Friday, March 13, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CHILLY MORNING LOW OF 18F TO START THE DAY,
FREEZING RAIN POTENTIALLY ON THE WAY

Following yesterday’s daytime high of just 36F,
the mercury slid overnight to a low of 18F for
a short time near sunrise. Temperatures have
risen slowly, with high cirrus infiltrating the
sky by mid morning.

By the 1:00 PM EST observation cirrostratus was
nearly completely overcast with visibility dropping
to 70 miles in all directions, down from yesterday’s
exceptional 90 miles. A maximum temperature of
37 had been recorded thus far.

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 average snow depth has fallen to 23 inches as of this
morning. This is the 39th 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 13th)
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) 39 days, 3 Feb – 13 Mar, 2015 (through 1 PM March 13th)
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: Clear, few cirrus in all directions
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: NW at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.62 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 22F
6-hr Min temp: 18F
24-hr snowfall: None
24-hr precip: None
Snow depth: 23 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 370/21/6/3211/062/ FEW CI ALQDS/ 8/001
4/023 52010 10022 20018

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, few altocumulus
distant SW
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: NNW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.60 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 80 363/30/7/3308/060/ FEW ACSL DSNT SW/
8/045 56007

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken cirrostratus
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 11F; estimated WNW at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-Level Pressure: 30.54 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
BHO SA 1755 E200 BKN 70 343/36/11/E2906/054/ WND LGT/ 8/006
58020 10037 20021
SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..38   NORMAL…..43
MIN…..23   NORMAL…..25
MEAN….31   NORMAL…..34

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-21 [-2.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..34  DEPARTURE………..+3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….411  DEPARTURE……….+21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5119  DEPARTURE………+161
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5016  DIFFERENCE……..+103

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………44 N   AT  5:30 A.M.
ASOS…………………..49 NNW AT  5:31 A.M.
DAVIS………………….42 N   AT  5:30 A.M. RMY 48
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..34 NW  AT 10:20 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..31 NW  AT 10:26 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….29 NW  AT 10:26 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………17.8 NW
ASOS…………………16.7
DAVIS………………..15.0 NW [311 degrees] * last of several occurrences..

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE…..-0.16
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.75  DEPARTURE…..-1.33
ASOS…………..0.78
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….12.09  DEPARTURE…..+1.72
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……-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….5.9  DEPARTURE……-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….143.4  DEPARTURE…..+90.4

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 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/…./…/…/..              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  45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/…/..              40 W   RMY 39
3/10 52/32/42/+9/…./0.0/…/..              28 S   RMY 27
3/11 55/38/47/+13/…./0.0/…/..             37 WNW RMY N/A
3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/…/..              44 N   RMY 48

3/13 morning low temp: 18F since midnight, normal low is now 26F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015

-NONE SO FAR

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 13
HIGH 72 IN 1990
LOW -1 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.47 INS. IN 1993
SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 1993
PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1993 [THE “STORM OF THE CENTURY”]

RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 4.95 INS. IN 2010
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ENE IN 2010

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald