BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2015 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME AFTER SETTING THE NEW SEASONAL SNOWFALL RECORD WITH 145.8 INCHES OF SNOW THIS SEASON, BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES HAVE COME BACK TO THE REGION WITH WINDS GUSTING ABOVE 60 MPH. Skies were clear with a few clouds in the distance at the 7 AM EST Observation this morning. Cold temperatures have returned to the region with lows in the 20's and high's struggling to reach the 30's today despite sunny conditions. Winds, which had been very calm yesterday, have increased rapidly throughout the day with gusts reaching as high as 60 MPH. Snow depth remains at 16 inches on the ground. Yesterday's survey of snow depth averaged at 17 inches with depths that ranged from 12 to 22 inches around the summit. For more information about this historic winter, visit our web site at bluehill.org. BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015): 1) 145.8 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM March 22nd) 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 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, Few Stratocumulus, distant Southwest to Southeast Temperature: 22F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: WNW at 15G24 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly Visibility: 60 miles light distant haze all quadrants 6-hr Max temp: 34F 6-hr Min temp: 22F 24-hr precip: 0.09 inches 24-hr snowfall: 0.7 inches Snow depth: 16 inches BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 135/22/8/2915G24/993/ FEW SC DSMT SE=SW LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS PK WND 3136/11/ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.7 IN STORM TOTAL 1.8 INS/ 8/500 51039 MANUAL 70009 ASOS 70009 10034 20022 10 A.M. Weather: Clear Few Cumulus Fractus and Cumulus forming Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: WNW at 22G36 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, rising then falling slightly Visibility: 60 miles Distant Haze All Quadrants BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 137/26/9/2922G36/992/ FEW CUFRA/CU FRMG LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 3036/54/ 8/100 50002 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, Few Cumulus Fractus Cumulus overhead-Southwest Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: W at 19G29 kts, Peak Wind: 41 KTS from WNW at 1201 PM EST Sea-Level Pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, decreasing then increasing slightly lower than 3 hours ago Visibility: 70 miles Light distant haze all quadrants 6-hr Max temp: 30F 6-hr Min temp: 22F BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 134/30/9/2819G29/992/ FEW CU/CUFRA OVHD-SW PK WND 3041/01/ 8/100 55003 10030 20022 SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....41 NORMAL.....46 MIN.....25 NORMAL.....28 MEAN....33 NORMAL.....37 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................-4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................-67 [-3.4 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............32 DEPARTURE..........+4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............721 DEPARTURE..........+67 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5429 DEPARTURE.........+207 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5222 DIFFERENCE........+109 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................36 WNW AT 11:02 P.M. ASOS.......................39 WNW AT 11:02 A.M. DAVIS......................N/A RMY 15 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................26 WNW AT 10:58 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................25 WNW AT 11:03 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................N/A AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............6.5 N ASOS.......................6.8 DAVIS......................5.0 WSW [240 degrees] * Last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.09 DEPARTURE.....-0.11 ASOS..............0.09 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.96 DEPARTURE.....-1.59 ASOS..............N/A TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........13.30 DEPARTURE.....+1.46 ASOS..............N/A *** *** ASOS monthly and annual totals not available due to erroneous readings SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.7 DEPARTURE......+0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................8.3 DEPARTURE......-1.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............145.8 DEPARTURE.....+89.1 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 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/..../.../000/00 25 SSW RMY 25 3/2 35/22/29/-2/..../.../480/71 44 WNW RMY 48 3/3 32/13/23/-9/..../2.8/340/50 33 S RMY N/A 3/4 41/32/37/+5/..../.../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/..../.../000/00 17 NNW RMY 15 3/21 41/25/33/-4/..../.../.../.. 36 WNW RMY N/A 3/22 Low so far is 22F; normal low is 28F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015 -NONE SO FAR. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 22 HIGH 81 IN 2012 LOW 3 IN 1885 PRE 3.48 INS. IN 2001 SNOW 8.7 INS. 1967 WIND 84e MPH E IN 1977 RECORDS FOR MARCH 23 HIGH 78 IN 1938 LOW 3 IN 1934 PRE 2.52 INS. IN 2010 SNOW 3.0 INS. IN 1977 WIND 78e MPH W IN 1940 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Millett/Robert Skilling