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BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
ROLLER COASTER TUESDAY BRINGS RAIN, SUN, SLEET
AND GUSTY NW WINDS AS COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH REGION
As a cold front pushed through the region yesterday afternoon,
temperatures dropped quickly from a maximum reading of 48F around
3:30 PM EST to 36F by 4:30 PM EST, with light rain becoming
ice pellets. Winds ramped up as well, eventually gusting to an
official peak gust of 53 MPH from the NW by 6:00 PM EST with
only a trace of ice pellets recorded.
Rainfall, totaling 0.17 inches yesterday, did little to make
a dent into a nearly 1.0 inch deficit for the month; however,
precipitation for the year remains 2.0 inches above normal.
Clear, cold conditions were present this morning, with an overnight
low of 20F. Visibility has been excellent, with an estimated
80 miles in most directions and with little cloud cover.
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 16 inches this morning. Our streak of
42 consecutive days with 20 inches or more of snow on the ground has ended,
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 18th)
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: Clear, few cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 21F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: WNW at 19G28 kts
Peak Wind: 34 kts WNW @ 6:22 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 25F
6-hr Min temp: 20F
24-hr precip: 0.10 ins
24-hr snowfall: Trace of ice pellets
Snow depth: 16 inches
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 104/21/6/3019G28/984/ FEW CU ALQDS NEW SNW PST
24 HRS TRACE PK WND 2934/22/ 8/100 4/016 53022 ASOS 70013 MANUAL
70010 10025 20020
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: WNW at 22G36 kts
Peak Wind: 40 kts WNW @ 9:28 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 80 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 106/26/7/3022G34/984/ FEW CU ALQDS PK WND 3040/28/
8/100 53002
1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: NW at 32G39 kts,
Peak Wind: 44 knots NW @ 12:35 P.M. EST
Sea-Level Pressure: 29.84 ins. Hg, about the same
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 21F
BHO SA 1755 CLR 80 106/28/10/3132G39/984/ FEW CU ALQDS PK WND 3144/35/
8/100 55000 10028 20021
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..48 NORMAL…..44
MIN…..25 NORMAL…..27
MEAN….37 NORMAL…..36
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………………….+1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………………-28 [-1.8 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..28 DEPARTURE………..-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….568 DEPARTURE……….+28
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..5276 DEPARTURE………+168
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……5199 DIFFERENCE………+77
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY………………53 NW AT 6:08 P.M.
ASOS…………………..61 W AT 3:55 P.M.
DAVIS………………….60 W AT 4:00 P.M. RMY 63
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………..43 W AT 3:57 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………..40 WNW AT 3:58 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE…………….40 W AT 3:58 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION………….18.0 NW
ASOS………………….18.1
DAVIS…………………15.0 W [280 degrees]
* Last of several occurrences…
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.10 DEPARTURE…..-0.08
ASOS…………..0.13
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….1.79 DEPARTURE…..-0.99
ASOS…………..N/A
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….13.13 DEPARTURE…..+2.06
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……-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH…………….6.5 DEPARTURE……-1.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON………….144.0 DEPARTURE…..+88.9
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 48/25/37/+1/0.17/T/…/.. 53 NW RMY 63
3/18 morning low temp: 20F 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 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
RECORDS FOR MARCH 19
HIGH 77 IN 2012
LOW -2 IN 1967
PRECIP 1.69 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 17.6 INS. IN 1956 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 75e MPH WNW IN 1941
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald
