BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLOUDY WITH LIGHT WINDS TODAY... Low stratocumulus clouds have persisted all day partly due to a light variable onshore wind from the northeast. The temperature has climbed to the upper 40s after a mild morning low temperature of 40 degrees F. Rain showers Friday afternoon added only another 0.05 inch to the monthly total of 1.59 inches, which is more than an inch less than average. The year to date is now more than five inches drier than average. Warmer weather will arrive starting on Sunday, and March is already running more than six degrees warmer than average. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, thin ground fog all quadrants, hazy Temperature: 42F, Dew point: 41F, Wind: N at 7 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.31 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 20 miles, hazy 24-hour precip: 0.05 inch 6-hour min. temp: 40F BHO SA 1155 E25 OVC 20 265/42/41/3607/031/ THN GF ALQDS HAZY/ 8/5// 53030 70005 10042 20040 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, hazy Temperature: 45F, Dew Point: 38F; Wind: NE at 6 kts, Wind: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.38 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 35 miles, hazy BHO SA 1455 25 SCT E40 OVC 35 287/45/38/0506/038/ HAZY WND LGT/ 8/5// 52022 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, breaks in overcast distant NE-ENE, hazy Temperature: 47F, Dew Point: 39F; Wind: NE at 5 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.37 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 40 miles, hazy 6-hour max. temp: 48F BHO SA 1755 20 SCT E25 OVC 40 285/47/39/0605/037/ BINOVC DSNT NE-ENE HAZY WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/5// 58002 10048 20042 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 16 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....43 NORMAL.....44 MIN.....32 NORMAL.....26 MEAN....38 NORMAL.....35 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+3 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+106 [+6.4 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............27 DEPARTURE..........-2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............405 DEPARTURE.........-94 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4056 DEPARTURE.......-1013 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4982 DEPARTURE........-926 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............16 NNW AT 11:58 P.M. * AERO..................16 NNW AT 11:58 P.M. * ASOS..................16 NNW AT 11:59 P.M. DAVIS.................15 NW AT 10:40 P.M. RMY 17 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........13 NNW AT 11:58 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............13 NNW AT 11:52 P.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........12 NW AT 10:50 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........7.5 S ASOS.................7.1 DAVIS................6.1 SSW [199 deg] * Last of several occurrences. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.05 DEPARTURE..........-0.13 ASOS..............0.04 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.59 DEPARTURE..........-1.18 ASOS..............1.60 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.86 DEPARTURE..........-5.33 ASOS...............5.93 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..........-3.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2 DEPARTURE.........-28.2 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/168/24 32 WNW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/11 56/27/42/+8/0.00/0.0/681/97 35 SW AERO 37 MPH SW RMY 36 3/12 72/40/56/+22/0.00/0.0/620/88 23 SW AERO 25 MPH SW RMY N/A 3/13 68/46/57/+23/0.08/0.0/347/49 30 SSW AERO 31 MPH SSW RMY 31 3/14 51/36/44/+9/T/0.0/007/01 23 NE AERO 23 MPH ENE RMY 22 3/15 42/33/38/+3/T/0.0/.../.. 16 ENE AERO 15 MPH E RMY 15 3/16 43/32/38/+3/0.05/0.0/.../.. 16 NNW AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY 17 3/17 morning low temp: 40F; the normal low is now 27F 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. 3/12 - NEW EARLY SEASON RECORD (NESR) HIGH TEMPERATURE of 72F; surpasses the previous record of 71F set on 3/9/2000. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 17 HIGH 69 IN 2003 LOW 6 IN 1885 PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968 SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973 RECORDS FOR MARCH 18 HIGH 69 IN 2011 LOW 0 IN 1885 PRECIP 5.61 INS. IN 1968 [RECORD FOR MONTH] SNOWFALL 9.3 INS. IN 1985 PEAK GUST 71e MPH WNW IN 1941 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono