Thursday, March 23, 2023

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

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2023
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0543E
SUNSET:  1800E

OVERCAST SKIES, BREEZY, AND MILD WITH A FEW LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS….

Skies have been cloudy today, even spent some time early this
morning in the clouds (dense fog), but this hasn’t prevented
the temperature from rising to near 60F late this morning into
early this afternoon! A few light rain showers are moving
through this afternoon, but so far not amounting to anything
more than a trace. All in all, it’s been a nice day to be
outdoors.

The wind has been increasing this afternoon out of the south-
southwest. The average speed for the day is around 13mph. The
peak gust thus far is 35mph, occurring just before 12:30pm.

Visibility has been limited today, first by fog, then by
general hazy conditions. We could only see 1/4 of a mile early,
but improved to only around 25-30 miles for the balance of the
day.

The low since midnight is 45F, this is 16 degrees above the
normal low of 29F. The high so far today is 59F, which is
13 degrees above the normal high of 46F.

————————————————————–

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured, vertical visibility 200ft
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 45F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S @ 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1017.4 mb; 30.04 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 1/4 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 46F
6-hr Min temp: 45F
24-hr Precip: Trace
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W2 1/4F 174/45/45/1807/004/ 8//// 58022 70000
10046 20045

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast cirrostratus
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 40F; Relative Humidity: 55%
Wind: S @ 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1014.4 mb; 29.96 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E100 BKN 220 OVC 30 144/55/40/1910/996/ HAZY/
8/077 58030

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast
cirrostratus
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 39F; Relative Humidity: 50%
Wind: SSW @ 17G24 kts, peak wind SSW 35mph at 12:26 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1009.8mb; 29.82 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 59F
6-hr Min temp: 45F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow Depth: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E50 BKN 120 BKN 200 OVC 30 098/57/39/2117G24/982/
HAZY PK WND 2030/26/ 8/577 58046 10059 20045

————————————————————–

SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….55   NORMAL…..46
MIN…….38   NORMAL…..29
MEAN……47   NORMAL…..37

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL………+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………………+71 [+3.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2022 THRU JUN 2023)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………18  DEPARTURE…….-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..608  DEPARTURE…….-72
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4328  DEPARTURE……-784
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4623  DEPARTURE……-295

PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
420C, Contacting, Merlin and Richards are all Main Tower.

420C (Official)…………24 SSW @  7:24 P.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….25 SSW @  7:24 P.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….26 SSW @ 11:58 P.M.
DAVIS #1……………….26 S   @  9:05 P.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………29 S   @  7:29 P.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..26 SSW @  7:27 P.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..27 SSW @ 11:58 P.M.
MERLIN…………………M
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……24     @  7:24 P.M.

FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………18 SSW @  7:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..19     @  7:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..18     @  7:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………19 S   @  7:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………21 S   @  7:19 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..19 SSW @  7:39 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..19 SSW @  7:16 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………19     @  7:39 P.M.

AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL…….11.0 ENE [264 total miles] VECTOR #1……………..10.8
VECTOR #2……………..11.4
DAVIS #1………………11.2 ESE
DAVIS #2………………11.7 SE
RMY #1………………..10.9 ESE
RMY #2………………..11.4 ESE
RICHARDS (C5C)…………11.3

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..5.02 DEPARTURE…..+1.10
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR…………..13.67 DEPARTURE…..+1.25

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………..0.0 DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………….10.6 DEPARTURE……-1.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2022-2023)……34.9 DEPARTURE…..-29.3

————————————————————–

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

3/1   43/27/35/+4/0.00/0.0/425/63         20 NW   VEC1 21 SE  RMY 21
3/2   40/34/37/+5/0.31/0.0/000/00         35 NW   VEC1 36 NW  RMY 39
3/3   44/29/37/+5/0.01/0.1/462/68         33 NW   VEC1 34 NW  RMY 36
3/4   33/28/31/-1/0.82/3.3/000/00         48 E    VEC1 49 NE  RMY 52
3/5   41/25/33/+1/0.00/0.0/240/35         35 NW   VEC1 36 NW  RMY 37
3/6   46/31/39/+6/0.00/0.0/571/83         46 WNW  VEC1 48 NW  RMY 51
3/7   38/26/32/-1/T/T/387/56              41 NW   VEC1 42 NW  RMY 46
3/8   44/26/35/+2/T/T/194/28              32 N    VEC1 34 N   RMY 34
3/9   47/32/40/+7/0.00/0.0/473/68         28 NW   VEC1 28 NW  RMY 29
3/10  49/27/38/+4/T/0.0/616/88            18 W    VEC1 18 SE  RMY 17
3/11  36/29/33/-1/0.14/T/000/00           32 NE   VEC1 34 NE  RMY 34
3/12  41/28/35/+1/0.00/0.0/571/81         26 NNE  VEC1 26 NNE RMY 27
3/13  41/32/37/+3/0.52/0.0/000/00         29 E    VEC1 31 E   RMY 33
3/14  39/31/35/0/3.18/6.9/000/00          51 NNE  VEC1 52 NNE RMY 55
3/15  39/30/35/0/0.00/0.0/342/48          46 NNW  VEC1 49 NNW RMY 53
3/16  49/29/39/+4/0.00/0.0/445/62         30 NW   VEC1 31 NW  RMY 34
3/17  52/37/45/+9/T/0.0/036/05            32 S    VEC1 36 S   RMY 36
3/18  52/36/44/+8/0.01/0.0/376/52         30 WNW  VEC1 31 WNW RMY 31
3/19  38/26/32/-4/0.00/0.0/682/94         47 WNW  VEC1 46 WNW RMY 46
3/20  51/25/38/+1/0.00/0.0/706/97         32 WSW  VEC1 34 WSW RMY 35
3/21  58/32/45/+8/0.00/0.0/…/..         33 WNW  VEC1 35 WNW RMY 36
3/22  55/38/47/+10/T/0.0/…/..           24 SSW  VEC1 25 SSW RMY 26

3/23  The low since midnight is 45F, the daily normal low is 29F

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 23
HIGH 78 IN 1938
LOW 3 IN 1934
PRE 2.52 INS. IN 2010
SNOW 3.0 INS. IN 1977
WIND 78e MPH W IN 1940

RECORDS FOR MARCH 24
HIGH 70 IN 1920
LOW 6 IN 1906
PRECIP 1.51 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 71 MPH W IN 1968

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas