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1023.3 mb; 30.22 in. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 70 miles, 30 miles N-E-SW, thin fog N-E-SW
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 30F
24-hr Precip: 0.65 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.5 inches
Snow Depth: 23 inches
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 70 233/31/29/2908/022/ FEW STFRA E-S
THN F N-E-SW VSBY 30 N-E-SW TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.5 INS/
8/701 4/023 53018 6017/ 70065 10031 20030
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratus fractus all quadrants, few cirrus
distant SE-WSW and distant NW-NNW
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 36F; Relative Humidity: 90%
Wind: WNW @ 4 kts, wind light
Sea-level pressure: 1026.0 mb; 30.30 in. Hg: rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 260/38/36/3004/030/ FEW STFRA ALQDS
FEW CI DSNT SE-WSW AND DSNT NW-NNW WND LGT/ 8/701 51027
1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant SE-WSW and distant WNW-NE
Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 33F; Relative Humidity: 53%
Wind: SW @ 4 kts, wind light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 1024.3mb; 30.25 in. Hg: steady, then falling
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 49F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 22 inches
BHO SA 1755 CLR 60 243/49/33/2304/025/ FEW CI DSNT SE-WSW
AND DSNT WNW-NE WND L/V/ 8/001 4/022 58017 10049 20031
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SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….32 NORMAL…..40
MIN…….17 NORMAL…..23
MEAN……25 NORMAL…..32
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………….-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-24 [-8.2 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2025 THRU JUN 2026)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………….40 DEPARTURE……..+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH (FEB)………124 DEPARTURE…….+24
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………….4666 DEPARTURE……+134
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……..4299 DEPARTURE……+367
PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all on Main Tower.
E=Estimated *=Last of multiple occurrences
F420C (Official)………..21 S @ 08:55 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….21 S @ 08:54 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….23 S @ 09:40 A.M
DAVIS #1……………….23 S @ 09:46 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………26 S @ 09:49 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..22 S @ 08:54 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..23 S @ 09:40 A.M.
MERLIN…………………20 S
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……21 S @ 08:54 A.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………16 S @ 09:47 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..15 S @ 09:47 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..16 S @ 09:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………15 S @ 07:37 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………19 S @ 09:10 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..16 S @ 09:47 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..16 S @ 09:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………15 S @ 09:47 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL………7.6 SSW [182 total miles]
VECTOR #1……………….8.1
VECTOR #2……………….8.4
DAVIS #1………………..7.6 S
DAVIS #2………………..8.2 SSW
RMY #1……………………M
RMY #2……………………M
RICHARDS (C5C)…………..8.2
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..0.65 DEPARTURE…..+0.47
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH (MAR)……..0.70 DEPARTURE…..+0.23
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2026)……..7.34 DEPARTURE…..-1.68
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.5 DEPARTURE…..-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH (MAR)…………..2.4 DEPARTURE…..+0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2025-2026)……81.1 DEPARTURE….+27.3
————————————————————–
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
PEAK GUST: F420C (Official)
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY: R.M. Young #1 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 37/19/28/-3/0.10/1.9/…/.. 30 NNW VEC1 31 NNW RMY 31
3/2 28/8/18/-14/0.00/0.0/…/.. 25 N VEC1 25 NNW RMY 25
3/3 32/17/25/-7/0.43/0.5/…/.. 21 S VEC1 21 S RMY 22
3/4 The low since midnight is 30F, the daily normal low is 23F.
————————————————————–
MARCH DAILY RECORDS TO DATE
NONE.
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DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR MARCH 4
HIGH 69 IN 1974
LOW -5 IN 1950 [RECORD LOW FOR MONTH]
PRECIP 1.80 IN 1960
SNOWFALL 17.3 IN 1960
PEAK GUST 81e MPH SSW IN 1971
RECORDS FOR MARCH 5
HIGH 64 IN 1979
LOW -2 IN 1948
PRECIP 1.76 INS. IN 1920, 2001
SNOWFALL 12.0 INS. IN 1917
PEAK GUST 76e MPH WNW IN 1971
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
