Wednesday, March 12, 2014

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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MILD NIGHT LAST NIGHT WITH LOW OF 41F
BRIEF BRIGHT SUNSHINE IN NOON HOUR BOOSTS
OUR TEMPERATURE TO LOW 50’S BEFORE SHOWER

Last night was unseasonably mild with temperatures
falling from a high of 56F yesterday afternoon to
48F by 8 P.M. EDT then on down to only 41F before
dawn this morning.  A generally overcast sky gave
way to a short period of bright sunshine during the
noon hour with the temperature rising briefly to
the low 50’s before dropping back 10 degrees during
a rain shower which began at 1 P.M. EDT.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus
Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: SE at 5 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.66 ins. Hg, steady
Visibility: 30 miles, except 12 miles N, 15 miles NE, and
45 miles above inversion WNW, Mt. Wachusett summit faintly visible
6-hr max temp: 41F
6-hr min temp: 45F
24-hr. precip: 0.00
Snow depth: 4 inches
BHO SA 1155 E75 OVC 30 046/44/26/1305/966/ DRK K LYR ALG HRZN
ESTMTD TOP INVSN 7 HND OVR CTY N XTDNG K LYR XTDNG NW-ENE VSBY N 12 NE 15
WNW 45 ABV INVSN DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/02/ 4/004 50001 10045 20041

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, overcast altostratus, sun dimly visible
Temperature: 46F Dew Point: 32F; Wind: E at 5 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly
Visibility: 10 miles hazy, except 20 miles S-SW, thin smoke layer
along and above horizon SW-N, top of inversion 7 hundred feet over
city N (estimated), visibility higher above inversion, hazy all quadrants
BHO SA 1455 E100 BKN 110 OVC 10 020/46/32/1005/959/ SUN DMLY VSB
THN K LYR ALG/ABV INVSN SW-N ESTMTD TOP INVSN 7 HND OVR CTY N
HAZY BLO VSBY HIER ABV INVSN VSBY S-SW 20 HAZY ALQDS/ 8/07/ 58026

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, rain shower began 00 ended 15 past hour
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 37F; Wind: NE at 5 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.42 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly
Visibility: 15 miles, except 9 miles, N-E, fog, 30 miles SE, 20 miles SW,
hazy
6-hr max temp: 53F
6-hr min temp: 42F
6-hr precip: 0.01 in.
BHO SA 1755 E25 OVC 15 OVC 15 962/42/37/0405/942/ RB00E05 VSBY N-E 9
FG SE 30 SW 20 HZY/ 8/5// 56058 MANUAL 6001/ 10053 20042

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..56    NORMAL…..43
MIN…..34    NORMAL…..25
MEAN….45    NORMAL…..34

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………+11
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH……………………-45 [-4.3 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..20  DEPARTURE………-11
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….404  DEPARTURE………+45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..4995  DEPARTURE………+68
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……4447  DIFFERENCE…….+548

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………33 W   AT   2:22 P.M. *
AERO…………………..33 W   AT   1:47 P.M.
ASOS…………………..35 W   AT   2:20 P.M.
DAVIS………………….33 W   AT   1:46 P.M. RMY 34
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..28 W   AT   1:47 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..28 W   AT   1:48 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….25 W   AT   1:48 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION…………14.4 W
ASOS…………………14.0
DAVIS………………..13.0 WSW [250 deg.] * last of several occurrences…

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE………….-0.17
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.05  DEPARTURE………….-1.87
ASOS…………..0.06
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….10.14  DEPARTURE………….-0.20
ASOS………….10.60

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M……….0.0  DEPARTURE…………..-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….1.1  DEPARTURE…………..-4.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON…………..82.9  DEPARTURE………….+30.3

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 morning low temp: 41F; the normal low is now 25F

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 12
HIGH 72 IN 2012
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.87 INS. IN 1888
SNOWFALL 9.7 INS. IN 1959
PEAK GUST 66 MPH SE IN 1962

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”]

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling