Tuesday, March 17, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015  ST PATRICK’S DAY
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

LIGHT RAIN THIS MORNING BUT CLEARING THIS AFTERNOON
SNOW DEPTH FINALLY UNDER 20 INCHES

It was a gloomy start to the day at the summit, with light rain
falling for most of the morning hours, adding up to a total of
0.17 inches.  Low clouds and fog were also present for much of
this time.  The rain ended around noon, however, and the sky has
turned partly cloudy since then.  With the emergence of some
sunshine, the temperature had risen to 46F by the 2:00 EDT
observation.  The wind has shifted from south to west during
the day, and a cold frontal passage later today will shift the
wind to the NW, which will usher in much colder air tonight.
Wind speeds were light this morning but have increased to 15-20 mph
this afternoon, with gusts over 30mph.

Seasonal snowfall remains at 144.0 inches, just 0.4 inches below
the snowiest season on record set in 1995-1996. For more information
about this historic winter, visit our web site at bluehillobservatory.org.

The average snow depth had fallen to 18 inches this morning. This
ends a streak of 42 consecutive days with 20 inches or more of snow
on the ground, firmly in second place all time.  The record is
53 days set back in 1948.

BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015):

1) 144.4 in 1995-1996
2) 144.0 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM March 17th)
3) 136.0 in 1947-1948
4) 119.4 in 2004-2005
5) 113.1 in 2002-2003
6) 111.5 in 1915-1916
7) 109.6 in 1966-1967
8) 106.8 in 1955-1956
9) 103.4 in 1903-1904
10) 102.5 in 1922-1923

BHO Longest Duration of 20″+ Snow Depth, (1885-2015):

1) 53 days, 27 Dec, 1947 – 17 Feb, 1948
2) 42 days, 3 Feb – 16 Mar, 2015
3) 34 days, 5 Feb – 9 Mar, 1920
34 days, 7 Feb – 12 Mar, 1978
5) 23 days, 25 Feb – 19 Mar, 1969
6) 21 days, 27 Jan – 16 Feb, 2011
7) 11 days, 15-25 Mar, 1916
11 days, 5-15 Jan, 1961

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light rain, overcast nimbostratus, thin fog
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: SSW at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.57 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 5 miles, light rain and thin fog
6-hr Max temp: 39F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
24-hr precip: 0.07 ins
24-hr snowfall: None
Snow depth: 18 inches
BHO SA 1155 E40 OVC 5R- 014/35/35/2110/957/ THN FG ALQDS/ 8/02/
4/018 58021 ASOS 60006 70006 MANUAL 70007 10039 20035

10 A.M.
Weather: Sky obscured by light rain and dense fog
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: SW at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.51 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, light rain and dense fog
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/16R-F 993/36/36/2308/951/ 8//// 58021
ASOS 60010 MANUAL 60009

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus, few lower altocumulus SE,
altostratus distant E-S
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 39F; Wind: W at 17G28 kts,
Wind: Peak wind 28 kts W at 1:53 P.M.
Sea-Level Pressure: 29.41 ins. Hg, falling then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles, except 25 miles NE-E, distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 46F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
BHO SA 1755 E25 BKN 90 BKN 40 959/46/39/2717G28/941/ FEW LWR AC SE
AS DSNT E-S DSNT HZ VSBY NE-E 25 PK WND 2828/53/ 8/550 58034 ASOS 60012
MANUAL 60010 10046 20035

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..44   NORMAL…..44
MIN…..23   NORMAL…..26
MEAN….34   NORMAL…..35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-29 [-2.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..31  DEPARTURE………..+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….540  DEPARTURE……….+29
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5248  DEPARTURE………+169
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5156  DIFFERENCE………+92

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………28  NW  AT  2:32 A.M. *
ASOS…………………..N/A
DAVIS………………….24  NW  AT  3-4 A.M.  RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..21  NW  AT  12:23 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..N/A
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….N/A
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………… 11.2 NW
ASOS………………….N/A
DAVIS…………………9.8  WNW [298 degrees] * Last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.07   DEPARTURE…..-0.11
ASOS…………..0.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.69   DEPARTURE…..-0.91
ASOS…………..N/A
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….13.03   DEPARTURE…..+2.14
ASOS…………..N/A ***
*** ASOS monthly and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE……-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….6.5  DEPARTURE……-1.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….144.0  DEPARTURE…..+89.3

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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  29/14/22/-9/…./…/000/00              25 SSW RMY 25
3/2  35/22/29/-2/…./…/480/71              44 WNW RMY 48
3/3  32/13/23/-9/…./2.8/340/50              33 S   RMY N/A
3/4  41/32/37/+5/…./…/000/00              33 SW  RMY 36
3/5  36/16/26/-6/0.02/0.2/000/00              28 NW  RMY 29
3/6  26/5/16/-16/0.00/0.0/681/99              28 NW  RMY 25
3/7  38/13/26/-7/0.00/0.0/…/..              30 WSW RMY 30
3/8  41/25/33/0/T/T/…/..                    38 WNW RMY 41
3/9  45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/…/..              40 W   RMY 39
3/10 52/32/42/+9/…./0.0/…/..              28 S   RMY 27
3/11 55/38/47/+13/…./0.0/…/..             37 WNW RMY N/A
3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/…/..              44 N   RMY 48
3/13 40/18/29/-5/0.00/0.0/…/..              23 SSW RMY 26
3/14 41/29/35/0/0.84/0.0/000/00               23 SSW RMY 23
3/15 41/24/33/-2/0.03/0.6/…/..              39 NW  RMY 39
3/16 44/23/34/-1/0.00/0.0/…/..              28 NW  RMY N/A

3/17 morning low temp: 35F since midnight, normal low is now 27F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015

-NONE SO FAR.

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 17
HIGH 69 IN 2003
LOW 6 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968
SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973

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

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O’Brien