Friday, March 17, 2017

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2017
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MILD AND DRY DAY WITH SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES

Winds and temperatures today are milder than yesterday but
temps. still remain below normal. Temps. reached 38F by 1:00PM,
slightly below the average maximum value of 44F. The overnight
low was also slightly below normal at 22F. The average minimum
value for today is 26F. Winds continue to gust out of the west
with lower speeds than yesterday. The morning skies of broken
altocumulus and distant fog cleared, humidity lowered and
visibility increased from 70 miles at 7:00AM to 80 at 10:00 AM
and 1:00PM.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus few cumulus NE-ESE
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: WSW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles distant fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 25F
6-hr Min temp: 22F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 in.
BHO SA 1155 E79 BKN 70 199/25/17/2506/012/ FEW DSNT CU NE-ESE
DSNT FG ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/13/ 4/005 51021 10025 20022

10 A.M.
Weather: Few altocumulus NNE-SE, few cirrus in all directions
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: W at 13G20 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.14 ins. Hg, rising then steady
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 208/31/11/2813G20/014/ FEW AC NNE-SE
FEW CI ALQDS/ 8/081 51009

1 P.M.
Weather: Few cirrus NE-ESE
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: WNW at 10G18 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.12 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 38F
6-hr Min temp: 24F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 80 199/38/21/3010G18/012/ FEW CI NE-ESE
8/001 4/005 58009 10038 20024

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..33   NORMAL…..44
MIN…..17   NORMAL…..26
MEAN….25   NORMAL…..35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-65 [-4.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..40   DEPARTURE………+10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….576   DEPARTURE………+65
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4453   DEPARTURE……..-626
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4063   DIFFERENCE…….+390

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….36 W   AT  4:38 P.M.
AERO……………………37 W   AT  8:28 A.M.
ASOS……………………37 W   AT  4:39 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..35 WNW AT  1:11 P.M. RMY 38
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………27 W   AT  8:29 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………26 WNW AT  3:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..25 WNW AT  3:57 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….16.8 W
ASOS………………….17.3
DAVIS…………………15.4 WNW [302 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.18
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.51  DEPARTURE……-0.26
ASOS…………..2.72
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.79  DEPARTURE……+0.60
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total 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……………10.3  DEPARTURE…….+2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..62.6  DEPARTURE…….+7.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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
M:    Missing data

3/1  61/46/54/+23/0.01/0.0/…/..          41 S   AERO 45 S   RMY 45
3/2  55/26/41/+10/T/T/…/..               58 W   AERO 61 W   RMY 59
3/3  36/19/28/-4/T/T/…/..                38 W   AERO 44 W   RMY N/A
3/4  20/7/14/-18/T/T/…/..                45 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 51
3/5  29/5/17/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..           35 WNW AERO 43 WNW*RMY N/A
3/6  40/11/26/-6/0.00/0.0/…/..           18 WNW AERO 17 NW* RMY N/A
3/7  47/29/38/+5/0.01/0.0/…/..           32 S   AERO 35 S   RMY 36
3/8  55/43/49/+16/0.05/0.0/…/..          35 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 37
3/9  49/35/42/+9/0.0/0.0/…/..            53 W   AERO 59 W   RMY 58
3/10 35/20/28/-5/0.27/2.9/…/..           35 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 40
3/11 20/7/14/-20/0.02/0.2/…/..           43 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 50
3/12 25/4/15/-19/0.00/0.0/…/..           32 W   AERO 40 WNW RMY N/A
3/13 33/8/21/-13/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY N/A
3/14 38/23/31/-4/34/…/../…/..          60 NE  AERO 62 NE  RMY 62
3/15 27/15/21/-14/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY N/A
3/16 33/17/25/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 38

3/17  Low temp since midnight is 22F; normal low is now 27F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2017

3/11/17: DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 20F,
TIES PREVIOUS RECORD SET IN 1885

3/14/17: DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 7.2 INS,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 6.7 INS SET IN 1958

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 17
HIGH 69 IN 2003
LOW 6 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968
SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973

RECORDS FOR MARCH 18
HIGH 72 IN 2012
LOW 0 IN 1885
PRECIP 5.61 INS. IN 1968 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 9.3 INS. IN 1985
PEAK GUST 71e MPH WNW IN 1941

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan