BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY MARCH 4, 2011 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CONDITIONS WARMER TODAY UNDER VERY HIGH PRESSURE Temperatures are running several degrees warmer than yesterday, but are still several degrees below average. Winds are much calmer today, averaging only 5-10 mph. There has been ample sunshine filtering through the high thin cirrus clouds all day. Visibility has been pretty good in the 60-65 mile range. A very strong area of high pressure was nearly overhead this morning. The sea level pressure at about 9 AM reached 1042.3 mb. This was the highest pressure reading since 1043.3 mb on March 21, 2007! The pressure has been steadily dropping since this morning as the area of high pressure moves farther east. With a snow depth of 8 inches this morning, our streaks continue: BHO Longest Periods 6"+ Snow Depth (1895-2011): 1) 84 days, 23 Dec 1947 - 15 Mar 1948 2) 73 days, 4 Jan 1923 - 17 Mar 1923 3) 68 days, 10 Jan 1920 - 17 Mar 1920 4) 66 days, 2 Jan 1904 - 7 Mar 1904 5) 58 days, 29 Dec 1976 - 24 Feb 1977 6) 52 days, 12 Jan 2011- 4 Mar 2011 (through Mar 4th) 7) 51 days, 19 Jan 1936 - 9 Mar 1936 8) 46 days, 20 Jan 1987 - 6 Mar 1987 46 days, 30 Jan 2003 - 16 Mar 2003 10) 44 days, 10 Feb 1969 - 25 Mar 1969 BHO Longest Periods 1"+ Snow Depth (1895-2011): 1) 100 days, 14 Dec 1922 - 23 Mar 1923 2) 85 days, 26 Dec 1903 - 19 Mar 1904 3) 84 days, 23 Dec 1947 - 15 Mar 1948 84 days, 26 Dec 2002 - 19 Mar 2003 5) 82 days, 30 Dec 1993 - 21 Mar 1994 6) 78 days, 9 Jan 1920 - 26 Mar 1920 7) 76 days, 12 Dec 1960 - 25 Feb 1961 8) 74 days, 21 Dec 2010 - 4 Mar 2011 (through Mar 4th) 9) 71 days, 13 Jan 1978 - 24 Mar 1978 10) 67 days, 12 Dec 1970 - 16 Feb 1971 -Mike Iacono Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered cirrostratus, broken thin cirrus, few small cumulus/ cumulus fractus along/offshore distant NNE-ESE, patches of dense cirrus all quadrants, thin smoke layer along horizon all quadrants, inversion present, looming of mountains NW Temperature: 16F, Dew point: -2F; Wind: NNW at 5 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.76 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 65 miles Total snow depth on ground: 8 inches 6-hour min. temp: 15F BHO SA 1155 200 SCT 250 –BKN 65 416/16/-2/3405/076/ FEW SML CU/CUFRA ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE-ESE PTCHS DNS CI ALQDS THN K LYR ALG HRZN ALQDS INVSN PRSNT LOOMING OF MTNS NW/ 8/102 4/008 51010 10018 20015 10 A.M. Weather: Broken thin cirrus, few cumulus/cumulus fractus along/offshore distant NNE-ESE, few moderate cumulus tops NE, few altocumulus lenticularis SE and distant W and distant NNW-N, thin smoke layer distant SW-N-ENE, light distant haze Temperature: 27F, Dew point: 1F; Wind: SE at 4 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.78 inches Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 60 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 250 –BKN 60 423/27/1/1304/078/ FEW CU/CUFRA ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE-ESE FEW MDT TOPS NE FEW ACSL SE AND DSNT W AND DSNT NNW-N THN K LYR DSNT SW-N-ENE LGT DSNT HZ WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/241 50007 1 P.M. Weather: Broken thin cirrus, cumulus/stratocumulus layer along/offshore distant NNE-ESE, few moderate cumulus/stratocumulus tops distant NNE-NE, few altocumulus lenticularis distant WNW-NNW, thin smoke layer N, light distant haze Temperature: 34F, Dew point: 3F; Wind: SSE at 7 kts, Wind: Direction variable ESE-S Sea-level pressure: 30.73 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max temp: 35F BHO SA 1755 250 –BKN 65 405/34/3/1607/073/ CU/SC LYR ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE-ESE FEW MDT TOPS DSNT NNE-NE FEW ACSL DSNT WNW-NNW THN K LYR N LGT DSNT HZ WND 11V19/ 8/841 57018 10035 20015 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 3 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....27 NORMAL.....41 MIN......8 NORMAL.....24 MEAN....18 NORMAL.....32 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................-14 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..................-14 [-4.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............47 DEPARTURE.......+14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........113 DEPARTURE.......+13 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4635 DEPARTURE.......-35 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4486 DIFFERENCE.....+149 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..............36 WNW AT 5:58 A.M. * AEROVANE...............40 WNW AT 1:48 A.M. ASOS...................36 NW AT 5:59 A.M. DAVIS..................38 W AT 1:48 A.M. THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY............27 WNW AT 1:49 A.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.............26 NW AT 1:53 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE............28 WNW AT 12:48 A.M. AVERRAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......12.5 WNW ASOS.................12.3 DAVIS................12.0 WNW [299 DEG] * last of several occurrences.... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE.......-0.15 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.........Trace DEPARTURE.......-0.45 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........10.93 DEPARTURE.......+1.64 ASOS..............11.61** ** ASOS data is in error due to system failure on 1/12-13 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE........-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............Trace DEPARTURE........-1.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............89.7 DEPARTURE.......+42.8 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2011 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 3/1 36/27/32/0/0.00/0.0/580/86 37 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW 3/2 45/18/32/0/T/T/.../.. 51 W AERO 53 MPH W 3/3 27/8/18/-14/0.00/0.0/.../.. 36 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW 3/4 our morning low temp. 15F; the normal low is now 24F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2011 None so far DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 4 HIGH 69 IN 1974 LOW -5 IN 1950 PRECIP 1.80 IN 1960 SNOWFALL 17.3 IN 1960 PEAK GUST 81e MPH SSW IN 1971 RECORDS FOR MARCH 5 HIGH 64 IN 1979 LOW -2 IN 1948 PRECIP 1.76 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1891 PEAK GUST 76e MPH WNW IN 1971 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser