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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CALM CONDITIONS AS WEATHER SYSTEM SLIDES OFFSHORE TO THE SOUTH

Spotty showers moved through the region yesterday dropping 
only a trace of precipitation and small hail. Winds increased
in the afternoon with a peak gust of 41 MPH at 1:52 PM EST and the 
greatest sustained speed of 35 MPH at 1:54PM EST.

Overnight temperatures dropped to a minimum of 29F, which
is 6F colder than normal.  Temperatures have been slow to warm
today reaching a maximum of 47F by today's 1:00 PM EST observation.


BHO Snowiest April, inches (1886-2016):

1) 24.2 in 1996
2) 21.5 in 1894
3) 19.0 in 1887
4) 16.2 in 1916
5) 15.4 in 1907
6) 15.1 in 1997
7) 15.0 in 2016 (thru 4/8)
8) 14.0 in 1982
9) 13.5 in 1987
10) 12.2 in 1917


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 cirrus, few stratocumulus distant offshore ENE-ESE
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 24; Wind: estimated W at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.79 ins. Hg, rising, then more quickly
Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 33F 
6-hr Min temp: 29F
24-hr precip: Trace 
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 65 087/33/24/E2706/979/ FEW SC DSNT OFFSHR ENE-ESE 
LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/001 53013 7//// 10033 20029
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus SE-ENE, few small cumulus in all directions
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: SSW at 7 kts
Wind Direction: variable SSE-W
Sea-level pressure: 29.80 ins. Hg, rising, then falling
but higher than 3 hours ago
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 092/43/21/2107/980/ FEW CI SE-ENE FEW SML CU ALQDS
WND 15V28/ 8/105 50005 
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken altostratus
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: estimated WNW at 5 knots
Wind Speed and Direction: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 29.75 ins. Hg, falling, then falling more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles, except 40 miles N and SE-SW
6-hr Max temp: 47F 
6-hr Min temp: 33F
6-hr rainfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 45 SCT E200 BKN 70 074/46/21/E3005/975/ VSBY SE-SW 
40 MI LGT DSNT HZ ALQDS WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/410 56018 10047 20033  

 
SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....52   NORMAL.....53
MIN.....32   NORMAL.....35 
MEAN....42   NORMAL.....44

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................-2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................-26 [-3.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............23   DEPARTURE..........+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............207   DEPARTURE.........+26
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4626   DEPARTURE.......-1039
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5937   DIFFERENCE......-1311

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................41 WSW AT  1:52 P.M. 
                   ASOS........................43 WSW AT  1:52 P.M.   
                   DAVIS.......................40 SW  AT  1:53 P.M. RMY 42
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................35 WSW AT  1:54 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................30 WSW AT  1:53 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................30 WSW AT  1:53 P.M.  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............16.4 W
                   ASOS.......................16.5   
                   DAVIS......................14.3 SW [240 Deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace  DEPARTURE......-0.16
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.23  DEPARTURE......+1.88
                         ASOS..............3.54
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........15.81  DEPARTURE......+0.46 
                         ASOS.............16.55

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)  
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............15.0  DEPARTURE......+13.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............57.5  DEPARTURE.......-4.1

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)
3....: 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/+24/0.20/0.0/000/00          31 NNW AERO 38 NNW RMY 32
3/11  56/38/47/+13/0.10/0.0/331/47          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/+6/0.36/T/000/00             32 E   AERO 33 E   RMY N/A
3/15  45/39/42/+7/1.05/0.0/000/00           36 ENE AERO 38 ENE RMY 34
3/16  48/39/44/+9/0.05/0.0/036/05           25 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
3/17  63/40/52/+16/0.11/0.0/361/50          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/-8/0.02/0.2/387/53           25 NE  AERO 28 NE  RMY 25
3/21  41/26/34/-3/0.36/3.7/323/44           30 WNW AERO 33 WNW RMY 32
3/22  48/28/38/+1/0.00/0.0/684/93           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/-1/0.00/0.0/015/02           31 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY 32
3/25  55/37/46/+8/0.08/0.0/007/01           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   54/40/47/+6/..../0.0/.../..           23 SSW AERO N/A    RMY N/A        
4/3   40/23/32/-10/..../7.7/.../..          46 W   AERO N/A    RMY 55
4/4   28/21/25/-17/0.68/7.3/000/00          29 NNE AERO N/A    RMY 25
4/5   35/19/27/-16/0.00/0.0/.../..          25 NW  AERO N/A    RMY 27
4/6   41/21/31/-12/..../0.0/.../..          44 S   AERO N/A    RMY N/A   
4/7   56/41/49/+6/..../0.0/000/00           53 SSE AERO 59 SSE RMY 55
4/8   52/32/42/-2/T/0.0/.../..              41 WSW AERO 45 WSW RMY 42

4/9   low temp since midnight is 29F; normal now 35F

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

4/4/16: NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 7.3 INS, 
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 3.7 INS SET IN 1975

4/4/16: NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 28F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 32F SET AND TIED IN 1896, 1908, 1975

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

RECORDS FOR APRIL 9
HIGH 83 IN 1991
LOW 18 IN 1888
PRECIP 2.38 IN. IN 1935
SNOWFALL 11.0 IN. IN 1917
PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1962

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

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald/Cecilia Strigle