BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2012  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

MORNING SHOWERS BRING 0.08 INCH OF RAIN;
TEMPERATURES CONTINUE NEARLY 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL

Light rain showers that began early this morning and ended shortly
before 10 AM EDT brought 0.08 inch of rainfall to the summit.  The
2012 rainfall deficit continues to grow, now approaching 5 inches.  We've
had only 55% of our normal rainfall since January 1.

Yesterday's high temperature of 72F was remarkable.  It smashed the old
record for the date of 67F set in 1977.  This also marks the warmest
temperature on record so early in the year, beating out the 71F
temperature observed on March 9, 2000.  Yesterday's very warm temperatures
averaged more than 20 degrees above normal.  That warmth continues today
with temperatures once again about 20 degrees above normal.  However, it
does not appear likely that a new daily record high temperature will be
set today since the existing record is 72F set back in 1990.

Winds are increasing this afternoon and gradually becoming more westerly.
Visibility has gradually improved today, too, reaching 45 miles to the
WNW this afternoon.

Today marks the 19th anniversary of the Superstorm of '93.  On this date
in 1993, a 76 mph wind gust from the ENE and 10.0 inches of snow were
recorded.

Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Light rain, broken altocumulus, broken nimbostratus, overcast
altocumulus, few altocumulus lenticularis distant ESE-SSE, higher
altocumulus visibile distant E-SE, thin fog/haze all quadrants, light
rain continued 
Temperature: 47F, Dew point: 44F, Wind: S at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.06 inches Hg, steady
Visibility: 15 miles, light rain, WSW-E 10 miles, ESE-SSW 20 miles,
thin fog/haze all quadrants
24-hour precip: 0.04 inch
6-hour precip: 0.04 inch
6-hour min. temp: 46F
BHO SA 1155 E60 BKN 80 BKN 120 OVC 15R- 178/47/44/1809/006/ FEW ACSL
DSNT ESE-SSE HIER AC VSBL DSNT E-SE THN FG/HZ ALQDS VSBY WSW-E 10
ESE-SSW 20 R-CTD/ 8/07/ 54000 MANUAL 70004 ASOS 70004 MANUAL 60004
ASOS 60004 10051 20046  

10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered altocumulus (2 levels), broken cirrostratus, broken
cirrus, few cumulus distant NNE and distant SSE-SW and distant WNW-NNW,
lower altocumulus E-SSW, few altocumulus lenticularis all quadrants,
higher cirrus layer partly thin, partial halo, thin smoke layer distant
all quadrants, distant haze
Temperature: 53F, Dew Point: 50F; Wind: S at 18G25 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 inches Hg, falling 
Visibility: 25 miles, distant haze
3-hour precip: 0.04 inch
BHO SA 1455 60 SCT 80 SCT E200 BKN 250 BKN 25 159/53/50/1918G25/000/
FEW CU DSNT NNE AND DSNT SSE-SW AND DSNT WNW-NNW LWR AC E-SSW FEW ACSL
ALQDS HIER CI LYR PRTLY THN PARTIAL HALO THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS DSNT HZ/
8/177 58019 MANUAL 60004 ASOS 60004

1 P.M. 
Weather: Scattered altocumulus (2 levels), scattered cirrostratus,
broken thin cirrus, few small cumulus distant ESE-SSE and distant WNW-NW
and distant NNW-N, lower altocumulus/altocumulus lenticularis distant
E-SW, higher altocumulus NE-SSW, cirrus/cirrostratus NNE-SE-SW and
overhead, mostly clear sky SW-NW-NNE, thin smoke layer distant all
quadrants, distant haze
Temperature: 63F, Dew Point: 54F; Wind: S at 12G19 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SSE-SW
Sea-level pressure: 29.94 inches Hg, falling 
Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze, WNW 45 miles, NNE-SE-SW 30 miles
6-hour precip: 0.04 inch
6-hour max. temp: 64F
BHO SA 1755 80 SCT 140 SCT 200 SCT 250 –BKN 35 139/63/54/1912G19/994/
FEW SML CU DSNT ESE-SSE AND DSNT WNW-NW AND DSNT NNW-N LWR AC/ACSL DSNT
E-SW HIER AC NE-SSW CI/CS NNE-SE-SW AND OVHD MSTLY CLR SKY SW-NW-NNE
THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS DSNT HZ VSBY WNW 45 NNE-SE-SW 30 WND 16V22/ 8/147
58020 MANUAL 60004 ASOS 60004 10064 20047

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 12

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....72    NORMAL.....43
MIN.....40    NORMAL.....25
MEAN....56    NORMAL.....34
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+22
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+68  [+5.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............9   DEPARTURE.........-21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............322   DEPARTURE.........-60
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3973   DEPARTURE........-979
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4872   DEPARTURE........-899  
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............23 SW  AT 12:27 A.M. *
                   AERO..................25 SW  AT 12:16 A.M.
                   ASOS..................24 SW  AT 12:27 A.M.
                   DAVIS.................23 SW  AT 12:08 A.M. RMY N/A
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........19 SW  AT 12:16 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............18 SW  AT 12:28 A.M.
DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........18 SW  AT 12:05 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......11.6 WSW
                   ASOS................11.5 
                   DAVIS...............10.6 WSW [238 deg]
*Last of several occurrences...
  
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.04   DEPARTURE..........-0.12
                         ASOS..............0.04
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.50   DEPARTURE..........-0.58
                         ASOS..............1.52
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.77   DEPARTURE..........-4.73
                        ASOS...............5.85
	
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0    DEPARTURE..........-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................4.0    DEPARTURE..........-1.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2    DEPARTURE.........-26.6

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 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
 
3/1  34/22/28/-3/1.05/3.3/000/00    40 ENE AERO 44 MPH ENE RMY 42
3/2  30/21/26/-5/0.01/0.1/000/00    23 ESE AERO 25 MPH ESE RMY 26
3/3  44/30/37/+5/0.35/0.6/000/00    27 W   AERO 29 MPH SW  RMY 28
3/4  39/30/35/+3/0.00/0.0/082/12    28 W   AERO 28 MPH W   RMY 28
3/5  35/22/29/-3/0.00/0.0/651/95    33 W   AERO 35 MPH W   RMY 35
3/6  37/16/27/-5/0.00/0.0/674/98    28 NW  AERO 28 MPH NW  RMY N/A
3/7  50/29/45/+12/0.00/0.0/608/88   40 SSW AERO 43 MPH SSW RMY 43
3/8  66/48/57/+24/0.00/0.0/499/72   59 SSW AERO 61 MPH SSW RMY N/A
3/9  57/31/44/+11/0.05/T/279/40     62 SSW AERO 63 MPH SSW RMY N/A
3/10 37/27/32/-1/T/T/.../..         32 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY N/A
3/11 56/27/42/+8/0.00/0.0/.../..    35 SW  AERO 37 MPH SW  RMY 36
3/12 72/40/56/+22/0.00/0.0/.../..   23 SW  AERO 25 MPH SW  RMY N/A

3/13 our morning low temp: 46F; the normal low is now 26F 

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2012
3/8 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 66F;
surpasses the previous record of 63F set in 1942 and 1995.
3/12 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 72F;
surpasses the previous record of 67F set in 1977.

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 13
HIGH 72 IN 1990
LOW -1 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.47 INS. IN 1993
SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 1993
PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1993 [THE "STORM OF THE CENTURY"]

RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 1.72 INS. IN 1984 4.95 IN 2010 
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ENE IN 2010

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser