Tuesday, March 5, 2019

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

DRY AND COOL WITH ABUNDANT SUNSHINE ATOP
GREAT BLUE HILL….

We observed nearly cloudless skies and a visibility
around 60 miles for the majority of the day. Winds
remained light and westerly, with a peak gust so far
today of 28 mph. A snow core measurement was taken
with a depth of 16 ins. Liquid from the core was
2.55 ins. The high temperature so far today is 27F,
14 degrees below the daily maximum of 41F. The low
since midnight is 10F, 13 degrees below the normal
minimum of 23F.

The snow total of 15.8 from yesterday and the day
before set a March snowfall record of 10th highest:

BHO Greatest March Snowstorms, inches (1885-2019):

1) 30.3 on March 3-5, 1960
2) 30.0 on March 31 – April 1, 1997
3) 29.8 on March 6-8, 2013
4) 23.0 on March 5-7, 2001
23.0 on March 13, 2018
6) 19.5 on March 19-20, 1956
7) 17.8 on March 15-16, 1967
8) 17.5 on March 20-22, 1958
9) 16.9 on March 11-14, 1939
10) 15.8 on March 3-4, 2019
11) 15.4 on March 29-30, 1984
12) 15.0 on March 7-8, 2018

PRELIMINARY STATS FOR FEBRUARY 2019

TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 37.3 [+0.5] Avg. Min. 21.6 [+2.5] Mean      29.5 [+1.6] 24-hour corrected mean: 29.2
Max. for month: 62F on the 5th
Min. for month: 5F  on the 1st

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units:    990 [-47] Total for the season:  4486 [-82] Total for last season: 4122

PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 3.61 [-0.46] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

SNOWFALL, Inches
Total: 12.1 [-1.8] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A

WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 12.9
Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.3
Prevailing wind direction: WNW at 22%
Peak gust and direction: 66 W on 25th

SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A
Astronomical total minutes:   N/A

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few distant cumulus offshore
Temperature: 12F; Dew Point: 5F; Wind: W at 11G13 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising steadily
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hr Max temp: 17F
6-hr Min temp: 10F
24-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 16 ins.
BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 176/12/5/2811G13/005/ FEW DSNT CU OFFSHR/
8/100 4/016 70003 51021 10017 20010

10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few distant cirrus SE-S
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 4F; Wind: W at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, falling steadily
Visibility: 60 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 174/21/4/2709/004/ FEW DSNT CI SE-S/
8/002 58002

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few distant cirrus SE-S
Temperature: 25F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: W at 11G14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, falling steadily
Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 27F
6-hr Min temp: 12F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 15 ins.
BHO SA 1755 CLR 50 152/25/6/2611G14/998/ FEW DSNT CI SE-S
DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/002 4/015 58022 10027 20012

SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..35   NORMAL…..41
MIN…..18   NORMAL…..23
MEAN….27   NORMAL…..32

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………-5
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-6 [-1.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..38   DEPARTURE………+5
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….143   DEPARTURE………+9
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4629   DEPARTURE……..-73
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4224   DIFFERENCE……+405

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………..33 W   AT 10:34 P.M.
AERO…………………….18 W   AT  9:45 P.M.
ASOS…………………….33 S   AT 10:35 P.M.
DAVIS……………………34 WSW AT  9:48 P.M. RMY 32
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….24 W   AT 10:02 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….26 S   AT 10:35 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………27 WSW AT  9:51 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………..13.8 NNW
ASOS…………………..14.3
DAVIS………………….13.9 WNW [291 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.03  DEPARTURE…….-0.14
ASOS…………..0.04
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….2.32  DEPARTURE…….+1.63
ASOS…………..2.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….11.26  DEPARTURE…….+2.15
ASOS………….11.40

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………T  DEPARTURE……..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH……………20.0  DEPARTURE…….+18.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..44.5  DEPARTURE……..-4.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

02/01 19/5/12/-14/0.00/0.0/552/95          29 W   AERO 28 W   RMY N/A
02/02 30/7/19/-7/0.00/0.0/318/55           32 WSW AERO 32 WSW RMY 31
02/03 38/27/33/+7/0.00/0.0/126/22          26 S   AERO 25 S   RMY N/A
02/04 59/33/46/+20/0.00/0.0/540/93         25 SSW AERO 28 SSW RMY N/A
02/05 62/39/51/+25/0.00/0.0/354/60         30 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY 32
02/06 39/28/34/+8/…./…/396/67          24 NNW AERO 23 NNW RMY N/A
02/07 37/31/34/+7/…./…/000/00          28 ENE AERO 24 ENE RMY 28
02/08 51/27/39/+12/…./…/204/34         46 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 51
02/09 32/20/26/-1/0.00/0.0/594/100         50 WNW AERO 52 WNW RMY 52
02/10 33/18/26/-1/0.00/0.0/510/85          24 WNW AERO 23 WNW RMY 25
02/11 34/21/28/+1/0.00/0.0/318/53          24 NNW AERO 23 NNW RMY 25
02/12 33/13/23/-4/…./2.8/000/00          32 E   AERO 30 E   RMY 26
02/13 39/29/34/+6/…./0.1/018/03          36 W   AERO 32 W   RMY 36
02/14 37/26/32/+4/0.00/0.0/594/97          44 WNW AERO 42 WNW RMY 45
02/15 49/29/39/+11/0.11/0.0/060/10         40 S   AERO 40 S   RMY 44
02/16 44/26/35/+7/0.00/0.0/504/82          25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A
02/17 37/19/28/0/…./…/618/100          30 NNW AERO 25 NNW RMY N/A
02/18 30/16/23/-6/…./…/000/00          35 NW  AERO 36 NW  RMY 41
02/19 30/10/20/-9/0.00/0.0/618/99          35 NW  AERO 33 NW  RMY N/A
02/20 26/12/19/-10/…./…/000/00         16 WNW AERO 14 SSW RMY N/A
02/21 43/21/32/+3/…./…/294/47          36 W   AERO 33 W   RMY 38
02/22 43/30/37/+8/…./0.0/504/80          22 NW  AERO 21 NW  RMY 23
02/23 38/24/31/+1/0.00/0.0/336/53          18 NNW AERO 16 NNW RMY N/A
02/24 45/30/38/+8/…./…/000/00          41 W   AERO 37 W   RMY 47
02/25 37/25/31/+1/…./…/336/57          66 W   AERO 59 W   RMY M
02/26 29/14/22/-8/0.00/0.0/642/100         46 WNW AERO 39 WNW RMY 47
02/27 22/9/16/-15/…./…/180/28          35 WNW AERO 26 WNW RMY N/A
02/28 28/15/22/-9/…./…/486/75          22 NW  AERO 18 NW  RMY 22

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

03/01 38/17/28/-3/…./…/..              16 NNW AERO 13 NNW RMY 22
03/02 31/27/29/-2/…./…/.. 29 NNE AERO 22 NNE RMY 30
03/03 40/25/33/+1/…./…/..              21 ESE AERO 14 ESE RMY N/A
03/04 35/18/27/-5/…./…/..              33 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 32

03/05 Low temp since midnight is 10F; normal low is 23F

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 5
HIGH 64 IN 1979
LOW -2 IN 1948
PRECIP 1.76 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1891
PEAK GUST 76e MPH WNW IN 1971

RECORDS FOR MARCH 6
HIGH 66 IN 1894
LOW 3 IN 1948, 2007
PRECIP 1.85 INS. IN 2001
SNOWFALL 15.5 INS. IN 2001
PEAK GUST 82 MPH S IN 1959

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner