Wednesday, March 20, 2024
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST)
SUNRISE: 0547E
SUNSET: 1757E
A FEW LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS EARLY THIS MORNING, GAVE WAY TO A MILDER
AND BREEZY DAY…
A few light snow showers pushed through the area in the pre-
dawn hours this morning, associated with a weak frontal system
that slid through. There was no accumulation and it didn’t amount
to any liquid in the gauge. Clouds associated with the frontal
system moved out by mid morning giving us a short period of
sunshine, but diurnal low clouds (cumulus) quickly filled in
leaving us with mainly cloudy skies by the late morning hours,
and now a layer of mid and high level clouds (altostratus and
cirrus respectively) have overspread the area early this afternoon
bringing the sky cover back to overcast.
Temperatures rose pretty quickly during the mid to late morning
period, especially when the sun was out. Readings have reached
the low 50s by early this afternoon. The dew point was rising
during the morning from the upper 20s to the mid 30s, but is
now dropping early this afternoon back to the mid 20s. This is
due to a wind shift from the south to the west allowing for a
downsloping flow (sinking air) to dry out the air mass.
The wind has also picked up since the wind shifted to the west as
mixing takes place from aloft. Speeds increased from around 10mph
early this morning to around 15-20mph by early this afternoon.
It has become quite gusty as well. The average speed for the day
so far has been around 12mph, but as mentioned, it’s increasing
for the time being. The peak gust so far has been around 36mph,
which occurred just after 12pm.
Visibility was limited to around 30 miles early this morning
due to general haziness, but has very gradually increased a bit
early this afternoon as the air dries out. The view is up to
around 40 miles by the 1pm observation.
The maximum temperature so far today is 51F degrees, which
is 6 degrees above the normal high of 45F. The minimum temperature
since midnight is 34F degrees, which is 6 degrees above the
normal low of 28F.
————————————————————–
Today’s Observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altocumulus, few breaks in overcast overhead,
few stratocumulus all quadrants, virga all quadrants
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 29F; Relative Humidity: 72%
Wind: S @ 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1005.2 mb; 29.68 in. Hg: rising, then falling
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 37F
6-hr Min temp: 34F
24-hr Precip: Trace
24-hr Snowfall: Trace
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1155 E100 OVC 30 052/37/29/1810/968/ FEW BINOVC OVHD FEW SC ALQDS
VIRGA ALQDS HAZY TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS TRACE/ 8/55/ 58003 6000/ 70000
10037 20034
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 34F; Relative Humidity: 58%
Wind: WSW @ 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 1003.7 mb; 29.64 in. Hg: falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
BHO SA 1455 50 SCT 100 SCT 35 037/48/34/2408/964/ HAZY/ 8/250 58015
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered cumulus, broken altostratus, overcast cirrus,
sun dimly visible, virga distant SW-W
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 25F; Relative Humidity: 37%
Wind: WSW @ 14G26 kts, peak wind W 36mph at 12:12 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 1002.5 mb; 29.60 in. Hg: falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 51F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 inches
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 inches
Snow Depth: 0 inches
BHO SA 1755 50 SCT E80 BKN 250 OVC 40 025/50/25/2414G26/960/ SUN DMLY
VSBL VIRGA DSNT SW-W HAZY PK WND 2631/12/ 8/221/ 56012 10051 20037
————————————————————–
SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2024
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…….46 NORMAL…..45
MIN…….30 NORMAL…..28
MEAN……38 NORMAL…..36
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR (1991-2020) NORMAL…………+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH………………….+155 [+8.0 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON: JUL 2023 THRU JUN 2024)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY……………27 DEPARTURE……..-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH…………..440 DEPARTURE……-156
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………4328 DEPARTURE……-700
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….4263 DEPARTURE…….+65
PEAK WIND GUST (MPH):
Note: Instruments designated #1 = Main Tower, #2 = South Tower,
F420C, Contacting, Merlin, and Richards are all Main Tower.
E=Estimated
F420C (Official)……….E44 NW @ 08:00 A.M.
VECTOR #1 (1-Sec)……….43 NW @ 07:59 A.M.
VECTOR #2 (1-Sec)……….43 NW @ 07:59 A.M.
DAVIS #1……………….42 NW @ 08:00 A.M.
DAVIS #2 ………………40 WNW @ 08:00 A.M.
RMY #1 (Instantaneous)…..46 NW @ 07:59 A.M.
RMY #2 (Instantaneous)…..46 NW @ 07:59 A.M.
MERLIN…………………43 NW
RICHARDS (C5C) (Inst)……44 @ 07:59 A.M.
FASTEST MILE:
CONTACTING ANEMOMETER/OFFICIAL………………33 NW @ 08:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #1 AVERAGE…………..26 @ 08:00 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE VECTOR #2 AVERAGE…………..29 @ 08:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #1 AVERAGE……………27 WNW @ 08:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS #2 AVERAGE……………28 NW @ 08:30 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #1 AVERAGE……………..26 WNW @ 08:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RMY #2 AVERAGE……………..28 WNW @ 08:01 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE RICHARDS (C5C) AVERAGE………27 @ 08:01 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION:
CONTACTING/OFFICIAL……13.0 WNW [311 total miles]
VECTOR #1…………….12.6
VECTOR #2…………….13.8
DAVIS #1……………..13.2 WNW
DAVIS #2……………..13.6 WNW
RMY #1……………….12.0 WNW
RMY #2……………….13.5 W
RICHARDS (C5C)………..13.0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…….TRACE DEPARTURE…..-0.19
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH…………..4.39 DEPARTURE…..+1.04
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR (2024)…….14.95 DEPARTURE…..+3.10
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST):
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M…………TRACE DEPARTURE……-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH………………TRACE DEPARTURE…..-10.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON (2023-2024)……26.1 DEPARTURE…..-36.6
————————————————————–
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/VEC1/RMY GUST
PEAK GUST: F420C (Official)
VEC1: Vector #1 1-second gust
RMY: R.M. Young #1 wind gust recording system (Instantaneous)
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M: Missing data
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
3/1 41/18/30/-1/0.00/0.0/649/96 30 NW VEC1 30 WNW RMY 33
3/2 50/32/41/+9/1.16/0.0/000/00 44 SSE VEC1 46 SE RMY 42
3/3 55/42/49/+17/0.24/0.0/130/19 32 SSE VEC1 33 SSE RMY 32
3/4 49/36/43/+11/0.01/0.0/116/17 24 ENE VEC1 22 ENE RMY 23
3/5 42/36/39/+7/0.14/0.0/000/00 21 E VEC1 21 E RMY 21
3/6 51/39/45/+12/0.44/0.0/000/00 28 NE VEC1 28 NE RMY 29
3/7 42/37/40/+7/1.06/0.0/000/00 44 NNE VEC1 44 NNE RMY 42
3/8 45/32/39/+6/0.00/0.0/682/98 35 NNE VEC1 36 NNE RMY 38
3/9 40/32/36/+3/0.21/0.0/000/00 32 E VEC1 32 E RMY 31
3/10 51/36/44/+10/1.07/0.0/245/35 45 WNW VEC1 46 SE RMY 45
3/11 43/30/37/+3/T/T/515/73 53 NW VEC1 54 NW RMY 58
3/12 54/33/44/+10/0.00/0.0/680/96 43 NW VEC1 41 NW RMY 45
3/13 54/33/44/+10/0.00/0.0/667/94 26 SSE VEC1 25 NNW RMY 25
3/14 58/36/47/+12/0.00/0.0/627/88 23 ENE VEC1 22 NE RMY 21
3/15 44/37/41/+6/0.02/0.0/000/00 24 N VEC1 23 NNW RMY 25
3/16 58/36/47/+12/0.00/0.0/510/71 29 S VEC1 26 S RMY 26
3/17 59/40/50/+14/0.04/0.0/390/54 38 NW VEC1 38 NW RMY 40
3/18 49/33/41/+5/0.00/0.0/558/77 38 W VEC1 37 W RMY 38
3/19 46/30/38/+2/0.00/0.0/…/.. 44 NW VEC1 43 NW RMY 46
3/20 The low since midnight is 34F, the daily normal low is 28F.
————————————————————–
MARCH DAILY RECORDS TO DATE
NONE…
————————————————————–
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated)
RECORDS FOR MARCH 20
HIGH 79 IN 1945
LOW 4 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.39 INS. IN 1957
SNOWFALL 11.4 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975
RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958
TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas
