Friday, March 29, 2024

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

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0531E
SUNSET:  1807E

MORNING RAIN LEADS TO EARLY AFTERNOON CLEARING AND BREEZY
CONDITIONS…

This morning we had rain with a brief period of rain-snow mix
that tapered off by the late morning hours. Our precipitation
total for today so far is 0.54 inches, which puts us over 9″ for
the month. The good news is that by noontime the rain moved out
of our area and we had some clearing and brightening of the skies,
something that hasn’t been seen in the past couple of days!

Temperatures were just slightly above freezing and rebounded just
a bit after the rain cleared. With the damp conditions and gusty
winds it has felt very raw and chilly for most of the day.

As mentioned earlier, it has been much windier than the past
couple of days. The wind has been out of the NNW for most of the
day with an average speed of about 15 mph. We have had frequent
gusts in the 25-30 mph range this morning with our peak gust so far
around 40 mph. As of the last observation the wind was still
increasing in gust frequency.

Visibility has been limited to about 30 miles due to the local foggy
conditions on the hill, but has slightly improved once the rain had
left the area. Our final visibility observation was about 60 miles.

The maximum temperature so far today is 44F degrees, which is 4
degrees below the normal high of 48F. The minimum temperature since
midnight is 34F degrees, which is 3 degrees above the normal low of
31F.

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Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light rain, scattered stratus, few lower stratus fractus
all quadrants
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 36F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: NNW @ 15G25 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1002.5 mb; 29.60 in. Hg: falling, then more
rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, thin fog all quadrants
6-hr Max temp: 41F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
24-hr Precip:  1.86 inches
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 E9 OVC 30R- 025/36/36/3315G25/960/ THN F ALQDS FEW
LWR STRFA ALQDS/ 8/62/ 58010 6037/ 70186 10041 20035

10 A.M.
Weather: Light rain-snow, scattered stratus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 34F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: NNW @ 16G29 kts, peak wind NW @ 38mph at 9:34am
Sea-level pressure: 1001.0 mb; 29.56 in. Hg: steady, then falling
Visibility: 30 miles, thin fog all quadrants
3-hr Precip:  0.04 inches
3-hr Snowfall: Trace
BHO SA 1455 E6 OVC 30R-S- 010/34/34/3316G29/956/ THN F ALQDS
PK WND 3233/34/ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS TRACE/ 8/6// 58015 6004/

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altostratus
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 34F; Relative Humidity: 57%
Wind: NW @ 21G35 kts, peak wind NW @ 40 mph at 12:59pm
Sea-level pressure: 998.1 mb; 29.47 in. Hg: falling, then more
slowly
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 44F
6-hr Min temp: 34F
6-hr Precip:  0.06 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 E40 BKN 95 OVC 60 981/44/30/3221G35/947/ PK WND 3235/59/
8/52/ 56029 6006/ 10044 20034

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SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….49   NORMAL…..48
MIN…….42   NORMAL…..31
MEAN……46   NORMAL…..39

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….+144 [+4.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………19  DEPARTURE……..-7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..694  DEPARTURE……-146
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4582  DEPARTURE……-690
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4451  DEPARTURE……+131

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated

F420C (Official)……….E23 NNW  @  08:38 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….23 NNW  @  08:38 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….22 NNW  @  11:06 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….21 N    @  08:38 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………20 N    @  08:38 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..22 NNW  @  11:23 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..22 N    @  08:38 P.M.
MERLIN…………………29 NNW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……21      @  11:23 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………15 ENE  @  12:09 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..15      @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..16      @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………16 ENE  @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………16 ENE  @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..15 ENE  @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..16 NE   @  12:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………16      @  12:07 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….6.2 N  [148 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..7.0
VECTOR #2……………..7.1
DAVIS #1………………6.6 N
DAVIS #2………………6.6 NNE
RMY #1………………..6.7 N
RMY #2………………..7.1 N
RICHARDS (C5C)…………7.3

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..1.86 DEPARTURE…..+1.68
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..9.43 DEPARTURE…..+4.42
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….19.99 DEPARTURE…..+6.48

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………TRACE DEPARTURE…..-14.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)……26.1 DEPARTURE…..-40.0

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

3/1   41/18/30/-1/0.00/0.0/649/96         30 NW  VEC1 30 WNW RMY 33
3/2   50/32/41/+9/1.16/0.0/000/00         44 SSE VEC1 46 SE  RMY 42
3/3   55/42/49/+17/0.24/0.0/130/19        32 SSE VEC1 33 SSE RMY 32
3/4   49/36/43/+11/0.01/0.0/116/17        24 ENE VEC1 22 ENE RMY 23
3/5   42/36/39/+7/0.14/0.0/000/00         21 E   VEC1 21 E   RMY 21
3/6   51/39/45/+12/0.44/0.0/000/00        28 NE  VEC1 28 NE  RMY 29
3/7   42/37/40/+7/1.06/0.0/000/00         44 NNE VEC1 44 NNE RMY 42
3/8   45/32/39/+6/0.00/0.0/682/98         35 NNE VEC1 36 NNE RMY 38
3/9   40/32/36/+3/0.21/0.0/000/00         32 E   VEC1 32 E   RMY 31
3/10  51/36/44/+10/1.07/0.0/245/35        45 WNW VEC1 46 SE  RMY 45
3/11  43/30/37/+3/T/T/515/73              53 NW  VEC1 54 NW  RMY 58
3/12  54/33/44/+10/0.00/0.0/680/96        43 NW  VEC1 41 NW  RMY 45
3/13  54/33/44/+10/0.00/0.0/667/94        26 SSE VEC1 25 NNW RMY 25
3/14  58/36/47/+12/0.00/0.0/627/88        23 ENE VEC1 22 NE  RMY 21
3/15  44/37/41/+6/0.02/0.0/000/00         24 N   VEC1 23 NNW RMY 25
3/16  58/36/47/+12/0.00/0.0/510/71        29 S   VEC1 26 S   RMY 26
3/17  59/40/50/+14/0.04/0.0/390/54        38 NW  VEC1 38 NW  RMY 40
3/18  49/33/41/+5/0.00/0.0/558/77         38 W   VEC1 37 W   RMY 38
3/19  46/30/38/+2/0.00/0.0/575/79         44 NW  VEC1 43 NW  RMY 46
3/20  51/29/40/+3/0.11/T/190/26           50 WNW VEC1 50 WNW RMY 51
3/21  38/24/31/-6/T/T/704/96              53 WNW VEC1 53 WNW RMY 52
3/22  40/21/31/-6/T/T/427/58              29 WNW VEC1 29 WNW RMY 32
3/23  44/30/37/-1/2.49/T/000/00           48 NNW VEC1 47 NNW RMY 51
3/24  41/23/32/-6/0.00/0.0/460/62         38 NNW VEC1 39 NNW RMY 42
3/25  39/31/25/-3/0.00/0.0/343/46         41 ENE VEC1 41 NE  RMY 40
3/26  36/32/34/-5/0.15/0.0/000/00         38 NE  VEC1 38 NE  RMY 39
3/27  53/36/45/+6/0.10/0.0/038/05         23 NE  VEC1 24 NE  RMY 23
3/28  49/42/46/+7/1.72/0.0/…/..         23 NNW VEC1 23 NNW RMY 55

3/29 The low since midnight is XXF, the daily normal low is 31F.

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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 29
HIGH 85 IN 1945
LOW -2 IN 1923
PRECIP 2.78 INS. IN 1984
SNOWFALL 13.5 INS. IN 1984
PEAK GUST 95 MPH ENE IN 1984

RECORDS FOR MARCH 30
HIGH 83 IN 1977
LOW 10 IN 1887
PRECIP 2.92 INS. IN 2010
SNOWFALL 3.9 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 60 MPH NW IN 1999

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Amanda Joly