BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2004 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME INCREASING CLOUDS TODAY WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES... SPRING BEGAN TODAY WITH THE VERNAL EQUINOX AT 1:49 AM EST... At mid-morning, the temperature had risen above freezing for the first time in the last four days, since the snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. This morning's low of 22 matched yesterday's coldest reading. A strong inversion formed today as it was much colder in the surrounding valleys, including 5 degrees at Norwood Airport this morning. The cold temperatures have returned a thin covering of ice to both of our local ponds. Snow cover on the summit was eight inches at 7 AM, and it is down to six inches at 1 PM. Precipitation for the year remains nearly six inches below normal, and this may be the driest start to a year on our entire record. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Sunny, thin scattered cirrus Temperature: 24F, Dewpoint: 18F, Wind: NW 9 mph, Sea-level pressure: 30.44 inches, rising Snow on ground: 8 inches BHO SA 1155 200 -SCT 250 -SCT 15 308/24/18/3108/044/ HAZY THN PTCHY GF ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/001 4/008 50000 10024 20022 10 A.M. Weather: Partly sunny, scattered alto-cumulus and broken cirrus Temperature: 36F, Dew Point: 18F, Wind: S 7 mph BHO SA 1455 160 SCT 250 -BKN 20 291/36/18/1806/039/ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/071 58017 1 P.M. Weather: Partly sunny, thin overcast with cirrus Temperature: 41F, Dew Point: 20F, Wind: S 11 mph Sea-Level pressure: 30.26 inches, falling rapidly BHO SA 1755 80 SCT 180 SCT 250 -OVC 25 247/41/20/1710/026/ PRESFR/ 8/071 58044 10041 20024 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 19: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....46 ASOS.....32 AT 3:08 PM MIN.....22 NORMAL.....29 ASOS.....22 AT 1:27 AM MEAN....27 NORMAL.....37 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....-10 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....+36 (+1.7 DEGREES/DAY) HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR YESTERDAY.......38 DEPARTURE....+10 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE MONTH......545 DEPARTURE....-39 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE SEASON....5171 DEPARTURE....+17 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR LAST SEASON...5559 DIFFERENCE..-388 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........35 ENE AT 12:38 P.M. AEROVANE.........33 ENE AT 12:38 P.M. ASOS.............33 ENE AT 10:56 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........24 ENE AT 10:41 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......24 ENE AT 10:57 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..13.3 ENE ASOS...........13.1 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...TRACE DEPARTURE....-0.16 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.37 DEPARTURE....-0.55 ASOS..............1.90 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.85 DEPARTURE....-5.91 ASOS..............4.89 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....TRACE DEPARTURE....-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............15.6 DEPARTURE....+8.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............57.3 DEPARTURE....+7.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2004......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane recording wind system when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day ....: Data not yet available 3/1 55/38/47/+15/ 0/ 0/588/87 27 MPH S 3/2 63/37/50/+18/0.04/ 0/298/44 50 MPH W Aerovane 50 MPH W 3/3 53/37/45/+13/ 0/ 0/592/87 46 MPH WNW Aerovane 51 MPH WNW 3/4 48/35/42/+09/0.07/ 0/000/00 22 MPH WSW 3/5 45/38/42/+09/0.02/ 0/000/00 31 MPH SSE 3/6 57/36/47/+14/0.26/ 0/028/04 53 MPH W Aerovane 55 MPH WNW 3/7 46/32/39/+06/ 0/ 0/658/95 43 MPH W 3/8 33/26/30/-04/0.50/3.5/000/00 31 MPH NE 3/9 31/26/29/-05/0.01/0.2/000/00 15 MPH SSE 3/10 39/27/33/-01/ 0/ 0/294/42 40 MPH NE 3/11 44/29/37/+02/ 0/ 0/113/16 38 MPH N 3/12 46/27/37/+02/0.10/0.8/156/22 51 MPH W 3/13 40/25/33/-02/ 0/ 0/682/96 40 MPH WNW Aerovane 43 MPH NW 3/14 40/21/31/-05/ 0/ 0/357/50 35 MPH S 3/15 50/32/41/+05/ T/ T/630/88 43 MPH W Aerovane 43 MPH W 3/16 35/24/30/-06/0.76/5.2/043/06 46 MPH NE 3/17 27/21/24/-13/..../.../000/00 47 MPH NE Aerovane 46 MPH NE 3/18 30/22/26/-11/..../.../.../.. 27 MPH NNE 3/19 32/22/27/-10/..../.../.../.. 35 MPH WNW 3/20 morning low 22... 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 INCHES IN 1957 SNOWFALL 11.4 INCHES IN 1957 PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975 RECORDS FOR MARCH 21 HIGH 81 IN 1921 LOW 2 IN 1885 PRECIP 2.67 INCHES IN 1974 SNOWFALL 10.6 INCHES IN 1958 PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958 TODAY'S REPORT BY: Mike Iacono