Saturday, March 8, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

FIRST WEEK OF MARCH OVER 9 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE
ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES RETURN TODAY

After a very cold start to March, today has been a welcome respite from the
cold weather.  The morning low of 27F was a few degrees above average, and
the temperature has climbed to 50F so far this afternoon, the first time this
mark has been hit since February 23.  Today will be only the second above
average day this month.  Six days of the month so far have had morning low
temperatures of 16F or less, and four have had double digit temperature
departures on the cool side of normal.  Through yesterday, the month was 9.3
degrees below average for temperatures.  This is the coldest first week of
March since 1978!  Precipitation has also been lacking this month, with only
0.02 inches of liquid measured during some light snow on the 5th, which brought
us our 0.3 inches of snowfall for the month so far.

Part of the reason for the warmth today has been the abundance of sunshine,
with mostly clear skies throughout the day with a few passing clouds.
Visibility has been somewhat limited by haze today, running at about 45-55
miles for most of the day.  As of 7:00 this morning our snow depth still stood
at 7 inches, though melting is certainly occurring today with such warm
temperatures.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, small patch of altocumulus N, altocumulus distant SW-N and
distant E-SSE, thin smoke layer above horizon W-NE
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: N at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.82 ins. Hg, falling then falling more slowly
Visibility: 55 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 31F
6-hr min temp: 27F
24-hr precip: none
Snow depth: 7 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 55 099/31/18/3506/982/ SML PTCH AC N AC DSNT SW-N AND
DSNT E-SSE DSNT HZ THN K LYR ABV HRZN W-NE/ 8/030 4/007 56008 10031 20027

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, altocumulus distant SE-S and distant SW-NNE, few thin cirrus
mostly overhead and SE-S, thin smoke layer above horizon SW-N and NNE-E
Temperature: 40F Dew Point: 23F; Wind: NW at 6 kts,
Wind: Direction variable W-N
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg, falling slightly
Visibility: 45 miles, distant haze
BHO SA 1455 CLR 45 095/40/23/3106/981/ AC DSNT SE-S AND DSNT SW-NNE
FEW THN CI MSTLY OVHD AND SE-S THN K LYR ABV HRZN SW-N AND NNE-E DSNT HZ
WND 27V35/ 8/031 58004

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, altocumulus distant all quadrants except SE-SSE, few cirrus
distant S-SSW
Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: NW at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze
6-hr max temp: 50F
6-hr min temp: 31F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 070/49/22/3207/974/ AC DSNT ALQDS XCPT SE-SSE
FEW CI DSNT S-SSW DSNT HZ/ 8/031 58025 10050 20031

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..35    NORMAL…..42
MIN…..16    NORMAL…..24
MEAN….26    NORMAL…..33

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-64 [-9.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..39  DEPARTURE………+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….296  DEPARTURE………+64
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4887  DEPARTURE………+87
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4330  DIFFERENCE…….+557

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………18 SE  AT  11:32 A.M.
AERO…………………..17 SE  AT  11:32 A.M.
ASOS…………………..16 SE  AT  11:33 A.M.
DAVIS………………….17 SE  AT  11:32 A.M. RMY 18
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..11 SE  AT  11:34 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..13 SE  AT  11:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….13 SE  AT  11:33 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….5.8 ENE
ASOS………………….6.1
DAVIS…………………5.4 E [90 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.17
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.02  DEPARTURE………….-1.19
ASOS…………..0.03
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….10.11  DEPARTURE………….+0.48
ASOS………….10.55

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……..  0.0  DEPARTURE…………..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….0.3  DEPARTURE…………..-3.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..82.1  DEPARTURE………….+31.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2014 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
RMY:  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  34/12/23/-8/0.00/0.0/458/68          28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30
3/2  37/28/33/2/T/T/014/02                22 SW  AERO 22 MPH SW  RMY 29
3/3  28/11/20/-12/0.00/0.0/000/00         29 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY N/A
3/4  29/6/18/-14/0.00/0.0/444/65          17 SW  AERO 16 MPH SW  RMY 17
3/5  27/16/22/-10/0.02/0.3/000/00         21 NE  AERO 20 MPH N   RMY 23
3/6  26/7/17/-15/0.00/0.0/689/100         23 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY N/A
3/7  35/16/26/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..          18 SE  AERO 17 MPH SE  RMY 18

3/8 morning low temp: 27F; the normal low is now 23F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2014
None so far.

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 8
HIGH 66 IN 2012
LOW 2 IN 1986
PRECIP 2.20 INS. IN 2008
SNOWFALL 8.3 INS. IN 1941
PEAK GUST 69 MPH SSW IN 2008

RECORDS FOR MARCH 9
HIGH 71 IN 2000
LOW 1 IN 2007
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1998
SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 102e MPH S IN 1942 [RECORD FOR MONTH]

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien