Saturday, March 19, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

RAIN SHOWERS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AHEAD OF COLDER
AND DRIER AIR THAT HAS MOVED IN TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY
AND COOL WITH HIGH THIN CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON…
TEMPS FOR MARCH NOW AVERAGE 8.3F DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL PER DAY

A brief period of rain showers on Friday afternoon brought
a total of 0.01 inches of new precipitation, which mostly
fell between 3 PM and 4 PM EST yesterday. In that hour,
the temperature dropped seven degrees from 50F to 43F. The
temperature dropped steadily through the night reaching a
low of 25F early this morning. This minimum was two degrees
colder than normal for the date. The dew point has dropped
as well from near 30F on Friday to near 10F today. A nearly
completely clear sky earlier this morning has been filled
with high thin clouds on occasion that have not obstructed
the sun shine today. Visibility has been excellent near
80 miles all day.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant offshore ENE-ESE,
few altocumulus distant S-SW
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: NW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 25F
24-hr precip: 0.01 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 75 190/26/10/3208/009/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR
ENE-ESE FEW AC DSNT S-SW/ 8/530 51022 70001 10031 20025

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant SW-WSW
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.09 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 191/34/9/3008/009/ FEW AC DSNT SE-WSW/
8/030 50001

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, thin broken cirrus fibrarus
with a few cirrus uncinus, few cirrus castellanus S-SW
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, falling, then falling
more slowly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 42F
6-hr Min temp: 26F
BHO SA 1755 220 SCT 250 -BKN 80 177/40/11/2907/005/ FEW
ACCAS S-SW/ 8/081 56014 10042 20026

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..51   NORMAL…..45
MIN…..33   NORMAL…..27
MEAN….42   NORMAL…..36

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+153 [+8.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..23   DEPARTURE……….-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….416   DEPARTURE……..-153
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4099   DEPARTURE…….-1038
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5316   DIFFERENCE……-1217

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….43 WNW AT 3:33 P.M.
ASOS……………………42 WNW AT 3:33 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..40 NNW AT 3:33 P.M. RMY 43
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………30 WNW AT 3:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………30 WNW AT 3:34 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..26 WNW AT 3:34 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….16.0 WNW
ASOS………………….15.9
DAVIS…………………13.5 W [281 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.01  DEPARTURE……-0.18
ASOS…………..0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.33  DEPARTURE……-0.81
ASOS…………..2.37
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.70  DEPARTURE……+0.14
ASOS………….12.33

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…….-8.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..38.6  DEPARTURE……-17.5

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/…./…/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/…/..          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/…/..           25 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
3/17  63/40/52/+16/…./0.0/…/..          44 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 45
3/18  51/33/42/+6/0.01/0.0/…/..           43 WNW AERO 45 WNW RMY 43

3/19  low temp since midnight is 25F; normal now 27F

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

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 20
HIGH 79 IN 1945
LOW 4 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.39 INS. IN 1957
SNOWFALL 11.4 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono