BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME CLOUDY, DAMP AND COOLER THIS MORNING...LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL TODAY TOTALS 0.42 INCHES...NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54F FOR APRIL 1ST...MARCH FINISHES DRIER THAN NORMAL AND TIES FOR THE EIGHTH WARMEST ON RECORD... JANUARY TO MARCH WAS THE FOURTH WARMEST ON RECORD... The temperature has been dropping steadily from the middle 60s on Friday afternoon, which saw a high temperature of 66F to the middle 40s this afternoon. The temperature at midnight of 54F was the low for yesterday, and this broke the previous high minimum temperature for the date of 51F set in 1948. The temperature continued to drop from the 7 AM EST reading of 48F to a low so far of 43F early this afternoon. Light rain began at 7:30 AM EST this morning, and became moderate rain during most of the hour ending at 10 AM EST. The total rainfall for the six hours ending at 1 PM EST today has been 0.42 inches. Light rain is ending just after 2 PM, and the visibility is increasing at mid-afternoon. After the gusty winds of Friday, which peaked at 39 mph SSW at 4:18 Pm EST, the winds have been much lighter today, generally under 20 mph. The pressure is falling rapidly this afternoon as small but intensifying system moves eastward from the Great Lakes today. This storm will bring strong winds and more precipitation to the area on Sunday. The 24-hour corrected mean temperature for March of 40.7 deg F ties for the eighth warmest on record. It's been a warm start to the year, and the first three months of 2016 were the fourth warmest on record. BHO Warmest March, deg F (1885-2016): 1) 43.5 in 1946 2) 43.4 in 2012 3) 42.7 in 1945 4) 42.2 in 1903 5) 41.5 in 2010 6) 41.2 in 1921 7) 40.8 in 2000 8) 40.7 in 1977 40.7 in 2016 10) 40.5 in 1973 BHO Warmest Jan-Mar, deg F (1885-2016): 1) 36.3 in 2012 2) 35.0 in 2002 3) 34.7 in 1998 4) 34.1 in 2016 5) 33.9 in 1990 6) 33.2 in 1953 7) 33.0 in 2006 PRELIMINARY STATS FOR MARCH 2016 TEMPERATURE, Deg. F Avg. Max. 49.7 [+5.4] Avg. Min. 32.3 [+5.7] Mean 41.0 [+5.5] 24-hour corrected mean: 40.7 Max. for month: 75 on 9th Min. for month: 16 on 3rd HEATING DEGREE DAYS Total heating units: 736 [-180] Total for the season: 4419 [-1065] Total for last season: 5743 PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 3.21 [-2.37] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A SNOWFALL, Inches Total: 4.4 [-8.3] Greatest in 24 hrs: N/A WIND, mph Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 12.9 Avg. corrected wind speed: 13.2 Prevailing wind direction: S at 10% Peak gust and direction: 63 S on the 31st SUNSHINE: Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 10386 mins. of possible 21516 or 48% Astronomical total minutes: 10763 mins. of possible 22286 or 48% Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered nimbostratus, overcast stratus, few stratocumulus all quadrants, rain SSE-SSW moving NE Temperature: 48F; Dew Point: 35F; Wind: SSW at 7 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg, falling then more quickly Visibility: 70 miles, except 35 miles SE-SW 6-hr Max temp: 52F 6-hr Min temp: 47F 24-hr precip: 0.03 ins. BHO SA 1155 65 SCT E75 OVC 70 021/48/35/2107/959/ FEW SC ALQDS VSBY SE-SW 35 RW SSE-SSW MVNG NE/ 8/5// 58016 70003 10052 20047 10 A.M. Weather: Light rain, broken stratocumulus, overcast nimbostratus, few stratus fractus below summit all quadrants Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: S at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.59 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly Visibility: 12 miles, except 20 miles S, 8 miles N-NE 3-hour precip: 0.22 inches BHO SA 1455 E50 BKN 65 OVC 12R- 019/44/44/1808/959/ FEW STFRA BLO SMT ALQDS VSBY N-NE 8 S 20/ 8/72/ 58002 6022/ 1 P.M. Weather: Light rain, scattered stratocumulus, overcast nimbostratus, few stratus fractus, all quadrants Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 42F; Wind: S at 6 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.47 ins. Hg, falling rapidly Visibility: 15 miles, except 20 miles ESE-SSW 6-hr Max temp: 48F 6-hr Min temp: 44F 6-hour precip: 0.42 inches BHO SA 1755 25 SCT E75 OVC 15R- 980/44/42/1906/947/ FEW STFRA ALQDS VSBY ESE-SSW 20 PRESFR/ 8/72/ 58039 6042/ 10048 20044 SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....66 NORMAL.....50 MIN.....54 NORMAL.....32 MEAN....60 NORMAL.....41 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+19 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................+19 [+19.0 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............5 DEPARTURE.........-19 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...............5 DEPARTURE.........-19 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4424 DEPARTURE.......-1084 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5773 DIFFERENCE......-1349 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................39 SSW AT 4:18 P.M. * ASOS........................44 SW AT 2:25 A.M. DAVIS.......................41 SSW AT 2:33 A.M. RMY 43 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................33 SSW AT 4:18 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................31 SSW AT 4:19 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................33 SSW AT 4:19 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............20.5 SSW ASOS......................19.6 DAVIS.....................18.8 SSW [203 Deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03 DEPARTURE......-0.14 ASOS..............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.06 DEPARTURE......-0.11 ASOS..............0.05 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.64 DEPARTURE......-1.53 ASOS.............13.06 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.......-0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............42.5 DEPARTURE......-17.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/ AERO/RMY 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 45/30/38/+7/0.00/0.0/602/89 54 W AERO 60 W RMY 53 3/2 52/21/37/+6/0.41/0.0/204/30 44 WNW AERP 47 NW RMY 42 3/3 34/16/25/-7/0.00/0.0/641/94 30 WNW AERO 36 WNW RMY N/A 3/4 30/24/27/-5/0.04/0.5/000/00 32 N AERO 38 N RMY 34 3/5 35/20/28/-4/0.00/0.0/536/78 31 N AERO 36 N RMY N/A 3/6 40/25/33/+1/0.00/0.0/593/86 21 SSE AERO 21 SSE RMY N/A 3/7 49/29/39/+6/0.00/0.0/173/25 43 SSW AERO 48 SSW RMY 45 3/8 55/35/45/+12/0.00/0.0/647/93 23 S AERO 24 S RMY N/A 3/9 75/38/57/+24/0.00/0.0/594/85 32 S AERO 36 S RMY 33 3/10 64/50/57/+24/..../0.0/000/00 31 NNW AERO 38 NNW RMY 32 3/11 56/38/47/+13/T/0.0/331/47 28 NNW AERO 36 NNW RMY 29 3/12 58/31/45/+11/0.00/0.0/650/92 30 SW AERO 33 SW RMY 30 3/13 63/46/55/+21/0.00/0.0/525/74 32 NW AERO 35 NW RMY 30 3/14 46/36/41/+6/..../T/000/00 32 E AERO 33 E RMY N/A 3/15 45/39/42/+7/..../0.0/000/00 36 ENE AERO 38 ENE RMY 34 3/16 48/39/44/+9/..../0.0/036/05 25 E AERO 28 E RMY N/A 3/17 63/40/52/+16/..../0.0/361/50 44 NW AERO 48 NW RMY 45 3/18 51/33/42/+6/0.01/0.0/305/42 43 WNW AERO 45 WNW RMY 43 3/19 44/25/35/-1/0.00/0.0/706/97 25 NNW AERO 28 NNW RMY 26 3/20 35/23/29/-8/..../.../387/53 25 NE AERO 28 NE RMY 25 3/21 41/26/34/-3/..../.../323/44 30 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY 32 3/22 48/28/38/+1/..../.../684/93 33 W AERO 37 W RMY 36 3/23 62/39/51/+13/0.01/0.0/007/01 35 NE AERO 40 NE RMY 39 3/24 39/34/37/-1/..../0.0/015/02 31 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY 32 3/25 55/37/46/+8/..../.../007/01 22 NNW AERO 22 NNW RMY 24 3/26 43/30/37/-2/0.00/0.0/269/36 22 N AERO 24 N RMY N/A 3/27 46/30/38/-1/0.00/0.0/376/50 23 SSE AERO 24 SSE RMY 22 3/28 43/35/39/+0/0.41/0.0/000/00 33 W AERO N/A RMY N/A 3/29 50/34/42/+2/0.00/0.0/499/66 46 WNW AERO N/A RMY 46 3/30 58/29/44/+4/0.00/0.0/713/94 33 S AERO N/A RMY N/A 3/31 69/41/55/+14/0.00/0.0/579/76 63 S AERO N/A RMT 65 4/1 66/54/60/+19/..../0.0/.../.. 39 SSW AERO N/A RMY 43 4/2 low temp since midnight is 44F; normal now 33F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2016 3/9/16: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 75F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 71F SET BACK IN 2000. 3/10/16: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 42F SET AND TIED IN 1977, 2006 DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2016 4/1/16: NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54F, BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 51F SET IN 1948 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR APRIL 2 HIGH 77 IN 1967 LOW 14 IN 1919 PRECIP 1.83 IN. IN 1970 SNOWFALL 13.0 IN. IN 1887 PEAK GUST 76 MPH SSW IN 1970 RECORDS FOR APRIL 3 HIGH 76 IN 1892 LOW 16 IN 1894 PRECIP 2.18 IN. IN 1990 SNOWFALL 8.0 IN. IN 1915 PEAK GUST 83e MPH NW IN 1977 [RECORD FOR MONTH] TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono