Friday, March 6, 2020

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES GIVE WAY TO INCREASING
CLOUDINESS…

We began the day enjoying tranquil conditions- partly
cloudy skies, mild temperatures, and benign winds.
Temperatures topped out at 48 degrees under the
morning sun, but with overcast skies & easterly
winds overtaking the region temperatures have
fallen to 43 at 1PM. Visibility was limited in
the morning to 50 miles, but increased to
80 miles by the early afternoon. Highest gust
so far today is 26 MPH.

Temperatures remain above normal, and both
Ponkapoag and Houghton’s Pond remain unfrozen.
The high so far today is 48F, this is 7 degrees
above the normal high of 41F. The low since
midnight is 31F, 8 degrees above the normal
low of 23F.

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR FEBRUARY 2020

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 40.7 [+3.9] Avg. Min. 25.9 [+6.7] Mean      33.3 [+5.4] 24-hour corrected mean: 33.0
Max. for month: 60F on the 24th
Min. for month: 4F on the 15th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:    911 [-164] Total for the season:  4140 [-345] Total for last season: 4485

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.20 [-0.87] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 0.6 [-13.3] Greatest in 24 hrs: 0.5 ins. on the 13th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 11.5 mph
Avg. corrected wind speed:   12.0 mph
Prevailing wind direction:   W [24%] Peak gust and direction:     71 WSW on the 7th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A
Astronomical total minutes: N/A

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered Altocumulus with few cirrus
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 30F; Relative Humidity: 81%
Wind: S at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 50 miles, distant fog
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 180 SCT 50 172/35/30/1710/004/
FEW CI ALQDS DSNT FG ALQDS/ 8/091 57005 10040 20031

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered Cirrostratus with few cumulus (N-NE),
few altocumulus (S-SW), and few cirrus
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 21F; Relative Humidity: 38%
Wind: ESE at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.02 ins. Hg: steady then falling
Visibility: 65 miles
3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 65 167/45/21/1106/002/
FEW CU N-NE FEW AC S-SW FEW CI ALQDS/ 8/191 58005

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast Altostratus, Few stratocumulus
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 32F; Relative Humidity: 64%
Wind: ENE at 15G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg: falling then more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 150 OVC 80 132/43/32/0715G20/992/
FEW SC ALQDS/ 8/41/ 58035 10048 20035

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..51   NORMAL…..41
MIN…..32   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….42   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………….+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………….+45 [+8.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………23  DEPARTURE…….-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..122  DEPARTURE…….-45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4262  DEPARTURE……-473
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4673  DEPARTURE……-411

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..31 W   AT   8:13 A.M.
AERO…………………….31 NW  AT  10:22 A.M.
ASOS…………………….32 NW  AT  10:41 A.M.
DAVIS……………………31 W   AT   8:13 A.M. RMY 32
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….24 NW  AT   9:34 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….23 NW  AT   9:34 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………25 WNW AT   9:34 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..11.3 W
ASOS…………………..10.4
DAVIS………………….11.8 WNW [289 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……….0.09  DEPARTURE……-0.78
ASOS…………..0.11
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..4.75  DEPARTURE……-4.54
ASOS…………..5.02

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………..TRACE  DEPARTURE…….-2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..24.8  DEPARTURE……-24.8

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

02/01  38/30/34/+8/0.01/T/000/00          14 WSW AERO 14 WSW RMY N/A
02/02  40/30/35/+9/0.00/0.0/078/13        18 W   AERO 18 WNW RMY 18
02/03  44/27/36/+10/0.00/0.0/260/43       28 W   AERO 28 W   RMY 28
02/04  44/33/39/+13/0.00/0.0/055/09       19 E   AERO 16 E   RMY 18
02/05  41/30/36/+10/0.00/0.0/000/00       20 NNW AERO 19 NNW RMY N/A
02/06  31/30/34/+8/0.00/0.0/000/00        29 E   AERO 28 E   RMY 27
02/07  53/25/39/+12/…./0.1/000/00     71 WSW AERO 71 SSW RMY 73
02/08  33/20/27/0/T/T/616/100              46 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 44
02/09  33/15/24/-3/T/T/303/49             30 SSE AERO 29 SSE RMY N/A
02/10  42/33/38/+11/…./0.0/000/00       39 SSW AERO 39 SSW RMY 39
02/11  40/36/38/+11/…./0.0/000/00     24 W   AERO 23 W   RMY N/A
02/12  41/30/36/+9/0.00/0.0/314/50        37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY N/A
02/13  35/31/34/+6/…./0.5/000/00     29 SSW AERO 29 SSW RMY N/A
02/14  33/8/21/-7/0.00/0.0/506/80         32 WNW AERO 32 NW  RMY 34
02/15  27/4/16/-12/0.00/0.0/508/80        31 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY N/A
02/16  40/23/32/+4/0.00/0.0/006/01        38 SW  AERO 38 SW  RMY N/A
02/17  44/28/36/+8/0.00/0.0/582/91        25 WNW AERO 24 WNW RMY 24
02/18  37/27/32/+3/0.31/T/000/00           26 SE  AERO 26 SE  RMY N/A
02/19  42/25/34/+5/0.00/0.0/530/82        45 W   AERO 46 W   RMY 44
02/20  31/18/25/-4/0.00/0.0/389/60        32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY N/A
02/21  30/11/21/-8/0.00/0.0/651/100        24 NNW AERO 21 N   RMY N/A
02/22  44/23/34/+5/0.00/0.0/647/99        26 W   AERO 24 W   RMY 27
02/23  53/30/42/+12/0.00/0.0/636/97       21 SW  AERO 22 WSW RMY 23
02/24  60/32/46/+16/0.00/0.0/606/92       29 S   AERO 29 SSW RMY 31
02/25  53/40/47/+17/…./0.0/033/05     17 NE  AERO 18 ENE RMY 17
02/26  45/39/42/+12/…./0.0/007/01    23 ENE AERO 24 E   RMY N/A
02/27  49/27/38/+7/0.00/0.0/…./..        51 W   AERO 53 W   RMY 52
02/28  36/25/31/0/0.00/0.0/…./…        38 SW  AERO 38 SW  RMY 36
02/29  35/19/27/-4/0.00/0.0/…./..        32 W   AERO 32 W   RMY 34

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

03/01  33/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/…./..        28 WNW AERO 28 WNW RMY 27
03/02  52/24/38/+7/T/T/…./..             40 S   AERO 39 S   RMY 41
03/03  64/45/55/+23/…./…/…/..        30 S   AERO 30 S   RMY N/A
03/04  50/38/44/+12/…./…/…/..        56 W   AERO 56 W   RMY 58
03/05  51/32/42/+10/…/…/…/..         31 W   AERO 31 NW  RMY 32

03/06 The low since midnight is 31F, daily normal minimum is 23F

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 6
HIGH 66 IN 1894
LOW 3 IN 1948, 2007
PRECIP 1.85 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 15.5 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 82 MPH S IN 1959

RECORDS FOR MARCH 7
HIGH 66 IN 1946
LOW -1 IN 1890
PRECIP 2.05 INS. IN 1967
SNOWFALL 11.5 INS. IN 2013
PEAK GUST 66 MPH NE IN 1962

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Andrew Swanson