Tuesday, March 31, 2015

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MONDAY SNOW SHOWERS AMOUNT TO JUST A TRACE,
SUNSHINE, CLOUDS ACCOMPANY MODERATING TEMPERATURES TODAY

Snow showers which started and stopped several times yesterday
amounted to just a trace of new snow. The snow fell lightly
and at times intermittently during the day Monday, limiting
visibility to less than 10 miles at times. Temperatures slowly
climbed to the lower 40s, maxing out at 43F around 3:30 PM EST
as sun tried to poke through the clouds. With temperature
largely above freezing yesterday, the snow pack dropped an
inch to 10 inches of snow on the ground this morning at
the 7:00 AM EST observation.

Clear skies this morning gave way to approaching stratocumulus,
and by the 1:00 PM EST observation the fringe of the next
approaching system was visible to the south and west. High cirrus
and altocumulus were invading to the south, though visibility
remained high at 70 miles in all directions. The maximum
temperature reading by this time was 46F.

For more information about this historic winter, visit our
web site at bluehill.org.

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

1) 150.8 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM March 31st)
2) 144.4 in 1995-1996
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
Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few stratocumulus distant WSW-N,
few cirrus distant NNE-SE
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: W at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.76 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 36F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
24-hr precip: Trace
24-hr snowfall: Trace
Snow depth: 10 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 70 079/36/26/2808/976/ FEW SC DSNT WSW-N FEW CI
DSNT NNE-SE NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/ 8/501 4/010 51020 ASOS 70001
10036 20032

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus
Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: W at 12G22 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.76 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 42 SCT 70 078/41/22/2712G22/976/ 8/500 58001

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrostratus/cirrus, few stratocumulus S-N,
few altocumulus distant S-SSW
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: W at 14G20 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, decreasing, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 46F
6-hr Min temp: 36F
BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 70 065/46/23/2714G20/972/ FEW SC S-N FEW AC
DSNT S-SSW/ 8/535 58013 10046 20036
SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..43   NORMAL…..49
MIN…..28   NORMAL…..31
MEAN….36   NORMAL…..40

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL………………………..-4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-115 [-4.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..29  DEPARTURE………..+4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….982  DEPARTURE………+119
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5719  DEPARTURE………+260
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5459  DIFFERENCE……..+123

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………36  SSW AT   8:09 A.M.*
ASOS…………………..38  SSW AT   7:50 A.M.
DAVIS………………….37  SSW AT   8:09 A.M. RMY 39
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..30  SSW AT   7:50 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..29  SSW AT   7:51 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….27  SSW AT   7:51 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..16.0 SSW
ASOS…………………..16.5
DAVIS………………….14.6 SW [215 degrees] * Last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…TRACE   DEPARTURE…..-0.17
ASOS…………..0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….3.25   DEPARTURE…..-1.98
ASOS…………..N/A
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….14.57   DEPARTURE…..+1.07
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………TRACE  DEPARTURE…..-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….13.3  DEPARTURE…..+0.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..150.8  DEPARTURE….+91.4

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/-7/0.00/0.0/567/82              30 WSW RMY 30
3/8  41/25/33/0/T/T/208/30                    38 WNW RMY 41
3/9  45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/565/81              40 W   RMY 39
3/10 52/32/42/+9/…./0.0/252/36              28 S   RMY 27
3/11 55/38/47/+13/…./0.0/604/86             37 WNW RMY N/A
3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/677/96              44 N   RMY 48
3/13 40/18/29/-5/0.00/0.0/581/82              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/-2/0.03/0.6/021/03              39 NW  RMY 39
3/16 44/23/34/-1/0.00/0.0/516/72              28 NW  RMY N/A
3/17 48/25/37/+1/0.17/T/173/24                53 NW  RMY 63
3/18 30/19/25/-11/0.00/0.0/700/97             51 NW  RMY 56
3/19 31/15/23/-13/0.00/0.0/696/96             37 NW  RMY 39
3/20 32/19/26/-11/…./…/000/00             17 NNW RMY 15
3/21 41/25/33/-4/…./…/…/..              36 WNW RMY N/A
3/22 36/17/27/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..             50 W   RMY 55
3/23 31/14/23/-15/0.00/0.0/…/..             36 WNW RMY 35
3/24 39/16/28/-10/0.00/0.0/…/..             20 NNW RMY N/A
3/25 48/25/37/-1/0.08/0.0/…/..              32 S   RMY 31
3/26 54/35/45/+6/…./…/…/..              32 SSW RMY 32
3/27 41/36/39/+0/…./0.0/000/00              22 NNE RMY N/A
3/28 36/26/31/-8/0.44/5.0/000/00              30 NNW RMY 30
3/29 40/21/31/-9/0.00/0.0/…/..              26 NW  RMY N/A
3/30 43/28/36/-4/T/T/…/..                   36 SSW RMY 39

3/31 low since midnight is 32F normal low is 32F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015

-3/28 5.0 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. SURPASSED OLD RECORD OF 3.0 INCHES SET
BACK IN 1932.

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 31
HIGH 89 IN 1998  [RECORD HIGH FOR MONTH] LOW 16 IN 1923
PRECIP 2.89 IN 1987
SNOWFALL 15.0 IN 1997
PEAK GUST 81 MPH SSE IN 1987

RECORDS FOR APRIL 1
HIGH 74 IN 1967
LOW 6 IN 1923 [RECORD FOR MONTH] PRECIP 3.47 IN. IN 2004 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 15.0 IN. IN 1997 [RECORD FOR MONTH] PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSW IN 1962

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald