BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005
ALL TIMES EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

TODAY'S DISCUSSION.....2 P.M.

THE CLOCKS HAVE BEEN SET AHEAD ONE HOUR....but NOT HERE at
the Observatory where we remain on standard the year round.
For these reports, I'll be using Eastern Daylight Time for
the times of occurrences.  Other observers may opt to
stay with standard time for their daily climatic reports.
Please refer to time being used at the start of these
daily reports.

THE PONDS HAVE THAWED AT THE LATE DATE OF APRIL 2

The ice cover on the nearby ponds was beginning to melt and a very
small amount of open water was seen on March 31.  But by late
Saturday, April 2, the ice had melted completely out of both nearby ponds,
Ponkapoag and Houghtons; the latest date out for Ponkapoag
since 1994, on April 3.  In the case of Houghtons Pond it thawed
on April 4, 2001, so this year did not quite equal that late
date of thawing.  Bare in mind that the average dates for ice
out of the ponds is March 11 and March 17 respectively.

MARCH 2005 SUMMARY

Temp Max: 40.2 F
Temp Min: 24.7 F
Temp Mean: 32.5 F (max+min)/2
Temp Mean: 32.4 F (24 hr corr.)
Precipitation: 6.12 inches
Max. in 24 hours:  2.51 [ 28-29th]
Snowfall: 25.0 inches
Greatest in 24 hours: 12.1 ins. [ 28th-1st ]
Av. wind speed:  13.6 mph [corr]
Prevailing wind direction: W 24%
Fastest mile:    43 mph WSW on 9th
Peak Gust: 63 mph WNW 8th
Aerovane Gust: 66 mph WNW 8th
Sunshine:  207.7 hours or 56% of possible

TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS

4/4/2005 MON

8 a.m. cloudy with 35 miles visibility and 39 deg; dewpoint 36;
wind wsw at 13 gusting 21 mph; six hourly min. temp. 37;
24 hourly precip: 0.01 inch

BHO SA 1155 E16 OVC 35 998/39/36/2411G18/952/ FEW LWR STFRA CIG RGD VSBY NE 45/
8/7// 53018 6000/ ASOS 70001 MANUAL 70001 10039 20037

11 a.m. cloudy with a few breaks visibility of 80 miles;
temp. 45; dewpoint 34; wind wsw at 12 gusting 20 mph;
3 hourly precip: a trace

BHO SA 1455 25 SCT E30 OVC 80 017/45/34/2410G17/958/ HIER CLDS VSB
FEW SML BINOVC MTN INCLD 70 NW WND 22V27/ 8/57/ 53019 6000/

2 p.m. broken clouds ocnl overcast with breaks and 80 miles visibility;
temp. 50 deg; dewpoint 33; wind wsw at 16 gusting 27 mph; six hourly
max. temp. 52 deg; six hourly precip: a trace

BHO SA 1755 E38 BKN 75 BKN 80 026/50/33/2414G23/961/ ACSL ALQDS WND 21V27/
8/440 53009 6000/ 10052 20039

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY APRIL 03:

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....53    NORMAL.....51   HAZEN 52.7 @ 3:12 a.m.
MIN.....39    NORMAL.....33   HAZEN 38.6 @ 11:57 p.m. (standard time)
MEAN....46    NORMAL.....42

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...... + 4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......+ 13 (+4.0 DEGREES/DAY)

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 8 A.M....0.01    DEPARTURE....-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.69    DEPARTURE....+1.24
                         ASOS..............1.69
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........18.15    DEPARTURE....+4.22
TOTAL FOR ASOS FOR THE YEAR...............17.12

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 8 A.M........  0.0   DEPARTURE....- 0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............  0.0   DEPARTURE....- 0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............119.2   DEPARTURE....+61.6
TOTAL SNOW ON THE GROUND..................NONE

YESTERDAY'S PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........54 SE  AT  3:33 A.M.
                   AEROVANE.........55 SE  AT  3:33 A.M.
                   ASOS.............52 SE  AT  3:33 A.M.
                   DAVIS............52 ESE AT  3:33 A.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......... 38 SE  AT  3:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......38 SE  AT  3:33 A.M.
MAXIMUM 1-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE......38 ESE AT  3:33 A.M.
OUR AVERAGE SPEED AND DIRECTION.....19.5 SE
ASOS AVERAGE AND DIRECTION..........19.6 SE  [140 deg]
DAVIS AVERAGE AND DIRECTION.........20.5 SE  [140 deg]

THE PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2005......
CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED HERE ENDING MIDNIGHT STANDARD TIME
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   29/23/26/-6/0.53/3.6/000/00         52 MPH NNE Aero 52 MPH NNE
3/2   33/20/27/-5/T/T/264/39              42 MPH W   Aero 45 MPH W
3/3   28/15/22/-10/0/0/640/94             43 MPH W   Aero 43 MPH W
3/4   31/12/22/-11/0/0/561/82             40 MPH W   Aero 44 MPH W
3/5   39/18/29/-4/0/0/679/99              29 MPH W
3/6   40/24/32/-1/0/0/345/50              42 MPH SSW Aero 44 MPH SSW
3/7   47/33/40/+7/0/0/201/29              45 MPH S   Aero 50 MPH SSE
3/8   42/12/27/-7/1.20/5.7/000/00         63 MPH WNW Aero 66 MPH WNW
3/9   21/06/14/-20/0.02/0.3/663/95        54 MPH W   Aero 58 MPH W
3/10  29/11/20/-14/0/0/673/96             29 MPH WSW
3/11  32/18/26/-10/0.07/1.0/134/19        29 MPH E
3/12  34/28/31/-4/1.19/8.9/000/00         27 MPH NE
3/13  37/25/31/-4/0.01/0.1/291/41         25 MPH W
3/14  39/21/30/-6/0/0/669/94              31 MPH WNW
3/15  44/24/34/-2/0/0/512/72              30 MPH WNW
3/16  43/26/35/-1/0/0/675/94              29 MPH W
3/17  43/23/33/-4/0/0/606/84              25 MPH WNW
3/18  43/29/36/-1/0/0/506/70              27 MPH WNW
3/19  45/25/35/-2/0/0/697/96              28 MPH WNW Aero 31 MPH WNW
3/20  48/28/38/0/T/0/365/50               27 MPH SSW
3/21  41/33/37/-1/0/0/007/01              21 MPH NNE
3/22  52/29/41/+3/0/0/720/98              29 MPH W
3/23  42/30/36/-2/0.12/1.0/022/03         36 MPH ENE
3/24  37/31/34/-5/0.47/4.4/037/05         40 MPH N   Aero 41 MPH NNE
3/25  47/30/39/0/0/0/461/62               30 MPH W
3/26  40/26/33/-6/0/0/709/95              22 MPH
3/27  52/28/40/0/0/0/705/94               24 MPH SSW
3/28  42/32/37/-3/2.15/0/000/00           27 MPH N
3/29  47/38/43/+3/0.36/0/000/00           38 MPH NNW
3/30  52/34/43/+2/0/0/682/90              33 MPH N
3/31  48/35/42/+1/0/0/632/83              25 MPH NE

There were NO NEW DAILY RECORDS set for March....

THE PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR APRIL 2005......
CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED HERE ENDING MIDNIGHT STANDARD TIME
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

4/1   56/36/46/+5/0.01/0/.../..           23 MPH SE
4/2   56/35/46/+4/N/A/0/000/..            53 MPH SE
4/3   53/39/46/+4/N/A/0/.../..            54 MPH SE  Aero 55 MPH SE

4/4   morning low temp. 37 deg and precip: 0.01 inch

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

Daily PEAK GUST records are for the period 1940-2004. Temperature and
precipitation records are for the full period of record 1885-2004.
All estimated gusts are marked with an 'e'.

RECORDS FOR APRIL 4
HIGH 71 IN 1950
LOW 12 IN 1954
PRECIP 1.45 IN. IN 1987
SNOWFALL 3.7 IN. IN 1975
PEAK GUST 80 MPH WNW IN 1963

RECORDS FOR APRIL 5
HIGH 81 IN 1928
LOW 15 IN 1995
PRECIP 2.15 IN. IN 1987
SNOWFALL 4.0 IN. IN 1898
PEAK GUST 76 MPH WNW IN 1963

TODAY'S REPORT BY: Robert Skilling