Monday, March 7, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CLEAR START THIS MORNING GIVES WAY
TO CLOUDS AND GRADUAL WARM-UP

Temperatures made it to a near seasonable high yesterday of
40F, just one degree below the daily normal maximum temperature.
Clear conditions from Sunday remained early Monday morning; however,
skies quickly became overcast by mid morning.

By the 1:00 PM EST observation skies were mostly cloudy with two
levels of altocumulus that were expanding and a broken layer of
dense cirrus. Hazy conditions had limited visibility to just
20 miles, and temperatures had reached a maximum so far of 47F.

With a warm end to the month of February, the average monthly
temperature of 32.2F is the 11th warmest February on record,
and when combined with the warmest December on record and a
warm month of January, this winter just barely became the warmest
on record with an average temperature of 34.9F.

BHO Warmest Februarys, deg F (1885-2016):

1) 34.9 in 1984
2) 34.3 in 2012
3) 34.0 in 1998
4) 33.9 in 1954
33.9 in 1981
6) 33.7 in 1976
7) 33.6 in 1997
33.6 in 2002
9) 33.1 in 1925
10) 32.6 in 1991
11) 32.2 in 2016
12) 31.9 in 1960
31.9 in 1999

BHO Warmest Winters, deg F (1885-2016):

1) 34.9 in 2015-2016
2) 34.8 in 2001-2002
3) 34.3 in 2011-2012
4) 32.6 in 1997-1998
5) 32.3 in 1936-1937
32.3 in 1998-1999

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 42.2 [+5.4] Avg. Min. 22.5 [+3.4] Mean      32.4 [+4.5] 24-hour Corrected Mean: 32.2
Max. for month:  64 on 1st
Min. for month: -14 on 14th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 941 [-130] Total for the season: 3683 [-919] Total for last season: 4708

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 5.60 [+1.53] Greatest in 24 hrs: n/a
Snowfall: 22.5 [+8.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: 12.5 on the 5th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 14.4
Avg. corrected wind speed: 14.7
Prevailing wind direction: WNW @ 14%
Peak gust and direction: 76 S on the 25th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 9,000 out of possible 17,796 or 51%
Astronomical total minutes:   9,302 out of possible 18,418 or 51%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken dense cirrus, few altocumulus lenticularis
distant SW-WNW
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 24F; Wind: SSW at 14G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.26 ins. Hg, about the same as 3 hours ago
Visibility: 25 miles, thin fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 29F
24-hr precip: 0.00
24-hr snowfall: 0.00 inch
Snow on ground: Trace
BHO SA 1155 E250 BKN 25 246/31/24/2014G19/026/ FEW ACSL DSNT
SW-WNW THN FG ALQDS/ 8/042 53002 10031 20029

10 A.M.
Weather:  Overcast altostratus
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: SSW at 17G26 kts,
Peak Wind: 30 knots SSW at 9:31 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.18 ins. Hg, steady, then falling
Visibility: 30 miles, thin fog in all directions
BHO SA 1455 E200 OVC 30 221/39/25/2017G26/018/ THN FG ALQDS
PK WND 2030/31/ 8/01/ 58025

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered and broken altocumulus, two layers,
broken dense cirrus
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: SSW at 20G29 kts,
Peak Wind: 31 knots at 12:29 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 30.03 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 20 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 47F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
BHO SA 1755 110 SCT E140 BKN 200 BKN 20 169/46/28/2020G29/003/
PRESFR HAZY PK WND 2031/29/ 8/052 56052 10047 20031

SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..40   NORMAL…..41
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….33   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….-2 [-0.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..32   DEPARTURE……….-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….202   DEPARTURE……….+3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3885   DEPARTURE……..-915
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4945   DIFFERENCE……-1060

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….21 SSE AT 11:14 P.M.
ASOS……………………20 SSE AT 11:52 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..18 SSE AT  9:47 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………15 SSE AT 11:46 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………16 S   AT 11:47 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..15 SSE AT 11:15 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..7.9 NNW
ASOS…………………..8.0
DAVIS………………….7.1 NNW [333 Deg.] * Last of several occurrences.

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.17
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.45  DEPARTURE……-0.59
ASOS…………..0.48
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.82  DEPARTURE……+0.36
ASOS………….10.44

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.5  DEPARTURE…….-2.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..38.6  DEPARTURE……-12.0

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/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

2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/305/51          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34
2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/602/100         23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A
2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53
2/4   55/39/47/+21/0.08/0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
2/5   39/19/29/+3/1.62/12.5/000/00          37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35
2/6   35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/532/87            25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23
2/7   43/26/35/+8/0.00/0.0/577/94           35 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY N/A
2/8   36/16/26/-1/0.60/8.7/000/00           53 NE  AERO 55 NE  RMY 53
2/9   26/17/22/-5/T/T/000/00                21 N   AERO 22 N   RMY N/A
2/10  33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.1/006/01           23 W   AERO 23 W   RMY 21
2/11  26/7/17/-10/T/T/131/21                39 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 42
2/12  23/4/13/-14/0.00/0.0/433/69           31 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 21
2/13  21/-7/7/-21/0.00/0.0/459/73           41 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 43
2/14  10/-14/-2/-30/0.00/0.0/632/100        33 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY N/A
2/15  32/-2/15/-13/0.23/1.2/178/28          24 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
2/16  55/32/44/+16/0.74/0.0/006/01          65 SSE AERO 69 SSE RMY 64
2/17  43/30/37/+9/0.00/0.0/576/90           33 W   AERO 35 W   RMY N/A
2/18  32/20/26/+3/0.00/0.0/637/99           25 NNW AERO 29 NW  RMY 25
2/19  39/16/28/-1/0.01/T/452/70             24 SSW AERO 26 SSW RMY N/A
2/20  58/31/45/+16/T/T/363/56               44 SSW AERO 44 SSW RMY 41
2/21  53/39/46/+17/0.00/0.0/475/73          39 WNW AERO 43 WNW RMY 39
2/22  45/29/37/+8/0.00/0.0/608/93           18 NW  AERO 20 NW  RMY 17
2/23  37/25/31/+1/0.01/T/000/00             26 E   AERO 26 E   RMY N/A
2/24  60/33/47/+17/0.70/0.0/000/00          60 S   AERO 66 S   RMY N/A
2/25  63/37/50/+15/0.80/0.0/218/33          76 S   AERO 84 S   RMY N/A
2/26  38/22/30/0/0.00/0.0/665/100           42 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 41
2/27  38/16/27/-4/0.00/0.0/654/98           31 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY 33
2/28  56/34/45/+14/0.00/0.0/335/50          32 S   AERO 37 SSW RMY N/A
2/29  63/41/52/+21/T/0.0/458/68             39 W   AERO 41 W   RMY N/A

3/1   45/30/38/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..           54 W   AERO 60 W   RMY 53
3/2   52/21/37/+6/0.41/0.0/…/..           44 WNW AERP 47 NW  RMY 42
3/3   34/16/25/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..           30 WNW AERO 36 WNW RMY N/A
3/4   30/24/27/-5/…./…/…/..           32 N   AERO 38 N   RMY 34
3/5   35/20/28/-4/0.00/0.0/…/..           31 N   AERO 36 N   RMY N/A
3/6   40/25/33/+1/0.00/0.0/…/..           21 SSE AERO 21 SSE RMY N/A

3/7   morning low temp. since midnight 29F; normal now 24F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

2/14/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF -8F SET IN 1979**

2/14/16: **TIED DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 10F,
MATCHING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 10F SET IN 1979**

2/25/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 76 MPH S,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 75 MPH S IN 1965**

2/29/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 56F SET BACK IN 1976**

2/29/16: **DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 41F TIES RECORD
SET IN 1896**

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

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 8
HIGH 66 IN 2012
LOW 2 IN 1986
PRECIP 2.20 INS. IN 2008
SNOWFALL 8.3 INS. IN 1941
PEAK GUST 69 MPH SSW IN 2008

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald