BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2016 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME PATCHES OF FRIDAY'S HALF INCH OF SNOW REMAIN THIS MORNING SEVERAL DAYS OF TEMPS. AVERAGING CLOSE TO 5 DEG. ON COLD SIDE END OF COLD SPELL EXPECTED SOON WITH BIG WARM UP Patches of the half inch of snow which fell Friday can still be seen on the ground here at the summit this morning. A high temperature of only 35 degrees on Saturday was 6 degrees colder than normal and Saturday completed 3 days colder than normal, However, the low of 25 degrees this morning was 2 degrees warmer than normal and represents the beginning of a strong warming trend which will quickly raise the monthly average above normal. The first 5 days of March averaged almost one degree colder than normal with Thursday averaging 7 degrees colder than normal. This pales when considering the last cold spell at mid-February averaged 18 degrees colder over a period of 5 days, 11-15 February! 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, 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, 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: 941 [-130] Total for the season: 3683 [-919] Total for last season: 4708 PRECIPITATION, Inches Total: 5.60 [+1.53] Greatest in 24 hrs: n/a Snowfall: 22.5 [+8.6] Greatest in 24 hrs: 12.5 on the 5th 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: 9,000 out of possible 17,796 or 51% Astronomical total minutes: 9,302 out of possible 18,418 or 51% Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken altostratus, overcast mostly thin cirrus seen to the NE-SE, few altocumulus and altocumulus lenticularis mostly distant NE-SE Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 11F; Wind: NNW at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.25 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly Visibility: 30 miles, except 55 miles WNW, distant haze all quadrants 6-hr Max temp: 28F 6-hr Min temp: 25F 24-hr precip: 0.00 24-hr snowfall: 0.00 inch Snow on ground: Trace BHO SA 1155 E180 BKN 300 OVC 30 245/27/11/3408/025/ FEW AC/ACSL MSTLY DSNT NE-S 300 OVC VSB E PTLY THN NE-SE VSBY WNW 55 DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/041 51012 10028 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, altocumulus lenticularis, scattered cirrus, few moderate cumulus distant NNE along and/or offshore Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 9F; Wind: NW at 7 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 30.29 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly Visibility: 60 miles, except 70 miles NW, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 180 SCT 220 SCT 60 256/35/9/3207/029/ FEW MDT CU ALG/OFFSHR DSNT NNE VSBY NW 70 LGT DSNT HZ WND 28V01/ 8/241 51011 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, cumulus distant N-NE, moderate cumulus distant offshore NE-E, small cumulus mostly distant ESE-SSW Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 6F; Wind: WNW at 9 kts, Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 30.26 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 6-hr Max temp: 40F 6-hr Min temp: 27F BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 246/39/6/2909/026/ CU DSNT N-NE MDT CU DSNT OFFSHR NE-E SML CU MSTLY DSNT ESE-SSW CI LYR DSNT ENE-ESE LGT DSNT HZ WND 25V32/ 8/201 58010 10040 20027 SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2016 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....35 NORMAL.....41 MIN.....20 NORMAL.....23 MEAN....28 NORMAL.....32 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................-4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........................-3 [-0.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............37 DEPARTURE..........+4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............170 DEPARTURE..........+3 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........3853 DEPARTURE........-882 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4896 DIFFERENCE......-1043 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................31 N AT 1:58 A.M. ASOS........................33 N AT 1:58 A.M. DAVIS.......................30 N AT 1:57 A.M. RMY N/A FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................19 N AT 1:57 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................21 N AT 1:59 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................20 NNW AT 1:59 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............9.1 N ASOS.......................9.2 DAVIS......................8.0 N [350 Deg.] * Last of several occurrences. PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE......-0.18 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.45 DEPARTURE......-0.42 ASOS..............0.48 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.82 DEPARTURE......+0.53 ASOS.............10.44 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0 DEPARTURE.......-0.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.5 DEPARTURE.......-2.1 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............38.6 DEPARTURE......-11.5 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/+21/0.08/0.0/000/00 37 W AERO 36 W RMY 35 2/5 39/19/29/+3/1.62/12.5/000/00 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/-1/0.60/8.7/000/00 53 NE AERO 55 NE RMY 53 2/9 26/17/22/-5/T/T/000/00 21 N AERO 22 N RMY N/A 2/10 33/21/27/+0/0.01/0.1/006/01 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/0.0/458/68 39 W AERO 41 W RMY N/A 3/1 45/30/38/+7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 54 W AERO 60 W RMY 53 3/2 52/21/37/+6/0.41/0.0/.../.. 44 WNW AERP 47 NW RMY 42 3/3 34/16/25/-7/0.00/0.0/.../.. 30 WNW AERO 36 WNW RMY N/A 3/4 30/24/27/-5/..../.../.../.. 32 N AERO 38 N RMY 34 3/5 35/20/28/-4/0.00/0.0/.../.. 31 N AERO 36 N RMY N/A 3/6 morning low temp. since midnight 25F; normal now 23F 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 6 HIGH 66 IN 1894 LOW 3 IN 1948, 2007 PRECIP 1.85 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 15.5 INS. IN 2001 PEAK GUST 82 MPH S IN 1959 RECORDS FOR MARCH 7 HIGH 66 IN 1946 LOW -1 IN 1890 PRECIP 2.05 INS. IN 1967 SNOWFALL 11.5 INS. IN 2013 PEAK GUST 66 MPH NE IN 1962 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling