Saturday, March 5, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

LIGHT SNOW FRIDAY AMOUNTS TO A HALF INCH…
MOSTLY SUNNY TODAY WITH HIGH CLOUDS MOVING IN…

Snow showers that began around mid-day on Friday continued
until shortly before midnight as a powerful ocean storm
moved eastward well offshore yesterday. A total of 0.5 inches
of new snow was measured on the boards this morning. Winds
were gusty overnight as well with a peak to 32 mph from the
north at 9:00 PM EST. The temperature reached a high of only
30F early yesterday afternoon, and this dropped to a low of
20F this morning. The high on Friday of 30F was the coldest
maixmum temperature since February 14th.

The sky was clear early this morning with only a few clouds
visible to the east from the departing storm.  During today,
thin cirrus and cirrostratus have moved in to partly filter
the sunshine.  Visibility has been excellent today near 75
miles as very dry air has moved in with dew points settling
into the single digits this afternoon.

With a warm end to the month of February, the average monthly
temperature of 32.2F is the 11th warmest February on record,
and when combined with the warmest December on record and a
warm month of January, this winter just barely became the warmest
on record with an average temperature of 34.9F.

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

1) 34.9 in 1984
2) 34.3 in 2012
3) 34.0 in 1998
4) 33.9 in 1954
33.9 in 1981
6) 33.7 in 1976
7) 33.6 in 1997
33.6 in 2002
9) 33.1 in 1925
10) 32.6 in 1991
11) 32.2 in 2016
12) 31.9 in 1960
31.9 in 1999

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

1) 34.9 in 2015-2016
2) 34.8 in 2001-2002
3) 34.3 in 2011-2012
4) 32.6 in 1997-1998
5) 32.3 in 1936-1937
32.3 in 1998-1999

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 42.2 [+5.4] Avg. Min. 22.5 [+3.4] Mean      32.4 [+4.5] 24-hour Corrected Mean: 32.2
Max. for month:  64 on 1st
Min. for month: -14 on 14th

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 941 [-130] Total for the season: 3683 [-919] Total for last season: 4708

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 5.60 [+1.53] Greatest in 24 hrs: n/a
Snowfall: 22.5 [+8.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: 12.5 on the 5th

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 14.4
Avg. corrected wind speed: 14.7
Prevailing wind direction: WNW @ 14%
Peak gust and direction: 76 S on the 25th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 9,000 out of possible 17,796 or 51%
Astronomical total minutes:   9,302 out of possible 18,418 or 51%

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus castellanus offshore
ENE-SE, few altocumulus distant NE-ESE
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: NNW at 13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.14 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 24F
6-hr Min temp: 20F
24-hr precip: 0.04 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.5 inch
Snow on ground: Trace
BHO SA 1155 CLR 75 208/21/13/3413/014/ FEW SCCAS OFFSHR
ENE-SE FEW AC DSNT NE-ESE NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.5 INS/
8/530 53026 70004 10024 20020

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus NE-SSE
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: N at 11G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.18 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 75 miles
BHO SA 1455 300 -SCT 75 220/27/10/0111G21/018/ FEW SC
NE-SSE/ 8/501 50012

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, scattered cirrostratus,
thin broken cirrus fibratus
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: N at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.16 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 250 SCT 300 -BKN 75 214/31/9/3407/016/
FEW CU DSNT ESE-SSE/ 8/106 58006 10032 20021

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..30   NORMAL…..41
MIN…..24   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….27   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………….+1 [+0.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..38   DEPARTURE……….+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….133   DEPARTURE……….-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..3816   DEPARTURE……..-886
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4857   DIFFERENCE……-1041

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….32 N   AT  9:00 P.M.
ASOS……………………38 N   AT  9:00 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..33 N   AT 11:01 P.M. RMY 34
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………22 N   AT  9:39 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………22 N   AT 10:01 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..20 NNW AT 10:01 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….10.6 N
ASOS………………….10.7
DAVIS………………….8.9 N [355 Deg.] * Last of several occurrences.

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.04  DEPARTURE……-0.13
ASOS…………..0.05
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.45  DEPARTURE……-0.24
ASOS…………..0.48
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR………..9.82  DEPARTURE……+0.71
ASOS………….10.44

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.5  DEPARTURE…….-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.5  DEPARTURE…….-1.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..38.6  DEPARTURE……-11.0

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/305/51          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34
2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/602/100         23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A
2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53
2/4   55/39/47/+21/0.08/0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
2/5   39/19/29/+3/1.62/12.5/000/00          37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35
2/6   35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/532/87            25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23
2/7   43/26/35/+8/0.00/0.0/577/94           35 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY N/A
2/8   36/16/26/-1/0.60/8.7/000/00           53 NE  AERO 55 NE  RMY 53
2/9   26/17/22/-5/T/T/000/00                21 N   AERO 22 N   RMY N/A
2/10  33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.1/006/01           23 W   AERO 23 W   RMY 21
2/11  26/7/17/-10/T/T/131/21                39 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 42
2/12  23/4/13/-14/0.00/0.0/433/69           31 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 21
2/13  21/-7/7/-21/0.00/0.0/459/73           41 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 43
2/14  10/-14/-2/-30/0.00/0.0/632/100        33 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY N/A
2/15  32/-2/15/-13/…./1.2/178/28          24 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
2/16  55/32/44/+16/…./0.0/006/01          65 SSE AERO 69 SSE RMY 64
2/17  43/30/37/+9/0.00/0.0/576/90           33 W   AERO 35 W   RMY N/A
2/18  32/20/26/+3/0.00/0.0/637/99           25 NNW AERO 29 NW  RMY 25
2/19  39/16/28/-1/0.01/T/452/70             24 SSW AERO 26 SSW RMY N/A
2/20  58/31/45/+16/…./…/363/56          44 SSW AERO 44 SSW RMY 41
2/21  53/39/46/+17/0.00/0.0/475/73          39 WNW AERO 43 WNW RMY 39
2/22  45/29/37/+8/0.00/0.0/608/93           18 NW  AERO 20 NW  RMY 17
2/23  37/25/31/+1/…./T/000/00             26 E   AERO 26 E   RMY N/A
2/24  60/33/47/+17/…./0.0/000/00          60 S   AERO 66 S   RMY N/A
2/25  63/37/50/+15/…./0.0/218/33          76 S   AERO 84 S   RMY N/A
2/26  38/22/30/0/…./0.0/665/100           42 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 41
2/27  38/16/27/-4/0.00/0.0/654/98           31 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY 33
2/28  56/34/45/+14/0.00/0.0/335/50          32 S   AERO 37 SSW RMY N/A
2/29  63/41/52/+21/T/0.0/458/68             39 W   AERO 41 W   RMY N/A

3/1   45/30/38/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..           54 W   AERO 60 W   RMY 53
3/2   52/21/37/+6/0.41/0.0/…/..           44 WNW AERP 47 NW  RMY 42
3/3   34/16/25/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..           30 WNW AERO 36 WNW RMY N/A
3/4   30/24/27/-5/…./…/…/..           32 N   AERO 38 N   RMY 34

3/5 morning low temp. since midnight 20F; normal now 23F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

2/14/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF -8F SET IN 1979**

2/14/16: **TIED DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 10F,
MATCHING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 10F SET IN 1979**

2/25/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 76 MPH S,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 75 MPH S IN 1965**

2/29/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 56F SET BACK IN 1976**

2/29/16: **DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 41F TIES RECORD
SET IN 1896**

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 5
HIGH 64 IN 1979
LOW -2 IN 1948
PRECIP 1.76 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 76e MPH WNW IN 1971

RECORDS FOR MARCH 6
HIGH 66 IN 1894
LOW 3 IN 1948, 2007
PRECIP 1.85 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 15.5 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 82 MPH S IN 1959

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono