BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2012 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
LET THE WARMUP BEGIN!
NEW RECORD HIGH OF 70F SHORTLY AFTER LAST OBSERVATION
 
New record high of 70F was reached shortly after 2:00 EDT today, surpassing the
record high of 69F set only last year. Temperatures have been on the rise since
early this morning with a 14 degree increase between 8:00-11:00 EDT. Skies have
been mostly clear with a few cirrus clouds passing overhead but there was not a
single cloud in sight at 2:00 EDT. Today has also been very hazy with visibility
down to only about 35 miles the entire day. Winds haven't been too gusty, but
this warm air continues to stream in from the SW boosting temperatures into the
upper 60s and even low 70s.
 
The month of March still remains about 6 degrees above normal. This number
will continue to rise as warm air settles over the region for at least the next
week. Some areas including Boston may see temperatures reach 80F by Thursday!
 
 
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few thin cirrus all quadrants, dense fog distant ENE-SE, smoke
layer all quadrants, hazy, surfaces wet
Temperature: 42F, Dew point: 40F, Wind: SW at 17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.31 inches Hg, steady
Visibility: 30 miles, ENE-SE 20 miles, hazy
24-hour precip: None
6-hour min. temp: 38F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 30 264/42/40/2217/031/ FEW THN CI ALQDS DNS F DSNT ENE-SE K LYR
ALQDS HAZY SFCS WET VSBY LWR ENE-SE 20/ 8/001 54000 10042 20038
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few thin cirrus all quadrants except W-NNW, contrails E-S, smoke
layer all quadrants, hazy
Temperature: 56F, Dew Point: 44F; Wind: SW at 13 kts,
Wind: Direction variable S-WSW
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 CLR 35 260/56/44/2213/030/ FEW THN CI ALQDS XCPT W-NNW CONTRAILS E-S
K LYR ALQDS HAZY WND 18V24/ 8/001 58004
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Sky clear
Temperature: 69F, Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SW at 10 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SSE-W
Sea-level pressure: 30.24 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 35 miles, hazy 
6-hour max. temp: 69F
BHO SA 1755 SKC 35 241/69/48/2210/024/ HAZY WND 16V27/ 8/000 58019 10069 20042
 
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 17
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....51    NORMAL.....44
MIN.....40    NORMAL.....27
MEAN....46    NORMAL.....36
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+10
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+116 [+6.6 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............19   DEPARTURE.........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............424   DEPARTURE........-104
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4075   DEPARTURE.......-1023
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4999   DEPARTURE........-924 
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............21 SSW AT 11:40 P.M. *
                   AERO..................N/A
                   ASOS..................21 SSW AT 11:48 P.M.
                   DAVIS.................17 S   AT 11:20 P.M. RMY 24
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........17 SSW AT 11:43 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............17 SSW AT 11:42 P.M.
DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........14 S   AT 11:21 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........7.0 N
                   ASOS.................7.6
                   DAVIS................6.6 NNE [027 deg]
* Last of several occurrences.
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00   DEPARTURE..........-0.18
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.59   DEPARTURE..........-1.36
                         ASOS..............1.60
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.86   DEPARTURE..........-5.51
                        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..........-3.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2    DEPARTURE.........-28.6
 
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/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 51/40/46/+10/0.00/0.0/.../..   21 SSW AERO N/A        RMY 24
 
3/18 morning low temp: 38F; 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.
3/18 – NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 70F;
surpasses the previous record of 69F set in 2011.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 18
HIGH 69 IN 2011 [70F as of 2:05 EDT 3/18/12]
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
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 19
HIGH 70 IN 2010
LOW -2 IN 1967
PRECIP 1.69 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 17.6 INS. IN 1956 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 75e MPH WNW IN 1941
 
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: George Tabeek
 
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