BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CHILLY, BREEZY, AND VERY DRY The cold front that swept through yesterday morning has ushered in cooler and certainly much drier air. As the Canadian air mass rushed in, winds reached a peak gust of 47 mph from the NW at 5:33 P.M. yesterday evening. Breezy conditions have continued into today with winds gusting 30-35 mph occasionally. Temperatures are running a few degrees below normal today. Yesterday was the start of the below normal temperatures, which broke a 2-week streak of above normal temperatures. The Canadian air mass is also quite dry. Dew point temperatures have been near zero today, pushing afternoon relative humidity values into the middle teens. The recent dry weather, extremely dry air today, and gusty winds are very serious concerns today with regards to fire. Today's red flag warnings are certainly warranted. There is a positive side to the very dry air, and that is the spectacular visibility near 85 miles today. The average temperature for March through the 26th is 44.3 deg F. March 2012 will be among the warmest 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 The total precipitation since January 1st through March 26th is 5.88 inches. With little precipitation in the forecast over the next few days, January-March 2012 looks to set a new record for driest start to the year. BHO Driest January-March, 1886-2011 (inches) 1) 7.20 in 1947 2) 7.39 in 1985 3) 7.92 in 1894 4) 7.97 in 2004 5) 8.08 in 1895 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus/cumulus fractus along/offshore distant ENE-SE, thin smoke/haze layer distant all quadrants, smoke/haze layer aloft ENE-SE and SW-N, light distant haze Temperature: 25F, Dew point: 3F, Wind: NW at 16G31 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 32 kts from the NW at 6:57 A.M. EST Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 30.10 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 80 miles, light distant haze 24-hour precip: Trace 6-hour min. temp: 24F BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 193/25/3/3116G31/010/ FEW SML CU/CUFRA ALG/OFFSHR DSNT ENE-SE THN K/HZ LYR DSNT ALQDS K/HZ LYR ALF ENE-SE AND SW-N LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 3132/1057 WND 26V01/ 8/100 51028 MANUAL 7000/ 10028 20024 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus/cumulus fractus along/offshore distant E-SE, thin smoke/haze layer distant all quadrants, light distant haze Temperature: 34F, Dew Point: 2F; Wind: NW at 14G22 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 28 kts from the NNW at 9:35 A.M. EST Wind: Direction variable WSW-N Sea-level pressure: 30.13 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 85 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 85 204/34/2/3114G22/013/ FEW SML CU/CUFRA ALG/OFFSHR DSNT E-SE THN K/HZ LYR DSNT ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 3328/35 WND 25V35/ 8/100 53011 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus/cumulus fractus distant E-ESE, thin band of thin cirrus SW-W-NNW, few cirrus distant W, light distant haze Temperature: 42F, Dew Point: 0F; Wind: NW at 13G24 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 30 kts from the NW at 12:01 P.M. EST Wind: Direction variable W-NNE Sea-level pressure: 30.13 inches Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 85 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 43F BHO SA 1755 CLR 85 202/42/0/3213G24/013/ FEW SML CU/CUFRA DSNT E-ESE THN BND THN CI SW-W-NNW FEW CI DSNT W THN K/HZ LYR DSNT ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 3230/01 WND 26V02/ 8/101 58002 10043 20025 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 26 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....45 NORMAL.....48 MIN.....29 NORMAL.....30 MEAN....37 NORMAL.....39 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....................+286 [+10.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............28 DEPARTURE..........+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............507 DEPARTURE........-264 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4158 DEPARTURE.......-1183 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5255 DEPARTURE.......-1097 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............47 NW AT 5:33 P.M. * AERO..................48 NW AT 4:00 P.M. ASOS..................46 NW AT 5:34 P.M. DAVIS.................44 NW AT 2:39 P.M. RMY 47 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...........37 NW AT 2:38 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............36 NW AT 2:39 P.M. DAVIS MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE AVERAGE...........35 NW AT 2:39 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.......18.7 NW ASOS................17.4 DAVIS...............15.7 NW [317 deg.] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE..........-0.19 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.61 DEPARTURE..........-3.07 ASOS..............1.61 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.88 DEPARTURE..........-7.22 ASOS...............5.94 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..........-6.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............24.2 DEPARTURE.........-31.6 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/0.0/014/02 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 56/44/50/+12/0.00/0.0/.../.. 22 E AERO 20 MPH E RMY 17 3/25 47/40/44/+6/0.02/0.0/.../.. 17 ESE AERO 16 MPH ESE RMY N/A 3/26 45/29/37/-2/T/0.0/.../.. 47 NW AERO 48 MPH NW RMY 47 3/27 our morning low temp: 24F; the normal low is now 30F 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 3/24 - NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMP OF 44F; surpasses the previous record of 42F in 1908. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 27 HIGH 78 IN 1998 LOW 12 IN 1975 PRECIP 1.05 INS. IN 1913 SNOWFALL 6.6 INS. IN 1959 PEAK GUST 62 MPH NW IN 1965, SE IN 1992 RECORDS FOR MARCH 28 HIGH 86 IN 1998 LOW 7 IN 1923 PRECIP 2.31 INS. IN 1932 SNOWFALL 3.0 INS. IN 1932 PEAK GUST 60e MPH NW IN 1944, 60 WSW IN 1991 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser