Thursday, March 13, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

HEAVY RAIN, FREEZING RAIN TURNING TO SNOW AS
TEMPERATURES FREE-FALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

Last night following a shift in the winds, temperatures slid an
impressive 11 degrees in one hour from 49F at 9:00 PM EST to
38F by 10:00 PM. By the 7:00 AM observation temperatures had
fallen to 19F with moderate snow and visibilities of 1 mile.

Temperatures have remained in the teens through the morning
along with moderate to gradually light snow by mid day. By 1:00 PM
a layer of low stratus were beginning to break apart with
visibility increasing to 10 miles. Wind were on the increase
gusting to 37 MPH from the WNW.

Preliminary Storm Totals:
Liquid precip: 0.64 inches
Total Snow: 1.4 inches

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Moderate snow and fog with overcast stratus
Temperature: 19F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: NW at 16G27 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.23 ins. Hg, rising rapidly
Visibility: 1 mile, reduced by snow and fog
6-hr max temp: 33F
6-hr min temp: 19F
24-hr. precip: 0.59 of rain, freezing rain and frozen precipitation
24-hr. snow: 0.5 inches
24-hr. glaze ice: 0.25 inches
Snow depth: 3 inches
BHO SA 1155 E10 OVC 1SF 899/19/17/3116G27/923/ NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.5 IN
NEW GLZ ICE PST 24 HRS 0.25 IN PRESRR/ 8/6// 4/003 53042
ASOS 60008 70058 MANUAL 70059 10033 20019

10 A.M.
Weather: Moderate snow and fog with overcast stratus,
occasionally light snow
Temperature: 16F Dew Point: 14F; Wind: W at 14G21 kts,
Peak Wind: 28 kts WNW @ 9:03 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.36 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 1 mile, reduced by snow and fog
3-hr new snow: 0.9 inches
BHO SA 1455 E14 OVC 1SF 941/16/14/2914G21/936/
NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 0.9 IN SNW OCNL S- PK WND 3028/03/ 8/6// 52042

1 P.M.
Weather: Very light snow, broken stratocumulus, overcast altostratus,
sun dimly visible
Temperature: 17F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: WNW at 17G25 kts,
Peak Wind: 32 kts WNW @ 12:20 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.44 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 10 miles, except 8 miles, ESE, snow showers
6-hr max temp: 19F
6-hr min temp: 15F
6-hr snow: 0.9 in.
6-hr precip: 0.05 in.
BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN 29 OVC 10S- 968/17/12/3017G25/944/
VSBY ESE 8 MI PRCP VRY LGT SUN DMLY VSBL NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 0.9 PK WND 3032/20/
8/51/ 53027 ASOS 60004 MANUAL 60005 10019 20015

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..53    NORMAL…..43
MIN…..34    NORMAL…..25
MEAN….44    NORMAL…..34

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-35 [-3.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..21  DEPARTURE………-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….425  DEPARTURE………+35
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5016  DEPARTURE………+58
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4466  DIFFERENCE…….+550

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………29 NNW AT  10:36 P.M.
AERO…………………..29 N   AT  11:31 P.M.
ASOS…………………..30 NNW AT  10:46 P.M.
DAVIS………………….28 S   AT  10:40 P.M. RMY 30
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21 NNW AT  10:47 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..22 S   AT  10:43 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….21 S   AT  10:40 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………9.3 ESE
ASOS…………………9.4
DAVIS………………..8.1 ESE [112 deg.] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.59  DEPARTURE………….+0.43
ASOS…………..0.58
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.64  DEPARTURE………….-1.44
ASOS…………..0.64
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….10.73  DEPARTURE………….+0.23
ASOS………….11.18

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.5  DEPARTURE…………..+0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.6  DEPARTURE…………..-4.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..83.4  DEPARTURE………….+30.4

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  52/27/40/+7/0.00/0.0/…/..          26 NW  AERO 29 MPH NNW RMY 27
3/9  40/25/33/0/0.00/0.0/…/..           28 NW  AERO 29 MPH NW  RMY 29
3/10 42/26/34/+1/0.03/0.8/…/..          21 S   AERO 22 MPH S   RMY 27
3/11 56/34/45/+11/0.00/0.0/…/..         33 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 34
3/12 53/34/44/+10/…./…/…/..         29 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY 30

3/13 morning low temp: 19F; the normal low is now 26F

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 13
HIGH 72 IN 1990
LOW -1 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.47 INS. IN 1993
SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 1993
PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1993 [THE “STORM OF THE CENTURY”]

RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 4.95 INS. IN 2010
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ENE IN 2010

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald