BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURES COOLER BUT STILL ABOVE AVERAGE TODAY... RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 56 ON FRIDAY IS ALSO NEW RECORD FOR WARMEST MINIMUM THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON... MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH LIGHT WINDS...LIGHT SHOWERS EXPECTED LATER TODAY... The high temperature on Friday of 75 was a few degrees cooler than the record for the 23rd of 78 in 1938. The mimimum tempearture was 56 deg F, which occurred at midnight at the end of the day. This is a new record high minimum temperature for the 23th, surpassing 49 in 1949. This is also the warmest minimum temperature this early in the season, surpassing the previous record for the earliest temperature of 56 or higher of 55 on March 17, 1990. The high for the day so far was 56 back at midnight, since the temperature has not climbed much above the morning low of 46 due to persistent middle level clouds and light winds off the water. The low this morning of 46 may surpass the record high minimum for this date of 42 in 1908, if it does not get colder than this by the end of today. The cumulative temperature departure for the month has climbed to +270 degrees, or +11.5 degrees warmer than the 30-year average. The average temperature for March through the 23rd is 44.4 deg F. This is already among the warmest March's on record. BHO Warmest March, 1885-2011 (deg F) 1) 43.5 in 1946 2) 42.7 in 1945 3) 42.2 in 1903 4) 41.5 in 2010 5) 41.2 in 1921 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, thin broken altocumulus, thin overcast cirrus Temperature: 46F, Dew point: 29F, Wind: ENE at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable NE-E Sea-level pressure: 30.13 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 70 miles 6-hour min. temp: 46F BHO SA 1155 110 SCT 120 –BKN 250 –OVC 70 203/46/29/0708/013/ WND 04V10/ 8/071 51010 10055 20046 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast cirrus, breaks in overcast distant SSW-SW Temperature: 47F, Dew Point: 28F; Wind: E at 7 kts, Wind: Direction variable NE-ESE Sea-level pressure: 30.17 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 75 miles, BHO SA 1455 100 SCT E120 BKN 220 OVC 75 217/47/28/0807/017/ BINOVC DSNT SSW-SW WND 05V11/ 8/071 51014 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, overcast cirrus, breaks in overcast SE-SW Temperature: 50F, Dew Point: 29F; Wind: E at 5 kts, Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.11 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 70 miles, 6-hour max. temp: 51F BHO SA 1755 100 SCT E140 BKN 250 OVC 70 196/50/29/1005/011/ BINOVC SE-SW WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/071 58021 10051 20046 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 23 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....75 NORMAL.....46 MIN.....56 NORMAL.....29 MEAN....66 NORMAL.....38 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+28 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+270 [+11.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............0 DEPARTURE.........-27 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............443 DEPARTURE........-250 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4094 DEPARTURE.......-1169 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5156 DEPARTURE.......-1062 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............31 NNW AT 7:38 P.M. AERO..................31 NNW AT 7:38 P.M. ASOS..................31 N AT 7:38 P.M. DAVIS.................31 NNW AT 7:37 P.M. RMY 33 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........20 NNW AT 7:48 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............21 N AT 7:50 P.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........19 NNW AT 7:50 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......10.6 NNW ASOS.................9.4 DAVIS................8.9 NNW [332 deg.] *...last of several occurrences... 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..........-2.52 ASOS..............1.60 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.86 DEPARTURE..........-6.67 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..........-5.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2 DEPARTURE.........-30.7 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 81/54/68/+31/0.00/0.0/.../.. 22 SW AERO 21 MPH SW RMY 22 3/23 75/56/66/+28/T/0.0/.../.. 31 NNW AERO 31 MPH NNW RMY 33 3/24 morning low temp: 46F; the normal low is now 29F 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 DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 54F; surpasses the previous record of 51F in 1913 and 1921. 3/22 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 54F; surpasses the previous record of 45F in 1902. 3/22 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMP OF 81F; surpasses the previous record of 71F in 1948. 3/23 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 56F; surpasses the previous record of 49F in 1949. 3/23 - NEW EARLY SEASON RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE of 56F; surpasses the previous record of 55F set on 3/17/1990 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 24 HIGH 70 DEGREES IN 1920 LOW 6 DEGREES IN 1906 PRECIP 1.51 INS. IN 1956 SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 71 MPH W IN 1968 RECORDS FOR MARCH 25 HIGH 76 IN 1910 LOW 8 IN 1888, 1956 PRECIP 1.84 INS. IN 1909 SNOWFALL 1.0 INS. IN 1912 PEAK GUST 69 MPH SE IN 1969 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono