BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY  MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015      ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME   SHOWERS, CLOUDS AND COLD TEMPS CONTINUE Light showers this morning dropped 0.02 inches of rain before sunrise this morning, before giving way to generally cloudy and humid conditions. An overnight low of 36F failed to climb much higher throughout today, as temperatures reached 39F by the 1:00 PM EST observation with light rain beginning at 12:20 PM EST. Both ponds remain mostly frozen, with Houghton's pond at 90% and Ponkapoag Pond at nearly 100% still. Both ponds have not completely thawed yet, meaning as of today, April 7th,  both ponds are in the top ten latest thaws on record (see list below).  The month of March averaged 4.3 degrees colder than normal, and also finished 2.33 inches of total liquid precipitation drier than normal. Snowfall however, was just about normal, with 13.3 inches falling, just 0.6 inches above the norm. Seasonal snowfall was a new record at 150.8 inches.  A cold March along with an even colder January through February have resulted in the coldest start to any year since 1934, and the third coldest average minimum temperature on record: BHO Coldest Jan-Mar Mean Temperature, deg F (1885-2015) 1) 21.4 in 1885 2) 22.1 in 1923 3) 22.8 in 1904 4) 23.2 in 1888 5) 23.5 in 1920    23.5 in 1934 7) 23.6 in 1893    23.6 in 1912 9) 23.8 in 2015 10) 24.2 in 1916 BHO Coldest Jan-Mar Average Minimum Temperature, deg F (1885-2015) 1) 13.4 in 1885 2) 14.9 in 1923 3) 15.0 in 2015 4) 15.2 in 1888    15.2 in 1934 6) 15.3 in 1904 7) 16.6 in 1920 8) 16.7 in 1912 9) 16.8 in 1887    16.8 in 1893 BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015): 1) 150.8 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM April 7th) 2) 144.4 in 1995-1996 3) 136.0 in 1947-1948 4) 119.4 in 2004-2005 5) 113.1 in 2002-2003 6) 111.5 in 1915-1916 7) 109.6 in 1966-1967 8) 106.8 in 1955-1956 9) 103.4 in 1903-1904 10)102.5 in 1922-1923 Latest Houghton's Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2014) 1) April 14, 1926 2) April 10, 1887    April 10, 1888 4) April 9, 1923 5) April 8, 1993 6) April 7, 1899    April 7, 1956 8) April 6, 1916    April 6, 1917    April 6, 1924    April 6, 1940 Latest Ponkapoag Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2014) 1) April 10, 1926 2) April 9, 1923 3) April 6, 1940 4) April 5, 1916    April 5, 1924 6) April 4, 1967    April 4, 1994 -------------------------------------------------------  PRELIMINARY STATS FOR MARCH 2015 TEMPERATURE, Deg. F Avg. Max. 39.6 [-4.8] Avg. Min. 22.8 [-3.8] Mean      31.2 [-4.3] Corrected mean: 31.0 Max. for month: 55 on 3/11 Min. for month:  5 on 3/6 HEATING DEGREE DAYS  Total heating units: 1035 [+119]     Total for the season: 5743 [+259] Total for last season: 5627 PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 3.25 [-2.33] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A SNOWFALL, Inches Total: 13.3 [+0.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A WIND, mph Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 13.0 Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.4 Prevailing wind direction: NW @ 16% Peak gust and direction: 53 NW on the 17th SUNSHINE: Astronomical total minutes:   11107/22218 or 50% Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 10758/21516 or 50% For more information about this historic winter, visit our  web site at bluehill.org.   ------------------------------------------------------- Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 37F; Wind: estimated N at 5 kts Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.26 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 10 miles, except 2 miles SSW, fog in all directions 6-hr Max temp: 38F 6-hr Min temp: 36F  24-hr precip: 0.02 inches Snow depth: Trace   BHO SA 1155 E2 BKN 140 OVC 10 248/38/37/E3505/026/ VSBY SSW 2 MI FG ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/53/ 53017 ASOS 60002 70002 MANUAL 70002 10038 20036 10 A.M.  Weather: Overcast stratus Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: NE at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly Visibility: 10 miles, except 15 miles SW, fog in all directions BHO SA 1455 E5 OVC 10 261/39/36/0508/030/ VSBY SW 15 MI FG ALQDS/ 8/6// 53013 1 P.M. Weather: Light rain, overcast nimbostratus Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 37F; Wind: NE at 7G16 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.31 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 8 miles, obscured by light rain 6-hr Max temp: 39F 6-hr Min temp: 37F 6-hr precip: 0.01 inches  BHO SA 1755 E10 OVC 8R- 265/37/37/0407G16/031/ R-B20/ 8/6// 51004 MANUAL 60001 10039 20037 SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....48   NORMAL.....52 MIN.....33   NORMAL.....34 MEAN....41   NORMAL.....43 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+1 [+0.0 DEGREES/DAY]    HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............24  DEPARTURE...........+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............138  DEPARTURE...........-0      TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5881  DEPARTURE.........+259 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5759  DIFFERENCE........+122 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................18 NE  AT  2:08 P.M.*                     ASOS.......................18 NE  AT  2:08 P.M.                       DAVIS......................17 NE  AT  1:12 P.M.  RMY 18 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................12 NNE AT  2:15 P.M.   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................14 E   AT  6:33 P.M.      MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................13 NNE AT  2:18 P.M.      AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............6.7 NE                      ASOS.....................7.1                        DAVIS....................6.0 E [077 degrees]  * Last of several occurrences...   PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.02  DEPARTURE.....-0.15                          ASOS...............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........0.36  DEPARTURE.....-0.66                            ASOS...............0.36  TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........14.95  DEPARTURE.....+0.06                          ASOS................N/A ***  *** ASOS annual totals not available due to erroneous readings SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...........0.0  DEPARTURE.....-0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.................0.0  DEPARTURE.....-1.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............150.8  DEPARTURE....+90.0  PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH AND APRIL CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY 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  29/14/22/-9/0.24/2.7/000/00              25 SSW RMY 25 3/2  35/22/29/-2/0.02/0.2/480/71              44 WNW RMY 48 3/3  32/13/23/-9/0.34/2.8/340/50              33 S   RMY N/A 3/4  41/32/37/+5/0.04/0.0/000/00              33 SW  RMY 36   3/5  36/16/26/-6/0.02/0.2/000/00              28 NW  RMY 29 3/6  26/5/16/-16/0.00/0.0/681/99              28 NW  RMY 25 3/7  38/13/26/-7/0.00/0.0/567/82              30 WSW RMY 30  3/8  41/25/33/0/T/T/208/30                    38 WNW RMY 41 3/9  45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/565/81              40 W   RMY 39 3/10 52/32/42/+9/..../0.0/252/36              28 S   RMY 27 3/11 55/38/47/+13/..../0.0/604/86             37 WNW RMY N/A 3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/677/96              44 N   RMY 48 3/13 40/18/29/-5/0.00/0.0/581/82              23 SSW RMY 26 3/14 41/29/35/0/0.84/0.0/000/00               23 SSW RMY 23 3/15 41/24/33/-2/0.03/0.6/021/03              39 NW  RMY 39 3/16 44/23/34/-1/0.00/0.0/516/72              28 NW  RMY N/A 3/17 48/25/37/+1/0.17/T/173/24                53 NW  RMY 63 3/18 30/19/25/-11/0.00/0.0/700/97             51 NW  RMY 56 3/19 31/15/23/-13/0.00/0.0/696/96             37 NW  RMY 39   3/20 32/19/26/-11/..../.../102/14             17 NNW RMY 15 3/21 41/25/33/-4/..../.../000/00              36 WNW RMY N/A  3/22 36/17/27/-10/0.00/0.0/712/97             50 W   RMY 55 3/23 31/14/23/-15/0.00/0.0/700/95             36 WNW RMY 35 3/24 39/16/28/-10/0.00/0.0/636/86             20 NNW RMY N/A 3/25 48/25/37/-1/0.08/0.0/572/77              32 S   RMY 31 3/26 54/35/45/+6/..../.../052/07              32 SSW RMY 32 3/27 41/36/39/+0/..../0.0/000/00              22 NNE RMY N/A 3/28 36/26/31/-8/0.44/5.0/000/00              30 NNW RMY 30 3/29 40/21/31/-9/0.00/0.0/701/93              26 NW  RMY N/A 3/30 43/28/36/-4/T/T/091/12                   36 SSW RMY 39 3/31 46/32/39/-2/0.00/0.0/479/63              28 W   RMY 30 4/1  44/26/35/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..              30 WNW RMY 31  4/2  59/29/44/+3/T/0.0/.../..                 39 SSW RMY 43  4/3  56/47/52/+10/0.02/0.0/.../..             36 SW  RMY N/A 4/4  49/32/41/-1/..../0.0/.../..              54 NW  RMY 64 4/5  47/30/39/-4/..../0.0/.../..              40 W   RMY 45 4/6 48/33/41/-2/0.00/0.0/.../.. 18 NE RMY 18 4/7  low since midnight is 36F normal low is 35F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015 3/28- NEW RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL: 5.0 INCHES;       surpasses the previous record of 3.0 ins. in 1932 DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2015 4/3 - NEW RECORD DAILY HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 47F       surpasses the previous record of 46F in 1892 DAILY EXTREMES  Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR APRIL 7 HIGH 90 IN 2010 LOW 13 IN 1982 PRECIP 1.72 IN. IN 1924 SNOWFALL 4.5 IN. IN 1967, 1996 PEAK GUST 65 MPH WNW IN 1982 RECORDS FOR APRIL 8 HIGH 87 IN 1991 LOW 17 IN 1888 PRECIP 1.78 IN. IN 1956 SNOWFALL 9.3 IN. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 70 MPH S IN 2000 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald