Saturday, April 2, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CLOUDY, DAMP AND COOLER THIS MORNING…LIGHT TO MODERATE
RAINFALL TODAY TOTALS 0.42 INCHES…NEW RECORD HIGH
MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54F FOR APRIL 1ST…MARCH FINISHES
DRIER THAN NORMAL AND TIES FOR THE EIGHTH WARMEST ON RECORD…
JANUARY TO MARCH WAS THE FOURTH WARMEST ON RECORD…

The temperature has been dropping steadily from the middle
60s on Friday afternoon, which saw a high temperature of 66F
to the middle 40s this afternoon. The temperature at midnight
of 54F was the low for yesterday, and this broke the previous
high minimum temperature for the date of 51F set in 1948. The
temperature continued to drop from the 7 AM EST reading of
48F to a low so far of 43F early this afternoon.

Light rain began at 7:30 AM EST this morning, and became
moderate rain during most of the hour ending at 10 AM EST.
The total rainfall for the six hours ending at 1 PM EST today
has been 0.42 inches. Light rain is ending just after 2 PM,
and the visibility is increasing at mid-afternoon.  After the
gusty winds of Friday, which peaked at 39 mph SSW at 4:18 Pm EST,
the winds have been much lighter today, generally under 20 mph.

The pressure is falling rapidly this afternoon as small but
intensifying system moves eastward from the Great Lakes today.
This storm will bring strong winds and more precipitation to
the area on Sunday.

The 24-hour corrected mean temperature for March of 40.7 deg F
ties for the eighth warmest on record. It’s been a warm start
to the year, and the first three months of 2016 were the
fourth warmest on record.

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

1) 43.5 in 1946
2) 43.4 in 2012
3) 42.7 in 1945
4) 42.2 in 1903
5) 41.5 in 2010
6) 41.2 in 1921
7) 40.8 in 2000
8) 40.7 in 1977
40.7 in 2016
10) 40.5 in 1973

BHO Warmest Jan-Mar, deg F (1885-2016):

1) 36.3 in 2012
2) 35.0 in 2002
3) 34.7 in 1998
4) 34.1 in 2016
5) 33.9 in 1990
6) 33.2 in 1953
7) 33.0 in 2006

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR MARCH 2016

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 49.7 [+5.4] Avg. Min. 32.3 [+5.7] Mean      41.0 [+5.5] 24-hour corrected mean: 40.7
Max. for month: 75 on 9th
Min. for month: 16 on 3rd

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 736 [-180] Total for the season: 4419 [-1065] Total for last season: 5743

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.21 [-2.37] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 4.4 [-8.3] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 12.9
Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.2
Prevailing wind direction: S at 10%
Peak gust and direction: 63 S on the 31st

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 10386 mins. of possible 21516 or 48%
Astronomical total minutes:   10763 mins. of possible 22286 or 48%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered nimbostratus, overcast stratus, few
stratocumulus all quadrants, rain SSE-SSW moving NE
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: SSW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg, falling then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 35 miles SE-SW
6-hr Max temp: 52F
6-hr Min temp: 47F
24-hr precip: 0.03 ins.
BHO SA 1155 65 SCT E75 OVC 70 021/48/35/2107/959/ FEW SC
ALQDS VSBY SE-SW 35 RW SSE-SSW MVNG NE/ 8/5// 58016 70003
10052 20047

10 A.M.
Weather: Light rain, broken stratocumulus, overcast
nimbostratus, few stratus fractus below summit all quadrants
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: S at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 12 miles, except 20 miles S, 8 miles N-NE
3-hour precip: 0.22 inches
BHO SA 1455 E50 BKN 65 OVC 12R- 019/44/44/1808/959/ FEW
STFRA BLO SMT ALQDS VSBY N-NE 8 S 20/ 8/72/ 58002 6022/

1 P.M.
Weather: Light rain, scattered stratocumulus, overcast
nimbostratus, few stratus fractus, all quadrants
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: S at 6 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.47 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 20 miles ESE-SSW
6-hr Max temp: 48F
6-hr Min temp: 44F
6-hour precip: 0.42 inches
BHO SA 1755 25 SCT E75 OVC 15R- 980/44/42/1906/947/ FEW
STFRA ALQDS VSBY ESE-SSW 20 PRESFR/ 8/72/ 58039 6042/
10048 20044

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..66   NORMAL…..50
MIN…..54   NORMAL…..32
MEAN….60   NORMAL…..41

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+19
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………+19 [+19.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………5   DEPARTURE………-19
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH……………5   DEPARTURE………-19
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4424   DEPARTURE…….-1084
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5773   DIFFERENCE……-1349

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….39 SSW AT  4:18 P.M. *
ASOS……………………44 SW  AT  2:25 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..41 SSW AT  2:33 A.M. RMY 43
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………33 SSW AT  4:18 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………31 SSW AT  4:19 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..33 SSW AT  4:19 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….20.5 SSW
ASOS………………….19.6
DAVIS…………………18.8 SSW [203 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.03  DEPARTURE……-0.14
ASOS…………..0.02
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.06  DEPARTURE……-0.11
ASOS…………..0.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….12.64  DEPARTURE……-1.53
ASOS………….13.06

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..42.5  DEPARTURE……-17.9

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 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

3/1   45/30/38/+7/0.00/0.0/602/89           54 W   AERO 60 W   RMY 53
3/2   52/21/37/+6/0.41/0.0/204/30           44 WNW AERP 47 NW  RMY 42
3/3   34/16/25/-7/0.00/0.0/641/94           30 WNW AERO 36 WNW RMY N/A
3/4   30/24/27/-5/0.04/0.5/000/00           32 N   AERO 38 N   RMY 34
3/5   35/20/28/-4/0.00/0.0/536/78           31 N   AERO 36 N   RMY N/A
3/6   40/25/33/+1/0.00/0.0/593/86           21 SSE AERO 21 SSE RMY N/A
3/7   49/29/39/+6/0.00/0.0/173/25           43 SSW AERO 48 SSW RMY 45
3/8   55/35/45/+12/0.00/0.0/647/93          23 S   AERO 24 S   RMY N/A
3/9   75/38/57/+24/0.00/0.0/594/85          32 S   AERO 36 S   RMY 33
3/10  64/50/57/+24/…./0.0/000/00          31 NNW AERO 38 NNW RMY 32
3/11  56/38/47/+13/T/0.0/331/47             28 NNW AERO 36 NNW RMY 29
3/12  58/31/45/+11/0.00/0.0/650/92          30 SW  AERO 33 SW  RMY 30
3/13  63/46/55/+21/0.00/0.0/525/74          32 NW  AERO 35 NW  RMY 30
3/14  46/36/41/+6/…./T/000/00             32 E   AERO 33 E   RMY N/A
3/15  45/39/42/+7/…./0.0/000/00           36 ENE AERO 38 ENE RMY 34
3/16  48/39/44/+9/…./0.0/036/05           25 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
3/17  63/40/52/+16/…./0.0/361/50          44 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 45
3/18  51/33/42/+6/0.01/0.0/305/42           43 WNW AERO 45 WNW RMY 43
3/19  44/25/35/-1/0.00/0.0/706/97           25 NNW AERO 28 NNW RMY 26
3/20  35/23/29/-8/…./…/387/53           25 NE  AERO 28 NE  RMY 25
3/21  41/26/34/-3/…./…/323/44           30 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY 32
3/22  48/28/38/+1/…./…/684/93           33 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 36
3/23  62/39/51/+13/0.01/0.0/007/01          35 NE  AERO 40 NE  RMY 39
3/24  39/34/37/-1/…./0.0/015/02           31 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY 32
3/25  55/37/46/+8/…./…/007/01           22 NNW AERO 22 NNW RMY 24
3/26  43/30/37/-2/0.00/0.0/269/36           22 N   AERO 24 N   RMY N/A
3/27  46/30/38/-1/0.00/0.0/376/50           23 SSE AERO 24 SSE RMY 22
3/28  43/35/39/+0/0.41/0.0/000/00           33 W   AERO N/A    RMY N/A
3/29  50/34/42/+2/0.00/0.0/499/66           46 WNW AERO N/A    RMY 46
3/30  58/29/44/+4/0.00/0.0/713/94           33 S   AERO N/A    RMY N/A
3/31  69/41/55/+14/0.00/0.0/579/76          63 S   AERO N/A    RMT 65

4/1   66/54/60/+19/…./0.0/…/..          39 SSW AERO N/A    RMY 43

4/2   low temp since midnight is 44F; normal now 33F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2016

3/9/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 75F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 71F SET BACK IN 2000.

3/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 42F SET AND TIED IN 1977, 2006

DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2016

4/1/16: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 51F SET IN 1948

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

RECORDS FOR APRIL 2
HIGH 77 IN 1967
LOW 14 IN 1919
PRECIP 1.83 IN. IN 1970
SNOWFALL 13.0 IN. IN 1887
PEAK GUST 76 MPH SSW IN 1970

RECORDS FOR APRIL 3
HIGH 76 IN 1892
LOW 16 IN 1894
PRECIP 2.18 IN. IN 1990
SNOWFALL 8.0 IN. IN 1915
PEAK GUST 83e MPH NW IN 1977 [RECORD FOR MONTH]

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono