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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
COLD AND BLUSTERY TODAY WITH BUILDING LOW CLOUDS…
COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE SINCE MID-FEBRUARY…
The morning low temperature today of 21F was the coldest
since the same reading was observed on February 13th.
The high temperature has managed to climb up to 37F
by early afternoon, a couple of degrees higher than
the high on Friday of 35F. With the cold readings, a
little thin ice has reappeared on Houghton’s Pond,
though Ponkapoag Pond still remains ice free today.
A mostly sunny sky earlier this morning has changed
to partly cloudy as low cumulus clouds are forming
and are beginning to spread out into stratocumulus
as of early afternoon. The gusty winds of yesterday
continue with a peak gust so far of 40 kts, 46 mph
from the west at 10:47 AM EST this morning. With the
dew point holding near 15F, the air is very dry and
the visibility has been near 75 miles much of the day.
Slightly lower prevailing visibility of 70 miles was
observed at the 1 PM EST observation with slightly
lower visibility of 55 miles to the NNW to N at that
time as a few snow showers are beginning to form in
southern New Hampshire in that direction.
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus distant
off shore ENE-ESE, few lower dense cirrus
Temperature: 23F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: WSW at 13G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, falling then steady
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 24F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 12 ins.
BHO SA 1155 220 –SCT 75 064/23/8/2413G21/972/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR
ENE-ESE FEW LWR DNS CI NE/ 8/501 4/012 56007 10024 20021
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: WSW at 17G32 kts,
Peak Wind: 32 kts (37 MPH) WSW at 9:47 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.62 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 75 miles
3-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 200 SCT 75 031/31/15/2517G32/962/ FEW CUFRA
ALQDS FEW LWR DNS CI SE PK WND 2532/47/ 8/101 58033
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus forming from the spreading
of cumulus
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: W at 21G29 kts,
Peak Wind: 38 kts (44 MPH) W at 12:26 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.54 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 55 miles NNW-N
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
6-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 12 ins.
BHO SA 1755 60 SCT 70 004/37/17/2821G29/954/ VSBY NNW-N 55
PK WND 2838/26/ 8/400 4/012 56027 10037 20023
SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..35 NORMAL…..44
MIN…..23 NORMAL…..26
MEAN….29 NORMAL…..35
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………+15 [+0.7 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….36 DEPARTURE……….+6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………501 DEPARTURE………-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….4623 DEPARTURE……..-456
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..4453 DIFFERENCE…….+170
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….41 NW AT 10:57 A.M.
AERO……………………41 NW AT 5:48 P.M.*
ASOS……………………42 WNW AT 10:56 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..43 M AT 4:26 P.M ** RMY 45
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………30 NW AT 5:40 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………29 NW AT 4:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..29 M AT 4:43 P.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….18.6 WNW
ASOS………………….18.0
DAVIS…………………16.1 **
* Last of several occurrences
** Davis direction malfunctioning
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……….7.97 DEPARTURE……+5.37
ASOS…………..8.67
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….18.08 DEPARTURE……+7.07
ASOS………….19.52
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0 DEPARTURE……..-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………40.1 DEPARTURE…….+32.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..84.8 DEPARTURE…….+30.0
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
3/01 61/37/49/+18/0.00/0.0/378/56 39 ENE AERO 37 ENE RMY N/A
3/02 40/32/36/+5/3.47/0.7/000/00 73 NNE AERO 70 NNE RMY N/A
3/03 40/32/26/+4/T/T/034/05 52 NNE AERO 50 NNE RMY 49
3/04 39//34/37/+5/T/T/000/00 36 NNE AERO 32 NNE RMY 32
3/05 40/29/35/+3/…/1.2/261/38 40 NE AERO 39 NE RMY 40
3/06 34/29/32/0/0.00/0.0/062/09 20 N AERO 16 N RMY N/A
3/07 35/31/33/0/…./…/000/00 52 ENE AERO 53 ENE RMY 50
3/08 34/28/31/-2/…./…/000/00 44 NNE AERO 47 NNE RMY N/A
3/09 36/24/30/-3/T/T/265/38 28 W AERO 26 W RMY N/A
3/10 37/28/33/0/0.00/0.0/343/49 38 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 41
3/11 42/26/34/0/0.00/0.0/…/.. 28 NW AERO 26 NW RMY 29
3/12 39/26/33/-1/T/T/…/.. 36 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY N/A
3/13 35/26/31/-3/…./23.0/000/00 60 N AERO 60 N RMY 64
3/14 36/24/30/-5/…./…/470/66 38 WSW AERO 38 WSW RMY 41
3/15 40/29/35/0/…./…/422/59 44 W AERO 44 W RMY 44
3/16 35/23/29/-6/0.00/0.0/308/43 41 NW AERO 41 NW RMY 45
3/17 Low temp since midnight is 21F; normal low is now 27F
DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2018
3/02/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION OF 3.47 INS.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 2.15 INS. SET IN 1983
3/13/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 23.0 INS.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 10.0 INS. SET IN 1993
3/13/18: NEW MONTHLY RECORD MAXIMUM DAILY SNOWFALL OF 23.0 INS.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 18.0 INS. SET ON 8 MARCH 2013
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
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
RECORDS FOR MARCH 18
HIGH 72 IN 2012
LOW 0 IN 1885
PRECIP 5.61 INS. IN 1968 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
SNOWFALL 9.3 INS. IN 1985
PEAK GUST 71e MPH WNW IN 1941
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono
