BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2002 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org DAILY DISCUSSION... FEBRUARY FINISHES TIED FOR 6TH WARMEST ON RECORD....WINTER MEAN TEMPERATURE WARMEST ON RECORD BY MORE THAN 2 DEGREES.... February, 2002 Summary Average Max 42.9 (Tied for 4th warmest) Average Min 25.1 (7th warmest) Corrected Mean 33.6 (Tied for 6th warmest) Precipitation 2.30" Snowfall 6.4" HDD 864 Peak Gust 63 mph S (10th) Winter, 2001-02 Summary Average Max 42.5 (Warmest on record, previous record 40.7 in 1936-37, 1990-91) Average Min 28.0 (Warmest on record, previous record 27.9 in 1912-13) Corrected Mean 34.8 (Warmest on record, previous record 32.6 in 1997-98) Precipitation 9.51" Snowfall 32.2" CLOUDS ARE ADVANCING AND PRESSURES DROPPING AHEAD OF MAJOR RAIN/WIND STORM ON SUNDAY...Under nearly clear skies this morning a significant inversion developed indicated by the temperatures at 7 am of 34 at Blue Hill and 19 at Norwood. Cirrus, Cirrostratus, and now Stratocumulus this afternoon are increasing and winds are gusting out of the south over 20 kts. The surface pressure peaked at about 30.70 at 10 am this morning, and this high pressure will contribute to very strong winds on Sunday. Just a trace of snow remains on the summit today. MJI BLUE HILL OBSERVATIONS Look for the hourly observations from the Blue Hill ASOS on the Internet. Our station code is KMQE. One good site is run by the NWS: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KMQE.html The main page for this site is: http://weather.noaa.gov/index.html Today's observations: 7 AM BHO SA 1155 250 -SCT 35 389/34/15/1210/068/ THN PTCHY GF E-SE/ 8/001 51014 10034 20031 10 AM BHO SA 1455 250 -OVC 35 393/41/21/1310/069/ FEW LWR CI SE/ 8/001 50000 1 PM BHO SA 1755 30 SCT 110 SCT E250 OVC 30 369/45/20/1713G21/062/ SUN DMLY VSBL/ 8/178 58024 10047 20034 WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 1: PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...........32 MPH W AT 3:23 PM AEROVANE.........31 MPH W AT 3:23 PM ASOS.............30 MPH W AT 3:24 PM AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR........12.1 MPH WNW ASOS...........11.6 MPH WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 2: PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 1 PM..........25 MPH SSE AT 12:37 PM AEROVANE..........25 MPH SSE AT 12:37 PM ASOS..............25 MPH SSE AT 12:37 PM TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 1 MAX.....42 NORMAL.....40 ASOS.....42 AT 3:22 PM MIN.....23 NORMAL.....24 ASOS.....24 AT 6:44 AM MEAN....33 NORMAL.....32 DEP.....+1 DEP FOR MONTH....+1 The month is averaging 1 degree above normal per day. HEATING DEGREE DAYS AT BLUE HILL: HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY...............32 DEP.......+1 HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............32 DEP.......+1 HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3669 DEP.....-966 HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON............4690 DIFF...-1021 PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM....0.00 IN DEP....-0.15 IN ASOS.............0.00 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........0.00 IN DEP....-0.15 IN ASOS.............0.00 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........5.95 INS DEP....-3.04 INS ASOS.............5.67 INS SNOWFALL DATA AT BLUE HILL... TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM.......0.0 IN DEP....-0.3 IN TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH............0.0 IN DEP....-0.3 IN TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..........32.2 INS DEP...-10.0 INS RECORDS FOR MARCH 2 HIGH 61 IN 1991 LOW -3 IN 1886 PRE 2.15 INS IN 1983 SNOW 7.1 INS IN 1948 WIND 75 MPH NW IN 1966 RECORDS FOR MARCH 3 HIGH 64 IN 1991 LOW -1 IN 1950 PRE 2.36 INS IN 1972 SNOW 12.8 INS IN 1960 WIND 78 MPH E IN 1942 Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2001. Temperature and precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2001. Mike Iacono