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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SNOW STORM TO START SPRING- 3.9 INS. BY THIS AFTERNOON

Light snow that began last evening increased in intensity 
overnight, bringing 3.2 inches of snow by this morning's 7:00
AM EST observation. Temperatures that could only manage the
mid 30s for highs yesterday dropped to an overnight low of
26F by this morning. 

By this morning's 10:00 AM EST snow was continuing to fall
lightly with an additional accumulation of 0.7 inches. By
this afternoon's 1:00 PM EST observation featured broken 
stratocumulus overhead with temperatures hitting a day time 
maximum so far of 37F.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: estimated N at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 3 miles, light snow, thin fog in all directions
6-hr Max temp: 29F 
6-hr Min temp: 26F
24-hr snowfall: 3.2 ins.
24-hr precip: 0.34 ins.  
Snow depth: 3 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E3 OVC 3S- 086/27/26/E3506/978/ NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 
3.2 INS THN FG ALQDS WND LGT/ 8/6// 4/003 58014 ASOS 60029 70032 
MANUAL 70034 10029 20026

10 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, overcast nimbostratus
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: NW at 9 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.77 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 3 miles, light snow, thin fog in all directions
3-hr snowfall: 0.7 ins.
3-hr precip: 0.04 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 E6 OVC 3S- 080/29/28/3209/977/ THN FG ALQDS NEW SNW 
PST 3 HRS 0.7 INS/ 8/6// 56006 ASOS 60004 MANUAL 60004

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: NW at 10 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.72 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 37F 
6-hr Min temp: 26F
6-hr snowfall: 0.7 ins.
6-hr precip: 0.04 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E22 BKN 70 063/36/27/3110/972/ NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 
TRACE/ 8/500 56017 ASOS 60005 MANUAL 60004 10037 20026  


SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2016 
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....35   NORMAL.....45
MIN.....23   NORMAL.....28 
MEAN....29   NORMAL.....37

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.........................-8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+143 [+7.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............36   DEPARTURE..........+8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............482   DEPARTURE........-144
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4165   DEPARTURE.......-1029
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5397   DIFFERENCE......-1232

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................25 NE  AT 10:11 A.M.*
                   ASOS........................26 N   AT 12:20 A.M. 
                   DAVIS.......................25 N   AT 12:20 A.M. RMY 25
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................17 NE  AT 12:20 A.M.* 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................17 ENE AT 12:58 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................16 NNW AT 12:21 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............9.6 ENE 
                   ASOS......................10.5    
                   DAVIS.....................8.6 NE [040 Deg.]
* Last of several occurrences

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.34  DEPARTURE......+0.15
                         ASOS..............0.32
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........2.67  DEPARTURE......-0.85
                         ASOS..............2.69
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.04  DEPARTURE......+0.10 
                         ASOS.............12.65

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)  
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........3.2  DEPARTURE.......+2.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................3.7  DEPARTURE.......-5.7
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............41.8  DEPARTURE......-15.1

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)
....: 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/..../.../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/.../..          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/.../..           25 E   AERO 28 E   RMY N/A
3/17  63/40/52/+16/..../0.0/.../..          44 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 45
3/18  51/33/42/+6/0.01/0.0/.../..           43 WNW AERO 45 WNW RMY 43
3/19  44/25/35/-2/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 NNW AERO 28 NNW RMY 26
3/20  35/23/29/-8/..../.../.../..           25 NE  AERO 28 NE  RMY 25

3/21  low temp since midnight is 26F; normal now 28F

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958

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

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald