BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME DRIZZLE, LIGHT RAIN AND FOG CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT INTO MORNING, WARM UP FINALLY ON THE WAY, LATEST POND THAWS ON RECORD LIKELY FOR PONKAPOAG POND Nonstop light drizzle, occasional light rain and fog continued from yesterday's 7:00 AM EST through this morning, with winds slowing shifting from yesterday's dominant ENE direction to a warmer southerly flow by mid morning today. Temperatures had finally lifted out of the 30s by mid morning today as well, after yesterdays stagnant temperature flux between 32F and 35F, some 10 degrees below the daily norm. From 7:00 AM yesterday through 7:00 AM EST today, 0.24 inches of new precipitation fell, which has slowly erased the rainfall deficit for the month. Both ponds were partially frozen yesterday, with Houghton's pond at 30% and Ponkapoag Pond at less than 60%. Both ponds have not completely thawed yet as of yesterday afternoon, but were not visible this morning. An inspection of the ponds will take place this afternoon if fog does not dissipate, given how close the ponds are to a total thaw. Today's date, the 10th, would mark the 2nd latest thaw out on record (since 1886) for Houghton's Pond, and tie for the latest thaw out on record for Ponkapoag Pond, a record set back in 1926. Stay tuned to tomorrow's report for an update on the record. 1:00 PM EST UPDATE: Both Houghton's and Ponkapoag ponds were temporarily visible late this morning, with between 10-20% coverage on Houghton's Pond, and 40-50% ice coverage on Ponkapoag. Further inspections will take place later this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Latest Houghton's Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2015) 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, (1886-2015) 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 8) April 3, 1904 April 3, 1920 ------------------------------------------------------- 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: 0.84 inches, March 14th SNOWFALL, Inches Total: 13.3 [+0.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: 5.0 inches, March 28th 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: Light rain, fog Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 36F; Wind: estimated WNW at 3 kts, Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 30.06 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly Visibility: 1/8 of a mile, obscured by light rain and fog 6-hr Max temp: 36F 6-hr Min temp: 35F 24-hr precip: 0.24 inch Snow depth: Trace BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/8R-F 181/36/36/E3003/006/ PCPN VRY LGT WND LGT/ 8//// 56016 ASOS 6006 70024 10036 20035 10 A.M. Weather: Sky obscured, Fog Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: estimated SSW at 5 kts, Wind Speed: Light Sea-level pressure: 29.98 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, except 1/4 of a mile N-NE 3-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1455 W4 X 1/2F 154/42/42/E2005/998/ VSBY N-NE 1/4 MI WND LGT/ 8//// 56027 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6000/ 1 P.M. Weather: Sky obscured, Fog Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: S at 12G20 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly Visibility: 1/2 of a mile, except 1/4 of mile NNW-NE, obscured by fog 6-hr Max temp: 49F 6-hr Min temp: 36F 6-hr precip: Trace BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/2F 109/49/48/1812G20/985/ VSBY NWN-NE 1/4 MI/ 8//// 56045 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6000/ 10049 20036 SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....35 NORMAL.....53 MIN.....32 NORMAL.....35 MEAN....34 NORMAL.....44 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................-10 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................-22 [-2.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............31 DEPARTURE..........+10 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............225 DEPARTURE..........+23 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5968 DEPARTURE.........+283 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5802 DIFFERENCE........+166 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................31 ENE AT 12:28 A.M.** ASOS.......................36 ENE AT 12:28 A.M. DAVIS......................30 NE AT 7:37 A.M.*** RMY 32 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................23 ENE AT 1:26 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................26 ENE AT 1:27 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................20 ENE AT 8:23 A.M.*** AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............13.8 ENE ASOS.....................15.2 DAVIS....................10.6 ENE [062 degrees] * Last of several occurrences... ** 420C POSSIBLY WEIGHED DOWN BY GLAZE *** DAVIS LIKELY MISSED PEAK GUST DUE TO ICE ACCUMULATION PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.24 DEPARTURE.....+0.07 ASOS...............0.24 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.42 DEPARTURE.....-0.10 ASOS...............1.35 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........16.01 DEPARTURE.....+0.62 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.....-0.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............Trace DEPARTURE.....-1.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............150.8 DEPARTURE....+89.6 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/-9/0.22/2.7/000/00 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/+9/0.09/0.0/252/36 28 S RMY 27 3/11 55/38/47/+13/0.02/0.0/604/86 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/-11/0.07/1.0/102/14 17 NNW RMY 15 3/21 41/25/33/-4/0.10/0.8/000/00 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/+6/0.56/0.0/052/07 32 SSW RMY 32 3/27 41/36/39/+0/0.22/0.0/000/00 22 NNE RMY N/A 3/28 36/26/31/-8/0.43/5.0/000/00 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 N/A 4/7 39/34/37/-6/..../0.0/000/00 21 NE RMY N/A 4/8 41/32/37/-7/..../T/000/00 30 ENE RMY 32 4/9 35/32/34/-10/..../0.0/000/00 31 ENE RMY 32 4/9 low since midnight is 32F 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 10 HIGH 83 IN 1922 LOW 20 IN 1985 PRECIP 2.40 IN. IN 1935 SNOWFALL 10.1 IN. IN 1996 PEAK GUST 66 MPH WNW IN 1967 RECORDS FOR APRIL 11 HIGH 78 IN 1945 LOW 19 IN 1909 PRECIP 1.72 IN. IN 2003 SNOWFALL 9.5 IN. IN 1958 PEAK GUST 65 MPH NW IN 1963 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald