Saturday, March 16, 2019

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2019
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

COOLER BUT WARMER THAN YESTERDAY WITH PARTIAL SUNSHINE…

The low temperature this morning was 39F and the high has
reached the upper 40s this afternoon with the high for
the day recorded at midnight of 50F. Strong west winds
are gusting frequently near 40 mph with a peak gust
so far of 45 mph from the W at 11:59 AM EST. Visibility
has been very high all day near 80 miles as the dew
point has dropped from 30F at 7 AM to the low 20s by
early afternoon.  Snow cover has dropped to zero on the
summit this morning after the warm temperatures of the
last few days. Ice cover on the ponds is dropping
rapidly today in the strong winds with Ponkapoag dropping
from near 10/10 ice cover early today to about 1/10 ice
cover by early afternoon.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant WSW-NNW, few
altocumulus distant ENE-S
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: W at 9 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 49F
6-hr Min temp: 39F
24-hr Precip:  0.12 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 75 085/40/30/2709/978/ FEW SC DSNT WSW-NNE
FEW AC DSNT ENE-S/ 8/053 51023 70012 10049 20039

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: W at 16G25 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.80 ins. Hg, falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E50 BKN 80 090/47/27/2716G25/980/ PK WND 2730/33/
8/500 53005

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: W at 18G35 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.83 ins. Hg, falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 44F
6-hr Min temp: 40F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 80 100/44/22/2818G35/983/ PK WND 2739/1659/
8/500 53010 10044 20040

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2019

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..58   NORMAL…..44
MIN…..40   NORMAL…..26
MEAN….49   NORMAL…..35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+14
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-37 [-2.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..16   DEPARTURE……..-14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….518   DEPARTURE……..+37
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5004   DEPARTURE……..-45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4582   DIFFERENCE……+422

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..37 SSW AT  6:35 A.M.
AERO…………………….38 SSW AT  6:34 A.M.
ASOS…………………….41 S   AT  3:39 A.M.
DAVIS……………………49 S   AT  5:56 A.M. RMY 39
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….30 SSW AT  6:22 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….31 S   AT  6:12 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………32 S   AT  5:22 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..20.9 SSW
ASOS…………………..21.0
DAVIS………………….21.0 S   [177 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.12  DEPARTURE…….-0.06
ASOS…………..0.08
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.97  DEPARTURE…….+0.38
ASOS…………..2.97
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.91  DEPARTURE…….+0.90
ASOS………….12.04

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……..-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………21.0  DEPARTURE…….+13.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..45.5  DEPARTURE……..-8.8

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 38/17/28/-3/…./…/…/..           16 NNW AERO 13 NNW RMY 22
03/02 31/27/29/-2/…./…/…/.. 29 NNE AERO 22 NNE RMY 30
03/03 40/25/33/+1/…./…/…/..           21 ESE AERO 14 ESE RMY N/A
03/04 35/18/27/-5/…./…/…/..           33 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 32
03/05 29/10/20/-12/0.00/0.0/…/..          28 WNW AERO 12 SW  RMY N/A
03/06 24/10/17/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..          40 WNW AERO 25 WNW RMY 41
03/07 26/6/16/-17/0.00/0.0/…/..           35 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 34
03/08 35/11/23/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..          23 WSW AERO M  M   RMY M
03/09 43/22/33/0/0.00/0.0/…/..            20 WSW AERO M  M   RMY N/A
03/10 40/26/33/0/…./…/…/..            32 ESE AERO 23 S   RMY 32
03/11 48/33/41/+7/…./…/…/..           40 NW  AERO 37 NNW RMY 41
03/12 41/27/34/0/…./…/…/..            32 N   AERO 33 N   RMY 34
03/13 43/24/34/0/…./…/…/..            18 W   AERO 21 W   RMY 23
03/14 48/32/40/0/…./…/…/.. 25 S   AERO 28 S   RMY M
03/15 58/40/49/+14/0.12/…/…/..          37 SSW AERO 38 SSW RMY 39

03/16 Low temp since midnight is 39F; normal low is 26F

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 16
HIGH 73 IN 1990
LOW 8 IN 1932
PRE 1.95 INS. IN 1900
SNOW 10.0 INS. IN 1896
WIND 79 MPH NE IN 1956

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

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono and Nick Rousseau