BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME PARTLY SUNNY, DRY AND SLIGHTLY COOL TODAY... The morning low temperature of 32 was three degrees cooler than the average for the date of 35. A small area of middle level clouds moved through early this morning leaving the sky mostly sunny through the rest of the morning. Additional altocumulus and altocumulus lenticularis moved southward along the coast during the early afternoon. The temperature has climbed to the middle 50s as of early afternoon, which is close to average for mid-April. With very low dew points in the middle teens, the relative humidity has again dropped to near 30 percent this morning, and the very dry condition continue. As of early afternoon, the wind has veered to N-NNE, which is causing the dew point to climb back up to the low 20s. The visibility has been excellent all day near 75-80 miles. The rainfall deficit for the year is now approaching 9 inches, as moderate drought conditions continue to develop across the region. In fact, all of Rhode Island, all of Connecticut, and 87% of Massachusetts (excluding the far northwestern part of the state) are now considered to be in moderate drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report. http://www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_northeast.htm Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus Temperature: 36F, Dew point: 18F, Wind: NW at 7 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.99 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 80 miles 6-hour min. temp: 32F BHO SA 1155 E70 BKN 80 155/36/18/3107/999/ 8/070 51010 10036 20032 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant ESE-SSE, few altocumulus lenticularis Temperature: 47F, Dew Point: 17F; Wind: NW at 10G17 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 29.98 inches Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 80 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 80 151/47/17/3210/998/ FEW AC DSNT ESE-SSE FEW ACSL DSNT SSW-WSW AND NW-NNE FEW CU WNW-NNE WND 28V35/ 8/130 58004 1 P.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus, few lower altocumulus, few altocumulus lenticularis Temperature: 51F, Dew Point: 25F; Wind: NNE at 11G23 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 29.93 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 54F BHO SA 1755 E70 BKN 75 134/51/25/0311G23/993/ FEW LWR AC FEW ACSL LGT DSNT HZ WND 35V06/ 8/070 56017 10054 20036 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 6 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....51 NORMAL.....52 MIN.....31 NORMAL.....34 MEAN....41 NORMAL.....43 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+10 [+1.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............24 DEPARTURE..........+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............128 DEPARTURE..........-9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4413 DEPARTURE.......-1188 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5537 DEPARTURE.......-1124 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............26 NNW AT 9:30 P.M. AERO..................26 NNW AT 9:30 P.M. ASOS..................26 NNW AT 9:30 P.M. DAVIS.................26 NNW AT 9:29 P.M. RMY 28 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........19 NNW AT 9:29 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............20 NNW AT 9:21 P.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........19 NNW AT 9:21 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......11.2 NW ASOS................10.4 DAVIS................9.7 NW [318 deg.] * Last of several occurrences. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.17 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.18 DEPARTURE..........-0.84 ASOS..............0.17 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........6.27 DEPARTURE..........-8.75 ASOS..............6.32 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..........-0.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2 DEPARTURE.........-33.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR APRIL 2012 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 RMY: RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011 TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 4/1 50/34/42/+1/0.14/0.0/.../.. 20 SSW AERO 20 MPH SSW RMY N/A 4/2 51/35/43/+2/0.04/T/.../.. 35 NNW AERO 33 MPH NNW RMY 35 4/3 57/31/44/+2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 36 NW AERO 37 MPH NW RMY 40 4/4 62/38/50/+8/T/0.0/.../.. 40 NW AERO 39 MPH NW RMY 43 4/5 51/33/42/-1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 29 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY 30 4/6 51/31/41/-2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 26 NNW AERO 26 MPH NNW RMY 28 4/7 morning low temp: 32F; the normal low is now 35F DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2012 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR APRIL 7 HIGH 86 IN 1929 LOW 13 IN 1982 PRECIP 1.72 IN. IN 1924 SNOWFALL 4.5 IN. IN 1967, 1996 PEAK GUST 65 MPH WNW IN 1982 RECORDS FOR APRIL 8 HIGH 87 IN 1991 LOW 17 IN 1888 PRECIP 1.78 IN. IN 1956 SNOWFALL 9.3 IN. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2000 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono