BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2008 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME LIGHT SNOWFALL EARLY SATURDAY CHANGES TO RAIN BY MID-MORNING... FEBRUARY 2008 3RD WETTEST ON RECORD...WINTER 2007-08 WAS 5TH WETTEST ON RECORD... A total of 1.3 inches of new snow was measured on the snowboards at 7 AM with a liquid equivalent of 0.14 inch. The six hours ending at 1 PM today brought an additional 0.20 melted precipitation including snow and rain, and 1.9 inches of snowfall. The storm totals through 1 PM are 0.34 inch and 3.2 inches of snow. Rain began to mix with the snow at 9:30 AM. Most of the precipitation had ended by 12:45 PM, but additional showers may occur this afternoon. February 2008 precipitation was 8.17 inches, making this the 3rd wettest on record. Also, the winter (Dec-Feb) precipitation total of 18.98 inches was the 5th highest total for any winter on our 123-year record. Both the winter and February were warmer than average, but the three months were unusually close in average temperature. Dec, Jan, and Feb averaged 29.7, 30.3, and 30.0, and the winter mean was 30.0 deg F. Wettest Februarys (inches) 1) 9.32 in 1969 2) 8.29 in 1886 3) 8.17 in 2008 4) 7.93 in 1981 Wettest Winters (inches) 1) 22.03 in 1957-58 2) 20.02 in 1978-79 3) 19.35 in 1969-70 4) 19.11 in 1977-78 5) 18.98 in 2007-08 February 2008 Summary Temp Max: 38.1 deg F [+1.8] Temp Min: 21.8 deg F [+1.5] Temp Mean: 30.0 deg F [+1.7] Temp Mean (corrected to 24 hours): 29.7 deg F Precipitation: 8.17 ins [+4.11] Snowfall: 16.0 ins [+0.0] Peak gust: 69 mph S [18th] Mean wind speed: 13.8 mph, W Winter (Dec-Feb) 2007-08 Summary Temp Max: 37.3 deg F [+1.1] Temp Min: 22.6 deg F [+1.9] Temp Mean: 30.0 deg F [+1.5] Temp Mean (corrected to 24 hours): 29.7 deg F Precipitation: 18.98 ins [+5.58] Snowfall: 59.3 ins [+16.8] Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Sky obscured, light snow and fog, occasional moderate snow Temperature: 31F, Dew point: 31F, Wind: SE at 16G22 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.99 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 1/8 mile 6-hour min temp: 21F 24-hour precipitation: 0.14 24-hour snowfall: 1.3 inches Total snow on ground: 4 inches BHO SA 1155 W2 X 1/8S-F 155/31/31/1416G22/999/ S- OCNL S PK WND 1527/33 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.3 INS/ 8//// 4/004 57041 6014/ 70014 10031 20021 10 A.M. Weather: Sky obscured, light rain and fog, snow ended past hour Temperature: 32F, Dew point: 32F, Wind: SSE at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.88 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 1/8 mile 3-hour precipitation: 0.14 inch 3-hour snowfall: 1.9 inches BHO SA 1455 W2 X 1/8R-F 118/32/32/1511/988/ SE30 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 1.9 INS/ 8//// 56037 6014/ 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratus, overcast stratocumulus, snow and rain ended past hour Temperature: 36F, Dew point: 35F, Wind: W at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.76 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 8 miles 6-hour max. temp: 36F 6-hour precipitation: 0.20 6-hour snowfall: 1.9 inches BHO SA 1755 E5 BKN 10 OVC 8 077/36/35/2608/976/ FEW STFRA BLO SMT VSBY INCR SUN OCNL DMLY VSBL WND LGT TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 1.9 INS STORM TOTAL 3.2 INS/ 8/6// 58041 6020/ 10036 20031 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....26 NORMAL.....40 MIN......5 NORMAL.....23 MEAN....16 NORMAL.....31 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........-15 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........+51 [+1.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............49 DEPARTURE......+15 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..........1011 DEPARTURE......N/A TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4248 DEPARTURE......N/A TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....N/A DIFFERENCE.....N/A PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............22 SSE AT 19:00 P.M. AEROVANE.............22 SSE AT 19:00 P.M. ASOS.................20 S AT 19:54 P.M. DAVIS................23 SE AT 19:00 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............14 SSE AT 19:54 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........14 S AT 19:57 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........17 SE AT 19:01 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......8.8 WNW ASOS................7.3 DAVIS...............8.2 WSW [241 deg] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.14 DEPARTURE......-0.01 ASOS..............0.11 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.14 DEPARTURE......-0.01 ASOS..............0.11 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.18 DEPARTURE......+3.19 ASOS.............14.41 # # Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........1.3 DEPARTURE.....+0.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................1.3 DEPARTURE.....+0.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............61.4 DEPARTURE....+15.5 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2008 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, records not finalized 2/1 53/26/40/+14/1.16/0.1/000/00 54 SSE Aero 59 MPH SSE TSTM 2/2 51/34/43/+17/T/0/391/65 52 SW Aero 52 MPH SW 2/3 45/33/39/+13/0/0/381/63 21 SW 2/4 38/29/34/+8/0/0/006/01 18 SE 2/5 45/33/39/+12/0.42/0/000/00 36 SE Aero 37 MPH SE 2/6 46/34/40/+13/0.88/0/000/00 36 NE Aero 33 MPH NE TSTM 2/7 34/26/30/+3/0.59/1.9/000/00 40 NE Aero 40 MPH NE TSTM 2/8 28/24/26/-1/0.08/0.5/000/00 21 W 2/9 36/21/29/+2/0.09/1.0/118/19 30 ESE 2/10 40/11/26/-1/0.08/0.9/068/11 56 W Aero 61 MPH W 2/11 22/7/15/-12/0/0/612/98 56 W Aero 60 MPH W 2/12 26/9/18/-10/0.27/2.0/351/56 25 W 2/13 53/22/38/+10/2.80/1.0/000/00 52 S Aero 54 MPH S 2/14 36/26/31/+3/0/0/517/82 39 WNW 2/15 46/24/35/+7/0/0/406/64 47 W Aero 50 MPH W 2/16 29/16/23/-5/0/0/586/92 32 W 2/17 44/18/31/+2/0.02//0/415/65 43 SSE Aero 43 MPH SSE 2/18 59/37/48/+19/0.55/0/006/01 69 S Aero 70 MPH S 2/19 43/22/33/+4/0.02/0.2/600/93 44 SSW Aero 46 MPH SSW 2/20 28/18/23/-6/0/0/480/74 36 W 2/21 29/14/22/-7/0/0/650/100 28 W 2/22 29/18/24/-6/0.80/7.5//000/00 28 N 2/23 31/21/26/-4/T/T/013/02 21 NNW 2/24 37/15/26/-4/0/0/639/97 24 WNW 2/25 46/24/35/+4/0/0/602/91 23 W 2/26 40/29/35/+4/0.32/T/000/00 36 E Aero 37 MPH E 2/27 38/22/30/-1/0.05/0.5/000/00 32 WNW Aero 30 MPH W 2/28 26/11/19/-12/0.04/0.4/456/68 31 W 2/29 26/5/16/-15/T/T/.../.. 22 SSE 3/1 morning low temp. 20F; our normal low is now 23F NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2008: 2/13 - New record daily precipitation 2.80 inches; surpasses previous record of 1.90 inches in 1966 2/18 - New record peak wind gust of 69 MPH S; surpasses 65 MPH (estimated) NNW in 1952 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 1 HIGH 62 IN 1972 LOW -3 IN 1886 PRECIP 1.65 INS. IN 1900 SNOWFALL 9.4 INS. IN 1949 PEAK GUST 78 WSW IN 1966 RECORDS FOR MARCH 2 HIGH 63 IN 2004 LOW -3 IN 1886 PRE 2.15 INS. IN 1983 SNOW 7.1 INS. IN 1948 WIND 75 MPH NW IN 1966 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Mike Iacono