BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME UNLESS NOTED A WARM DAY AT LAST AFTER FIVE CONSECUTIVE COLD DAYS TEMPERATURES REACH MID-50'S--WARMEST SINCE MARCH 8TH GUSTY WINDS VEERED FROM SOUTH TO WEST-SOUTHWEST The high temperature had reached the middle 50's early and was actually above normal for the warmest since the low 60's on March 8th. An early morning rain shower between 8 and 9 a.m. EDT left just a trace of precipitation. Gusty winds up to 46 MPH from the south were recorded very early today and by afternoon WSW winds were gusting up to 35 to 40 MPH. Today's observations: 8 A.M. EDT Weather: High dense overcast, sun visible, rain showers in sight to the southwest, hazy Temperature: 40F, Dew point: 34F Wind: S at 23G32 kts Wind: peak wind S @ 32 kts at 45 past the hour Sea-level pressure: 29.96 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 12 miles, 10 miles SW, precipitation within sight SW 6-hour min temp: 35F BHO SA 1155 E200 BKN 250 OVC 12 145/40/34/1923G32/996/ SC FRMG AND CIG LWR S-W RW5SW VSBY SW 10 HAZY ALQDS PK WND 1932/45/ 8/507 56010 10040 20035 11 A.M. EDT Weather: Broken cumulus/statocumulus, hazy Temperature: 48F, Dew point: 34F, Wind: SW at 18G29 kts Wind: peak gust 34 kts from SSW at 28 minutes past the hour, Wind: variable in direction S to W Sea-level pressure: 29.92 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 20 miles, hazy 3-hourly rainfall: trace BHO SA 1455 E35 BKN 50 BKN 20 131/48/34/2218G29/992/ MDT CU HAZY PK WND 2134/28/ WND 18V26 GRDLY VEERING/ 8/800 58014 MANUAL 6000/ 2 P.M. EDT Weather: Overcast with stratocumulus and lower moderate cumulus, breaks in overcast, virga distant N-NNE Temperature: 53F, Dew point: 27F, Wind: WSW at 20G32 kts Wind: Peak wind gust 34 kts W at 07 past the hour, Wind: variable in direction SW-W Sea-level pressure: 29.90 inches Hg, steady Visibility: 50 miles 6-hourly max. temp. 56F 6-hourly rainfall: trace BHO SA 1755 60 SCT E75 OVC 50 125/53/27/2420G32/990/ MDT CU BINOVC VIRGA DSNT N-NNE PK WND 2634/07/ WND 22V28/ 8/26/ 56006 MANUAL 6000/ 10056 20039 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 25 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....39 NORMAL.....48 MIN.....25 NORMAL.....30 MEAN....32 NORMAL.....39 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..........+16 [+0.4 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............33 DEPARTURE........+7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........725 DEPARTURE.......-20 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4973 DEPARTURE......-342 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4870 DIFFERENCE.....+103† PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............35 S AT 11:17 P.M. AEROVANE.............33 S AT 11:17 P.M. ASOS.................33 S AT 11:17 P.M. DAVIS................35 SSE AT 7:35 P.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............26 S AT 11:17 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........25 S AT 11:19 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........25 SE AT 6:17 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........12.3 N ASOS.................11.9 DAVIS................11.3 ENE [060 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...TRACE DEPARTURE......-0.16 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.14 DEPARTURE......+1.27 ASOS..............5.10* TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........17.18 DEPARTURE......+4.47 ASOS.............19.41* # # Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 2/13/08. * ASOS precip. total for March lowered by 0.01 inch which occurred on† February 29th...and had been added to March total. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........TRACE DEPARTURE.....-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................6.3 DEPARTURE.....-3.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............66.4 DEPARTURE....+10.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 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 3/1 37/20/29/-3/0.34/3.2/034/05 38 W Aero 40 MPH W 3/2 37/23/30/-2/0/0/564/83 40 WNW 3/3 46/24/35/+3/0/0/327/48 42 S Aero 43 MPH S 3/4 58/36/47/+14/0.41/0/089/13 42 S Aero 43 MPH S 3/5 57/33/45/+12/0.31/0/199/29 45 S 3/6 46/27/37/+4/0/0/573/83 27 WSW 3/7 44/31/38/+5/0.28/0/395/57 29 NE 3/8 61/35/48/+14/2.20/0/000/00 69 SSW Aero 70 MPH S 3/9 47/24/36/+2/0/0/698/100 65 W Aero 65 MPH W 3/10 38/19/29/-5/0/0/687/98 31 W 3/11 42/19/31/-4/0/0/690/98 31 S 3/12 40/30/35/0/0.26/0.6/120/17 41 WNW 3/13 43/25/34/-1/T/T/490/69 31 W 3/14 53/30/42/+6/0.01/0/135/19 24 ENE 3/15 37/32/35/-1/0.51/1.9/000/00 39 NNE 3/16 40/31/36/0/T/T/014/02 42 WNW Aero 42 MPH WNW 3/17 41/25/33/-4/0/0/692/96 42 WNW Aero 39 MPH WNW 3/18 43/24/34/-3/0.02/0.1/493/68 22 NNE 3/19 43/30/37/0/0.53/0.5/000/00 28 ESE 3/20 50/32/41/+3/0.27/0/007/01 51 W 3/21 38/26/32/-6/0/0/704/96 61 W Aero 58 MPH W 3/22 45/25/35/-3/0/0/692/94 44 W Aero 44 MPH W 3/23 43/24/34/-4/0/0/717/97 25 WNW 3/24 46/24/35/-4/0/0/659/89 21 WNW 3/25 39/25/32/-7/0/0/618/83 35 S 3/26 morning low temp. 35F; normal low is now 31F NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2008 3/8 PEAK WIND GUST - 69 MPH SSW; PREVIOUSLY 68e MPH NE, 1941 3/8 NEW RECORD MAXIMUM DAILY RAINFALL of 2.20 inches; the previous record was 1.73 inches in 1933. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 26 HIGH 76 IN 1922, 1949 LOW 6 IN 1960 PRECIP 1.99 INS. IN 1988 SNOWFALL 5.4 INS. IN 2001 PEAK GUST 63 MPH S IN 1970 RECORDS FOR MARCH 27 HIGH 78 IN 1998 LOW 12 IN 1975 PRECIP 1.05 INS. IN 1913 SNOWFALL 6.6 INS. IN 1959 PEAK GUST 62 MPH NW IN 1965, SE IN 1992 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling