BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2014 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME COLD, DRY, AND WINDY This morning's low temperature of 25F was only slightly below average for this time of year. However, by the 1:00 observation this afternoon the temperature had only risen to a maximum of 34F, more typical of January than mid-March. Adding to the sting of the unseasonable cold has been a steady WNW wind that has gusted over 30mph at times. Shortly after 3:00 yesterday afternoon, a period of strong winds hit the summit, with a peak gust of 50mph. The past few days have all been rather windy at times, with peak gusts of at least 35mph for the last four days, including today. There has been plenty of sunshine all day today, with some passing stratocumulus and cirrus clouds. The air has been very dry today because of the WNW wind, with the dew point under 10F this afternoon. The visibility has been good today, up to 75 miles this afternoon. Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, stratocumulus distant W-ENE, few cirrus mostly S-NW Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 13F; Wind: WNW at 13G22 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NW Wind: Peak wind: 27 kts W at 6:37 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 55 miles, except 35 miles W-NW 6-hr max temp: 33F 6-hr min temp: 25F 24-hr. precip: Trace Snow depth: 1 inch BHO SA 1155 CLR 55 174/26/13/2913G22/004/ SC DSNT W-ENE FEW CI MSTLY S-NW DSNT HZ VSBY W-NW 35 WND 26V32 PK WND 2827/37/ 8/501 4/001 52018 MANUAL 7000/ 10033 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus distant all quadrants Temperature: 29F Dew Point: 9F; Wind: WNW at 15G24 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NW Wind: Peak wind 30 kts WNW at 9:30 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 70 192/29/9/3017G24/010/ FEW SC ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ WND 27V33 PK WND 2930/30/ 8/501 51018 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cirrus, few cumulus fractus E-SW, few stratocumulus distant all quadrants except SE-SW Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 7F; Wind: W at 15G20 kts, Wind: Direction variable WSW-NNW Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 75 miles 6-hr max temp: 34F 6-hr min temp: 26F BHO SA 1755 250 SCT 75 193/32/7/2815G20/010/ FEW CUFRA E-SW FEW SC DSNT ALQDS XCPT SE-SW WND 24V33 PK WND 2826/41/ 8/501 50001 10034 20026 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....54 NORMAL.....44 MIN.....35 NORMAL.....26 MEAN....45 NORMAL.....35 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+10 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................-47 [-3.3 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............20 DEPARTURE.........-10 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............528 DEPARTURE.........+47 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5119 DEPARTURE.........+70 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4564 DIFFERENCE.......+555 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................50 WNW AT 3:05 P.M. AERO.......................58 WNW AT 3:05 P.M. ASOS.......................53 WNW AT 3:05 P.M. DAVIS......................51 WNW AT 3:04 P.M. RMY 54 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................38 WNW AT 3:04 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................38 WNW AT 3:05 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................36 WNW AT 3:06 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............18.3 SSW ASOS.....................18.0 DAVIS....................16.4 SW [229 deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE.............-0.18 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.70 DEPARTURE.............-1.89 ASOS..............0.70 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........10.79 DEPARTURE.............-0.22 ASOS.............11.24 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M........ 0.0 DEPARTURE..............-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.5 DEPARTURE..............-4.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............84.3 DEPARTURE.............+30.0 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2014 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 RMY: R.M. Young wind gust recording system TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 3/1 34/12/23/-8/0.00/0.0/458/68 28 SSW AERO 29 MPH SSW RMY 30 3/2 37/28/33/2/T/T/014/02 22 SW AERO 22 MPH SW RMY 29 3/3 28/11/20/-12/0.00/0.0/000/00 29 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY N/A 3/4 29/6/18/-14/0.00/0.0/444/65 17 SW AERO 16 MPH SW RMY 17 3/5 27/16/22/-10/0.02/0.3/000/00 21 NE AERO 20 MPH N RMY 23 3/6 26/7/17/-15/0.00/0.0/689/100 23 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY N/A 3/7 35/16/26/-7/0.00/0.0/449/65 18 SE AERO 17 MPH SE RMY 18 3/8 52/27/40/+7/0.00/0.0/673/97 26 NW AERO 29 MPH NNW RMY 27 3/9 40/25/33/0/0.00/0.0/669/96 28 NW AERO 29 MPH NW RMY 29 3/10 42/26/34/+1/0.03/0.8/196/28 21 S AERO 22 MPH S RMY 27 3/11 56/34/45/+11/0.00/0.0/450/64 33 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 34 3/12 53/34/44/+10/..../.../.../.. 29 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY 30 3/13 33/12/23/-11/..../.../.../.. 43 NW AERO 45 MPH NW RMY 45 3/14 37/10/24/-11/0.00/0.0/.../.. 39 SSW AERO 41 MPH SSW RMY 42 3/15 54/35/45/+10/0.02/0.0/.../.. 50 WNW AERO 58 MPH WNW RMY 54 3/16 morning low temp: 25F; the normal low is now 26F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2014 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 16 HIGH 73 IN 1990 LOW 8 IN 1932 PRE 1.95 INS. IN 1900 SNOW 10.0 INS. IN 1896 WIND 79 MPH NE IN 1956 RECORDS FOR MARCH 17 HIGH 69 IN 2003 LOW 6 IN 1885 PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968 SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien