BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME ANOTHER RECORD BREAKER TODAY AS OUR TEMPERATURES SOAR THROUGH THE 70'S NEW RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP. MAY APPROACH 80F SOME EARLY MORNING THIN FOG WAS FOLLOWED BY CLOUDLESS SKIES--VISIBILITY OVER 50 MILES TODAY.... Temeratures were quickly rising and for the 4th day this month surpassing the record high temperature for the date. Today's record of 71F was surpassed by about noon and by 2 P.M. we had registered a new record high of 79F. After 2 P.M. the temperature continued up to at least the 80-degree mark! YESTERDAY.... NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 54F ON 21 MARCH... Yesterday's minimum temperature of 54F established a record high minimum for March 21, the previous record was 51F in 1913 and 1921. The maximum temperature of 76F yesterday fell well short of the record 81F in 1921. Today's maximum and minimum temperatures set new records for March 22 as they stand currently at 71F in 1948 and 45F in 1902 respectively. Our morning low temperature is 54F or the same as yesterday morning. Records set so far this month: March 8... Record high maximum, 66F; previous 63 in 1942 and 1995 Record high minimum. 48F; previous 42 in 1995, 2009 March 12... Record high maximum, 72F; previous 67 in 1977 March 18... Record high maximum, 72F; previous 69 in 2011 March 19... Record high maximum, 77F; previous record 70 in 2010 March 21... Record high minimum, 54F; previous record 51 1913 and 1921 March 22... both a new high and high low temperature record likely set today. 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 22 71F IN 1948 (easily broken) MARCH 23 78F in 1938 (likely not to be reached) Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, SKC, thin fog all quadrants, heavy dew all surfaces wet Temperature: 56F, Dew point: 55F, Wind: SW at 11 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.19 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 6 miles, except 8 SW, 9 N, visibility slowly increasing 6-hour min. temp: 54F BHO SA 1155 CLR 6F 225/56/55/2311/019/ SKC VSBY SW 8 N 9 VSBY SLWLY INCRSNG HVY DEW ALL SFCS WET/ 58002 10057 20054 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few cirrus distant NW, haze/smoke layer aloft above horizon SW-NW-NE Temperature: 68F, Dew Point: 55F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts, Wind: Direction variable SSW-WNW Sea-level pressure: 30.17 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 30 miles, distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 30 216/68/55/2512/017/ FEW CI DSNT NW THN HZ/K LYR MSTLY ALF ALG/ABV HRZN SW-NW-NE DSNT HZ ALQDS WND 21V30/ 8/001 56009 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus northwest, few cirrus distant NNW-N, haze/smoke mostly aloft above horizon W-NNE Temperature: 78F, Dew Point: 52F; Wind: WSW at 9 kts, Wind: Direction variable SSW-WNW Sea-level pressure: 30.09 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 55 miles, distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 79F BHO SA 1755 CLR 55 190/78/52/2509/009/ FEW SML CU NW FEW CI DSNT NNW-N HZ/K LYR MSTLY ALF ABV HRZN W-NNE DSNT HZ ALQDS WND 20V29/ 8/101 58026 10079 20055 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....76 NORMAL.....46 MIN.....54 NORMAL.....28 MEAN....65 NORMAL.....37 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+28 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+211 [+9.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............0 DEPARTURE.........-27 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............443 DEPARTURE........-196 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4094 DEPARTURE.......-1115 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5094 DEPARTURE.......-1000 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............25 SSW AT 3:16 P.M. AERO..................26 SSW AT 3:16 P.M. ASOS..................25 SW AT 3:52 P.M. DAVIS.................26 SSW AT 3:16 P.M. RMY 27 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........18 SW AT 3:55 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............18 SW AT 3:17 P.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........18 SSW AT 1:13 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......13.0 SW ASOS................12.3 DAVIS...............11.7 SW [230 deg.] . PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE..........-0.20 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.59 DEPARTURE..........-2.13 ASOS..............1.60 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.86 DEPARTURE..........-6.28 ASOS...............5.93 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE..........-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................4.0 DEPARTURE..........-4.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2 DEPARTURE.........-30.1 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/0.0/014/02 16 ENE AERO 15 MPH E RMY 15 3/16 43/32/38/+3/0.05/0.0/000/00 16 NNW AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY 17 3/17 51/40/46/+10/0.00/0.0/079/11 21 SSW AERO N/A RMY 24 3/18 72/38/55/+19/0.00/0.0/652/91 27 SW AERO 27 MPH SW RMY 27 3/19 77/44/61/+25/0.00/0.0/667/92 24 NE AERO 24 MPH NE RMY 25 3/20 78/41/60/+23/0.00/0.0/662/91 22 SSW AERO 22 MPH SW RMY 25 3/21 76/54/65/+28/0.00/0.0/556/76 25 SW AERO 26 MPH SW RMY 27 3/22 our morning low temp: 54F; 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. 3/21 - NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP. OF 54F; surpasses the previous record of 51F in 1913,1921 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 22 HIGH 71 IN 1948 (surpassed in 2012) LOW 3 IN 1885 PRE 3.48 INS. IN 2001 SNOW 8.7 INS. 1967 WIND 84e MPH E IN 1977 RECORDS FOR MARCH 23 HIGH 78 IN 1938 LOW 3 IN 1934 PRE 1.58 INS. IN 1903 SNOW 3.0 INS. IN 1977 WIND 78e MPH W IN 1940 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling If you do not wish to receive this Daily Discussion and Climate Summary from the Blue Hill Observatory, please send an email to sitemaster@bluehill.org.