BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2002 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http:// www.bluehill.org DAILY DISCUSSION... TEMPERATURE CLIMBS TO MID-60S AHEAD OF STRONG COLD FRONT DUE TOMORROW MORNING....As of 1:30 pm the temperature has climbed to 65 degrees from the morning low of 39. There was a trace of very light drizzle during the fog and low clouds early this morning, which cleared out by 10 am. The 65 temp is still well below the record for the date of 71 set in 2000. Winds are increasing out of the south, now gusting to 35 mph, and the pressure is dropping ahead of a strong cold front along the Mississippi valley this afternoon, which will arrive here with some rain on Sunday morning. 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 X W2 1/16L-F 328/41/41/1709/050/ PCPN VRY LGT WND LGT/ 8//// 58003 6000/ 10041 20039 10 AM BHO SA 1455 200 SCT 250 -OVC 12 325/50/49/1907/049/ FEW STFRA VCNTY STN SW-NE FEW SC E-S VSBY INCRSG WND LGT/ 8/601 58003 6000/ 1 PM BHO SA 1755 35 SCT 250 -BKN 35 291/64/49/1920G30/039/ PK WND 1930/1754/ WND INCRSG/ 8/501 58034 6000/ 10064 20041 WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 8: PEAK WIND GUST FOR FRIDAY...........25 MPH E AT 8:17 AM AEROVANE.........24 MPH E AT 8:17 AM ASOS.............21 MPH E AT 9:52 AM AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIR.........9.8 MPH ENE ASOS............9.6 MPH WINDS AT BLUE HILL FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 9: PEAK WIND GUST THROUGH 1 PM..........35 MPH S AT 12:54 PM AEROVANE..........36 MPH S AT 12:54 PM ASOS..............35 MPH S AT 12:54 PM TEMPERATURES AT BLUE HILL FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 8 MAX.....42 NORMAL.....42 ASOS.....42 AT 1:41 PM MIN.....35 NORMAL.....25 ASOS.....35 AT 4:19 AM MEAN....39 NORMAL.....34 DEP.....+5 DEP FOR MONTH....+33 The month is averaging about 4 degrees above normal per day. HEATING DEGREE DAYS AT BLUE HILL: HEATING UNITS FOR FRIDAY...............26 DEP.......-5 HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........225 DEP......-33 HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........3862 DEP....-1002 HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON............4959 DIFF...-1097 PRECIPITATION DATA AT BLUE HILL..... TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 AM....TRACE DEP....-0.15 IN ASOS.............0.00 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........0.91 IN DEP....-0.29 IN ASOS.............0.85 IN TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........6.86 INS DEP....-3.18 INS ASOS.............6.52 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............TRACE DEP....-2.7 INS TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..........32.2 INS DEP...-12.4 INS RECORDS FOR MARCH 9 HIGH 71 IN 2000 LOW 5 IN 1885, 1943, 1996 PRE 2.67 INS IN 1998 SNOW 6.3 INS IN 2001 WIND 102 MPH S IN 1942 (ESTIMATED; RECORD FOR MARCH) RECORDS FOR MARCH 10 HIGH 69 IN 1977 LOW 2 IN 1984 PRE 2.00 INS IN 1994 SNOW 4.0 INS IN 1997 WIND 80 MPH NW IN 1974 Daily wind records are for the period 1940-2001. Temperature and precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2001. Mike Iacono