Sunday, March 18, 2018

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2018
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

COLD AND CLEAR WITH COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE SINCE
FEBRUARY…

The morning low temperature today of 10F was the coldest
since the low of 4F was observed on February 3rd.  The
minimum temperature of 10F today was also the coldest
temperature this late in the season since 6F was recorded
on 19 March 1993. The high temperature has managed to
climb up to only 29F by early afternoon, which is
considerably colder than the high on Saturday of 40F.

Yesterday’s strong winds and warm up to 40 has kept
the ice off the ponds today.  clear sunny skies will
also help keep the ice away.

With the dew point below 0F, the air is very dry and
the visibility has been near 70 miles much of the day.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Few Stratocumulus distant offshore E-ESE
Temperature: 13F; Dew Point: -5F; Wind: NW at 13G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, falling then rising
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 14F
6-hr Min temp: 10F
24-hr precip:  0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 12 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 105/13/M5/3113G19/984/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR E-ESE/
8/500 4/012 53012 10014 20010

10 A.M.
Weather: Few cumulus distant offshore
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: -1F; Wind: NW at 10G19 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, steady
Visibility: 80 miles
3-hr precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 105/21/M1/3210G19/984/ FEW CU DSNT OFFSHR E/
8/100 50000

1 P.M.
Weather: Few cumulus distant offshore
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: -2F; Wind: NW at 15G24 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 ins. Hg, steady then decreasing
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 29F
6-hr Min temp: 10F
6-hr precip:   0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 12 ins.
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 095/29/M2/3215G24/981/ FEW CU DSNT OFFSHR E/
8/100 4/012 58010 10029 20013

SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..40   NORMAL…..44
MIN…..15   NORMAL…..27
MEAN….28   NORMAL…..36

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………….+7 [+0.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY………….37   DEPARTURE……….+8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………538   DEPARTURE……….-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON……….4660   DEPARTURE……..-448
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…..4487   DIFFERENCE…….+173

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….46 W   AT 10:47 A.M.
AERO……………………45 W   AT 10:47 A.M.
ASOS……………………49 W   AT 10:47 A.M.
DAVIS…………………..47 M   AT 10:46 A.M ** RMY 45
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………33 WNW AT 12:04 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………33 W   AT 12:05 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..31 M   AT 12:03 P.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….17.7 W
ASOS………………….17.4
DAVIS…………………15.4 **
** 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……+5.20
ASOS…………..8.67
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….18.08  DEPARTURE……+6.89
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…….+32.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..84.8  DEPARTURE…….+29.6

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 40/15/28/-8/0.00/0.0/…/..    46 W   AERO 45 W   RMY 49

3/18 Low temp since midnight is 10F; 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 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: Robert Millette