Sunday, March 20, 2016

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2016
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

A DRY AND COLD START TO THE DAY AS TEMPERATURES STRUGGLE TO GET
OUT OF THE LOW 30S AS CLOUDS BEGIN TO MOVE IN…
SPRING EQUINOX OCCURRED AT 11:30 PM EST ON MARCH 19TH…

The temperature dropped steadily through the night reaching a
low of 23F early this morning. This minimum was five 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 multiple type of clouds on multiple levels in a very
chaotic sky.   Visibility has been excellent near 70 miles
all day.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, Few Altocumulus SW, Few Cirrus W, Few Cumulus
NNE-SE Offshore
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: N at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.19 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
24-hr precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 225/28/16/0308/019/ FEW AC SW FEW CI W FEW
CU NNE-SE OFFSHR/ 8/185 51011 10028 20023

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, Few Stratocumulus NE-W distant, Few Cumulus
overhead and NNW-NE
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: N at 12 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.21 ins. Hg, rising
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 70 229/34/18/0712/021/ FEW SC NE-W DSNT
FEW CU OVHD AND NNW-NE/ 8/805 51004

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered Cumulus, Broken Altocumulus, Broken Cirrocumulus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: N at 10 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.20 ins. Hg, steady then falling
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 34F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
BHO SA 1755 40 SCT E120 BKN 250 BKN 70 227/34/20/0410/020/
SMALL BRUSH FIRE W OF STN CAUSING LGT SMK/ 8/159 58002 10034
20028

SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2016

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..44   NORMAL…..45
MIN…..25   NORMAL…..27
MEAN….35   NORMAL…..36

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL…………………….-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………..+152 [+7.8 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..30   DEPARTURE……….+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….446   DEPARTURE……..-152
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4129   DEPARTURE…….-1037
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5358   DIFFERENCE……-1229

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY……………….25 NNW AT 11:31 P.M.
ASOS……………………29 N   AT 11:32 P.M.
DAVIS…………………..26 NNW AT 11:31 P.M. RMY 26
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY…………………17 NNW AT 11:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE………………18 N   AT 11:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE……………..16 NNW AT 11:32 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….10.6 NW
ASOS………………….10.8
DAVIS…………………9.0 NW [316 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE……-0.19
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.33  DEPARTURE……-1.00
ASOS…………..2.37
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.70  DEPARTURE……-0.05
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…….-8.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..38.6  DEPARTURE……-18.0

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  44/25/35/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..           25 NNW AERO 28 NNW RMY 26

3/20  low temp since midnight is 23F; normal now 28F

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 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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Millette