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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME  

JANUARY THRU MARCH 2009 SUNSHINE MOVED
INTO 2ND PLACE FOR THE THREE MONTH PERIOD

The combined sunshine total for the 
first three months of 2009 is the 
second greatest on our entire record. 
All three months have had well above 
average sunshine with an average of 59%
of the possible.  The combined total 
hours for the sunniest first three 
months of any year on record are:

(total hours, based on uncorrected card minutes)
1. 559.7 in 1978
2. 548.2 in 2009

January through March 1964 was previously
ranked in second place with 548.4 hours, 
but has been removed from the list because 
it was a leap year.  February 29, 1964 had 
9.9 hours of sunshine so the total hours 
of sunshine is inflated due to an extra 
calendar day.

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Obscurement with fog
Temperature: 48F, Dew point: 48F, Wind: ENE at 14 kts 
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
6-hour minimum temperature: 47F 
24-hour precipitation: 0.01 inch
BHO SA 1155 W1 X 1/16F 083/48/48/0714/978/ 
8//// 56033 MANUAL 70001 ASOS 70001 10050 20047

10 A.M. 
Weather: Obscurement with fog, rain
Temperature: 48F, Dew point: 48F, Wind: ENE at 18G24 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 26 kts ENE at 9:14 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.63 inches Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
BHO SA 1455 W2 X 1/16R-F 034/48/48/0718G24/963/ 
PRESFR PK WND 0626/14/ 8//// 58049 MANUAL 6005/ ASOS 60006

1 P.M.   
Weather: Obscurement with fog, drizzle
Temperature: 54F, Dew point: 54F, Wind: E at 13G20 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 28 kts ENE at 12:08 P.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.44 inches Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog, drizzle
6-hour maximum temperature: 54F 
BHO SA 1755 W2 X 1/16L-F 968/54/54/0813G20/944/ PRESFR 
PK WND 0728/08/ 8//// 56066 MANUAL 6015/ ASOS 60018 10054 20045 

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....52    NORMAL.....50
MIN.....39    NORMAL.....33
MEAN....46    NORMAL.....42

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..................+1  [+0.3 DEGREE/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............19  DEPARTURE.........-4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............46  DEPARTURE.........-1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........5464  DEPARTURE........-47
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....5173  DIFFERENCE......+291

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............20 SSE AT 12:26 A.M.
                   AEROVANE.............17 ESE AT  9:56 P.M. *
                   ASOS.................17 S   AT 12:26 A.M.
                   DAVIS................18 SE  AT 12:25 A.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............12 SSE AT 12:25 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........13 S   AT 12:26 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........14 SE  AT 12:26 A.M.
                   AVERAGE.............5.8 SSE
                   ASOS................5.7
                   DAVIS...............5.5 ESE  [121 DEGREES]
* last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.01 DEPARTURE.........-0.14
                         ASOS...............0.01
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........0.15 DEPARTURE.........-0.15
                         ASOS...............0.14
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........10.23 DEPARTURE.........-3.70
                         ASOS..............11.27 # 
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 1/1/09, 1/2/09 and 2/27/09.

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............78.7   DEPARTURE........+21.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR APRIL 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized

4/1  43/31/38/-3/0.13/0/.../..       24 SE    AERO 22 MPH SE
4/2  52/39/46/+4/0.02/0/.../..       20 SSE   AERO 17 MPH SSE

4/3 morning low temp: 47F; our normal low is now 33F

NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2009...
None to date..

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

RECORDS FOR APRIL 3
HIGH 76 IN 1892
LOW 16 IN 1894
PRECIP 2.18 IN. IN 1990
SNOWFALL 8.0 IN. IN 1915
PEAK GUST 83e MPH NW IN 1977 [RECORD FOR MONTH]

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

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Stephanie Radner