BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

INCREDIBLE AND IMPRESSIVE WARMTH CONTINUES...

High temperatures yesterday and today have been more than 30 degrees
above average!  Yesterday, the high of 77F smashed the old daily
record high, but today a new record high is a little farther out of
reach.  The high temperature through 3PM EDT has reached 77F, 2 degrees
shy of the record for the date of 79F set in 1945.  More daily record
high temperatures are in jeopardy of being broken later this week (see
list below).

Another impressive aspect of the recent warmth has been the large
diurnal temperature swings of 30-35 degrees over each of the past couple
of days.  The big temperature swings make the morning and afternoon
seemingly feel like completely different days.  Today marked the 10th
consecutive day of above normal temperatures.  High pressure, clear skies,
a dominating upper level ridge, and light winds will continue to
dominate our weather, translating into plenty more warmth in the
forecast ahead, thus extending the warm streak.

The lack of precipitation continues to be an important story, especially
with little in the way of significant rainfall and very warm
temperatures in the forecast. Rainfall on the summit is now about
6 inches below average since the beginning of the year.  We've had just
under 50% of the normal precipitation since January 1.

CURRENT BLUE HILL RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES IN JEOPARDY THIS WEEK:     
MARCH 20  79F  IN 1945
MARCH 21  81F  IN 1921
MARCH 22  71F  IN 1948

Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, few altocumulus distant ENE-E and distant WSW, thin
fog all quadrants, ground fog dissipating, hazy, heavy dew all surfaces
Temperature: 43F, Dew point: 42F, Wind: WNW at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.32 inches Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 15 miles, thin fog all quadrants, hazy
6-hour min. temp: 41F
BHO SA 1155 CLR 15 268/43/42/3106/032/ FEW AC DSNT ENE-E AND DSNT WSW
THN FG ALQDS GF DSPTNG HAZY HVY DEW ALL SFCS/ 8/040 50007 10043 20041

10 A.M. 
Weather: Clear, thin smoke/haze layer distant SW-N-ENE, hazy
Temperature: 59F, Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SW at 5 kts, 
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.33 inches Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 25 miles, hazy
BHO SA 1455 SKC 25 271/59/48/2305/033/ THN K/HZ LYR DSNT SW-N-ENE
HAZY WND LGT AND VRB/ 50003   

1 P.M. 
Weather: Clear, few cumulus distant SSW-W, few moderate cumulus distant
NW-NNW, thin smoke/haze layer distant all quadrants, hazy
Temperature: 74F, Dew Point: 52F; Wind: WSW at 7 kts,
Wind: Direction variable SSW-W 
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 inches Hg, falling 
Visibility: 35 miles, WNW 45 miles, hazy  
6-hour max. temp: 75F   
BHO SA 1755 CLR 35 256/74/52/2507/029/ FEW CU DSNT SSW-W FEW MDT CU
DSNT NW-NNW THN K/HZ LYR DSNT ALQDS HAZY VSBY WNW 45 WND 21V28/
8/200 58012 10075 20043

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 19

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....77    NORMAL.....45
MIN.....44    NORMAL.....27
MEAN....61    NORMAL.....36
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+25
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+160 [+8.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............4   DEPARTURE.........-24
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............438   DEPARTURE........-146
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4089   DEPARTURE.......-1065
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5033   DEPARTURE........-944  
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............24 NE  AT  3:06 P.M.
                   AERO..................24 NE  AT  3:07 P.M.
                   ASOS..................24 ENE AT  3:07 P.M.
                   DAVIS.................23 NE  AT  3:06 P.M. RMY 25
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........18 SW  AT  1:26 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............18 SW  AT  1:27 A.M.
DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........18 SW  AT  1:25 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......10.5 NE
                   ASOS................10.3
                   DAVIS...............10.2 WSW [250 deg.]
*...last of several occurrences...
  
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00   DEPARTURE..........-0.19
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.59   DEPARTURE..........-1.74
                         ASOS..............1.60
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.86   DEPARTURE..........-5.89
                        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..........-4.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2    DEPARTURE.........-29.4

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 72/38/55/+19/0.00/0.0/.../..   27 SW  AERO 27 MPH SW  RMY 27
3/19 77/44/61/+25/0.00/0.0/.../..   24 NE  AERO 24 MPH NE  RMY 25

3/20 our morning low temp: 41F; the normal low is now 28F 

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2012
3/8  - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 48F;
surpasses the previous record of 42F set in 1995 and 2009.
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 72F;
surpasses the previous record of 69F set in 2011.
3/19 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 77F;
surpasses the previous record of 70 in 2010. 

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 20
HIGH 79 IN 1945
LOW 4 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.39 INS. IN 1957
SNOWFALL 11.4 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975

RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser