BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015     
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
SKIES FINALLY CLEAR THIS MORNING, HOUGHTON'S POND OFFICIALLY
THAWED, TIES 2ND LATEST THAW ON RECORD, PONKAPOAG LATEST THAW 
ON RECORD - MELTS TODAY

Dreary, gray and foggy skies finally came to clear early this
morning as the mercury hit the 50F mark late last evening. Sunshine
this morning marks the first sunshine since Monday.

Both ponds at this morning's 7:00 AM EST observation were visible 
with Houghton's pond completely thawed. Ponkapoag pond still had 
approximately 10% ice coverage this morning, but melted by
mid-morning. Houghton's likely thawed completely late last evening 
with a combination of drizzle, fog and warming temperatures, 
which makes April 10, 2015 tied for the second latest thaw of 
Houghton's Pond since 1886.

With a nearly complete melt out of Ponkapoag today, 
this will make for the latest thaw on record, beating the old
record of April 10, 1926, by one day. Note the records below:
 
Latest Houghton's Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2015)

1) April 14, 1926
2) April 10, 1887
   April 10, 1888
   April 10, 2015
5) April 9, 1923
6) April 8, 1993
7) April 7, 1899
   April 7, 1956
9) April 6, 1916
   April 6, 1917
   April 6, 1924
   April 6, 1940

Latest Ponkapoag Pond Thaw Date, (1886-2015)

1) April 11, 2015
2) April 10, 1926
3) April 9, 1923
4) April 6, 1940
5) April 5, 1916
   April 5, 1924
7) April 4, 1967
   April 4, 1994
9) April 3, 1904
   April 3, 1920


-----------------------------------------------------

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few stratocumulus distant S-NNE
Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: WSW at 13 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.77 ins. Hg, falling, then rising and higher
Visibility: 50 miles, light distant haze
6-hr Max temp: 51F
6-hr Min temp: 45F 
24-hr precip: 0.01 inch
BHO SA 1155 200 SCT 50 082/48/35/2513/977/ FEW SC DSNT S-NNE 
LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/501 53005 ASOS 70003 MANUAL 70001 10051 
20045

10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 53F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: W at 20G27 kts,
Peak Wind: 30 kts W @ 9:01 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.82 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 60 SCT 250 SCT 70 097/53/29/2820G27/982/ 
PK WND 2830/01/ 8/502 53015

1 P.M.
Weather: Clear, few cumulus in all directions, few cirrus 
distant E-SSW 
Temperature: 55F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: W at 20G29 kts
Peak Wind: 30 kts W @ 12:11 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 55F
6-hr Min temp: 47F 
BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 111/55/29/2820G29/986/ FEW CU ALQDS FEW CI 
DSNT E-SSW PK WND 2830/11/ 8/102 53014 10055 20047


SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....53   NORMAL.....53
MIN.....35   NORMAL.....36
MEAN....44   NORMAL.....45

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-1
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................-23 [-2.5 DEGREES/DAY] 
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............21  DEPARTURE...........+1
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............246  DEPARTURE..........+24     
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5989  DEPARTURE.........+283
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5822  DIFFERENCE........+167

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................31 SSW AT  6:28 P.M.*   
                   ASOS.......................34 SSW AT  6:25 P.M.    
                   DAVIS......................34 SSW AT  6:25 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................28 SSW AT  6:25 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................28 SSW AT  6:26 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................27 SSW AT  6:26 P.M.     
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............10.5 S  
                   ASOS.....................11.1    
                   DAVIS.....................9.7 S [192 degrees] 
* Last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.01  DEPARTURE.....-0.17
                         ASOS...............0.03
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.43  DEPARTURE.....-0.27  
                         ASOS...............1.38 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........16.02  DEPARTURE.....+0.45
                         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.....-1.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............150.8  DEPARTURE....+89.5 

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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

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
4/10 53/35/44/-1/..../0.0/000/00              31 SW  RMY N/A

4/11 low since midnight is 45F normal low is 36F

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 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

RECORDS FOR APRIL 12
HIGH 82 IN 1945
LOW 17 IN 1926
PRECIP 1.51 IN. IN 1993
SNOWFALL 12.0 IN. IN 1894
PEAK GUST 65e MPH W IN 1978

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald