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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

METEOROLOGICAL SPRING BEGINS TODAY FOLLOWING
WARMEST LEAP DAY ON RECORD MONDAY WITH 63F,
WARMEST METEOROLOGICAL WINTER ON RECORD IN 131 
YEARS OF RECORD KEEPING

Yesterday afternoon temperatures quickly spiked into the
lower 60s, breaking yesterday's daily record maximum temperature
at 63F, surpassing the previous record of 56F set back in
1976. Yesterday's low temperature of 41F tied the daily high
minimum temperature record set back in 1896. A trace of rain
was recorded yesterday afternoon as well with the passing of
a cold front, as temperatures began to drop quickly and winds
ramped up. 

Early this morning winds howled for a time, peaking around 2:45 AM
EST with a gust of 54 MPH from the west. The Aerovane clocked the
same gust at 60 MPH, and ASOS recorded 57 MPH. 

With a warm end to the month of February, the average monthly 
temperature of 32.2F is the 11th warmest February on record,
and when combined with the warmest December on record and a 
warm month of January, this winter just barely became the warmest
on record with an average temperature of 34.9F.

BHO Warmest Februarys (24-hour corrected mean), deg F (1885-2016):

1) 34.9 in 1984
2) 34.3 in 2012
3) 34.0 in 1998
4) 33.9 in 1954
   33.9 in 1981
6) 33.7 in 1976
7) 33.6 in 1997
   33.6 in 2002
9) 33.1 in 1925
10) 32.6 in 1991
11) 32.2 in 2016
12) 31.9 in 1960
   31.9 in 1999

BHO Warmest Winters (24-hour corrected mean), deg F (1885-2016):

1) 34.9 in 2015-2016
2) 34.8 in 2001-2002
3) 34.3 in 2011-2012
4) 32.6 in 1997-1998
5) 32.3 in 1936-1937
   32.3 in 1998-1999


PRELIMINARY STATS FOR FEBRUARY 2016
 
TEMPERATURE, Deg. F
Avg. Max. 42.2 [+5.4]
Avg. Min. 22.5 [+3.4]
Mean      32.4 [+4.5]
24-hour Corrected Mean: 32.2
Max. for month:  64 on 1st
Min. for month: -14 on 14th
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Total heating units: 928 [-109] for 28 days
Total for the season: 3670 [-789] for 28 days
Total for last season: 4708
 
PRECIPITATION, Inches
Total: 5.60 [+1.36]
Greatest in 24 hrs: 
Snowfall: 22.5 [+8.1]
Greatest in 24 hrs: n/a
 
WIND, mph
Avg. uncorrected wind speed: 14.4
Avg. corrected wind speed: 14.7
Prevailing wind direction: WNW @ 14%
Peak gust and direction: 76 S on the 25th
 
SUNSHINE:
Campbell-Stokes card minutes: N/A
Astronomical total minutes:   N/A


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few altocumulus distant ESE-SW
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: WNW at 10G19 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 30.08 ins. Hg, rising rapidly
Visibility: 85 miles
6-hr Max temp: 44F 
6-hr Min temp: 30F
BHO SA 1155 250 SCT 85 187/31/9/3010G19/008/ FEW AC DSNT ESE-SW 
PRESRR/ 8/031 51050 10044 20030

10 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus
Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: W at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly
Visibility: 75 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 -SCT 75 217/38/12/2607/017/ 8/002 51030 

1 P.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few altocumulus distant SE-WSW
and NW
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: estimated SW at 4 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 75 miles
6-hr Max temp: 43F
6-hr Min temp: 31F
BHO SA 1755 E250 -BKN 75 209/43/9/E2304/015/ FEW AC DSNT SE-WSW 
AND NW WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/032 58008 10043 20031


SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....63   NORMAL.....40
MIN.....41   NORMAL.....22 
MEAN....52   NORMAL.....31

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................+21
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+128 [+4.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............13   DEPARTURE.........-21
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............941   DEPARTURE........-109
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3683   DEPARTURE........-898
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4708   DIFFERENCE......-1038

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................39 W   AT  1:45 P.M.*                        
                   ASOS........................39 W   AT  1:06 P.M.       
                   DAVIS.......................39 W   AT  1:06 P.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................30 W   AT  1:48 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................29 W   AT  1:46 P.M.       
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................28 W   AT  1:08 P.M.       
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION...............18.7 S
                   ASOS........................17.9  
                   DAVIS.......................16.8 SW [227 Deg.]
* Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.17
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.60  DEPARTURE......+1.36
                         ASOS..............6.02
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.37 DEPARTURE.......+0.78  
                         ASOS..............9.96

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............22.5  DEPARTURE.......+8.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.1  DEPARTURE.......-9.4

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 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

2/1   64/40/52/+26/0.00/0.0/305/51          36 WNW AERO 37 W   RMY 34
2/2   48/31/40/+14/0.00/0.0/602/100         23 NW  AERO 23 WNW RMY N/A
2/3   55/34/45/+19/0.80/0.0/000/00          55 SSE AERO 58 SSE RMY 53
2/4   55/39/47/+21/..../0.0/000/00          37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
2/5   39/19/29/+3/..../12.5/000/00          37 NNW AERO 39 NNW RMY 35
2/6   35/17/26/0/0.00/0.0/532/87            25 SSW AERO 24 SSW RMY 23 
2/7   43/26/35/+8/0.00/0.0/577/94           35 ENE AERO 35 ENE RMY N/A
2/8   36/16/26/-1/..../.../000/00           53 NE  AERO 55 NE  RMY 53
2/9   26/17/22/-5/..../.../000/00           21 N   AERO 22 N   RMY N/A
2/10  33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.0/006/01           23 W   AERO 23 W   RMY 21
2/11  26/7/17/-10/T/T/131/21                39 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 42
2/12  23/4/13/-14/0.00/0.0/433/69           31 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 21
2/13  21/-7/7/-21/0.00/0.0/459/73           41 W   AERO 46 WNW RMY 43 
2/14  10/-14/-2/-30/0.00/0.0/632/100        33 WNW AERO 46 WNW RMY N/A
2/15  32/-2/15/-13/..../1.2/178/28          24 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
2/16  55/32/44/+16/..../0.0/006/01          65 SSE AERO 69 SSE RMY 64
2/17  43/30/37/+9/0.00/0.0/576/90           33 W   AERO 35 W   RMY N/A
2/18  32/20/26/+3/0.00/0.0/637/99           25 NNW AERO 29 NW  RMY 25 
2/19  39/16/28/-1/0.01/T/452/70             24 SSW AERO 26 SSW RMY N/A
2/20  58/31/45/+16/..../.../363/56          44 SSW AERO 44 SSW RMY 41
2/21  53/39/46/+17/0.00/0.0/475/73          39 WNW AERO 43 WNW RMY 39 
2/22  45/29/37/+8/0.00/0.0/608/93           18 NW  AERO 20 NW  RMY 17
2/23  37/25/31/+1/..../T/000/00             26 E   AERO 26 E   RMY N/A
2/24  60/33/47/+17/..../0.0/000/00          60 S   AERO 66 S   RMY N/A
2/25  63/37/50/+15/..../0.0/218/33          76 S   AERO 84 S   RMY N/A
2/26  38/22/30/0/..../0.0/665/100           42 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 41 
2/27  38/16/27/-4/0.00/0.0/654/98           31 SSW AERO 31 SSW RMY 33  
2/28  56/34/45/+14/0.00/0.0/335/50          32 S   AERO 37 SSW RMY N/A
2/29  63/41/52/+21/T/0.0/.../..             39 W   AERO 41 W   RMY N/A

3/1 morning low temp. since midnight 30F; normal now 22F

DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2016

2/14/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -14F,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF -8F SET IN 1979**

2/14/16: **TIED DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 10F,
MATCHING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 10F SET IN 1979**

2/25/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 76 MPH S,
SURPASSING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 75 MPH S IN 1965**

2/29/16: **NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63F,
BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 56F SET BACK IN 1976**

2/29/16: **DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 41F TIES RECORD 
SET IN 1896**

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 1
HIGH 62 IN 1972
LOW -3 IN 1886
PRECIP 1.65 INS. IN 1900
SNOWFALL 9.4 INS. IN 1949
PEAK GUST 78 WSW IN 1966

RECORDS FOR MARCH 2
HIGH 63 IN 2004
LOW -3 IN 1886
PRE 2.15 INS. IN 1983
SNOW 8.2 INS. IN 2009
WIND 75 MPH NW IN 1966

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald / Mike Iacono