Saturday, March 18, 2017

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

DRY AND COLD AGAIN TODAY WITH CLOUDS ADVANCING…

Friday was the eighth consecutive day to average colder than
normal, and today will be colder than average as well.  The
month of March continues to run about four degrees below
normal and several degrees colder than February. The sky was
mostly clear early this morning with only a few scattered
cirrus, but clouds have advanced throughout the day as small
cumulus formed and both middle and high level clouds moved
in from the southwest. Visibility has increased from about
55 miles this morning to about 70 miles at early afternoon.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus SE-W, thin smoke layer along
horizon S-N
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: NNE at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 55 miles, light distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 24F
24-hr precip: 0.00 in.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 in.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 55 257/25/17/0312/029/ FEW CI SE-W
THN K LYR ALG HRZN S-N LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/001 4/005
52015 10028 20024

10 A.M.
Weather: Few cumulus, few cirrus and cirrostratus
advancing from the southwest
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NE at 10 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly
Visibility: 55 miles, light distant haze
BHO SA 1455 25 SCT 250 SCT 55 267/33/22/0510/032/
LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/105 51010

1 P.M.
Weather: Few cumulus, broken altocumulus, broken cirrus,
few cirrocumulus overhead
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: ENE at 12 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 36F
6-hr Min temp: 25F
BHO SA 1755 30 SCT E150 BKN 250 BKN 70 256/33/22/0712/029/
FEW CC OVHD/ 8/131 56011 10036 20025

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2017

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..40   NORMAL…..44
MIN…..22   NORMAL…..27
MEAN….31   NORMAL…..36

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-70 [-4.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..34   DEPARTURE……….+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….610   DEPARTURE………+70
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4487   DEPARTURE……..-621
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4076   DIFFERENCE…….+411

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….25 WNW AT  2:07 P.M.
AERO……………………24 WNW AT  2:07 P.M.
ASOS……………………26 WNW AT  2:07 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..25 WNW AT  2:18 P.M. RMY 27
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………18 WNW AT 11:30 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………18 W   AT  2:20 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..17 NW  AT 10:16 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….11.7 WNW
ASOS………………….10.7
DAVIS………………….9.6 NW [320 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……….2.51  DEPARTURE……-0.44
ASOS…………..2.72
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.79  DEPARTURE……+0.42
ASOS……………N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…….-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………10.3  DEPARTURE…….+2.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..62.6  DEPARTURE…….+7.5

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

3/1  61/46/54/+23/0.01/0.0/000/00          41 S   AERO 45 S   RMY 45
3/2  55/26/41/+10/T/T/509/75               58 W   AERO 61 W   RMY 59
3/3  36/19/28/-4/T/T/592/87                38 W   AERO 44 W   RMY N/A
3/4  20/7/14/-18/T/T/622/91                45 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 51
3/5  29/5/17/-15/0.00/0.0/687/100          35 WNW AERO 43 WNW*RMY N/A
3/6  40/11/26/-6/0.00/0.0/641/93           18 WNW AERO 17 NW* RMY N/A
3/7  47/29/38/+5/0.01/0.0/000/00           32 S   AERO 35 S   RMY 36
3/8  55/43/49/+16/0.05/0.0/…/..          35 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 37
3/9  49/35/42/+9/0.0/0.0/…/..            53 W   AERO 59 W   RMY 58
3/10 35/20/28/-5/0.27/2.9/…/..           35 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 40
3/11 20/7/14/-20/0.02/0.2/…/..           43 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 50
3/12 25/4/15/-19/0.00/0.0/…/..           32 W   AERO 40 WNW RMY N/A
3/13 33/8/21/-13/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY N/A
3/14 38/23/31/-4/…/../…/..             60 NE  AERO 62 NE  RMY 62
3/15 27/15/21/-14/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY N/A
3/16 33/17/25/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..          36 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 38
3/17 40/22/31/-5/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 WNW AERO 24 WNW RMY 27

3/18 Low temp since midnight is 24F; normal low is now 27F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2017

3/11/17: DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 20F,
TIES PREVIOUS RECORD SET IN 1885

3/14/17: DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 7.2 INS,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 6.7 INS SET IN 1958

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

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 19
HIGH 77 IN 2012
LOW -2 IN 1967
PRECIP 1.69 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 17.6 INS. IN 1956 [RECORD FOR MONTH] PEAK GUST 75e MPH WNW IN 1941

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono