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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WINTER STORM SNOWFALL BREAKS DAILY RECORD

Light snow began to fall early this morning leaving
0.5 in. at the 7:00AM EST ob.  Winds began to gust 
over 30 knots before 8:00AM EST and remained at those
speeds through the afternoon.  The peak gust so far
has been 52 kts (60 MPH) at 1:12 PM EST.

Sleet and ice pellets mixed with snow by 1:00PM EST.
This turned to rain around 3:30PM EST.  Total storm
snowfall through 4:00PM EST measured 7.2 inches, which
breaks the previous daily snowfall record of 6.7 inches
set in 1958.  Liquid precip. measured 1.81 inches.

Pressure continued to fall rapidly through the day as the
storm moved in.  The storm also brought fog to Great Blue
Hill which limited visibility to less than 1/4 mile for
most of the late morning and afternoon.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Light snow, fog, overcast stratus
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: NE at 16G24 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.08 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 6 miles, except 15 miles WNW-ENE
6-hr Max temp: 28F
6-hr Min temp: 24F
24-hr precip: 0.02 in.
24-hr snowfall: 0.5 in.
BHO SA 1155 E26 OVC 6S-F 187/28/25/0516G24/008/ VSBY WNW-ENE 15
NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.5 INS/ 8/6// 4/001 58053 MANUAL 70002
ASOS 70003 10028 20024

10 A.M.
Weather: Snow, thick fog
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: ENE at 26G38 kts,
Peak Wind: 40 kts (46 MPH) ENE at 9:31 AM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 1/8 mile
BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/8SF 110/31/30/0626G38/985/ PRESFR PK WND 0640/31
NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 1.8 INS/ 8//// 58077 MANUAL 6020/ ASOS 60020

1 P.M.
Weather: Light snow, sleet, thick fog
Temperature: 31F; Dew Point: 31F; Wind: ENE at 29G43 kts,
Peak Wind: 46 kts (53 MPH) ENE at 12:09 PM EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.40 ins. Hg, falling rapidly
Visibility: 3/16 miles
6-hr Max temp: 31F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
BHO SA 1755 W3 X 3/16S-IPF 956/31/31/0629G43/940/ PRESFR PK WND 0646/09
NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 5.3 INS/ 8//// 4/006 58154 MANUAL 6112/ ASOS 60118
10031 20028 


SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....33   NORMAL.....43
MIN......8   NORMAL.....26
MEAN....21   NORMAL.....34

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL........................-13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................-37 [-3.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............44   DEPARTURE.........+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............458   DEPARTURE.........+38
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........4335   DEPARTURE........-663
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......3995   DIFFERENCE.......+340

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................25 WNW AT 12:44 A.M.
  AERO........................29 WNW AT 12:44 A.M.                  
  ASOS........................28 NW  AT 12:45 A.M.
                   DAVIS.......................28 NNW AT 12:44 A.M. RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................20 WNW AT 12:51 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................20 NW  AT 12:53 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................19 NW  AT 12:48 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............9.4 WNW
                   ASOS.......................9.0
                   DAVIS......................8.1 WNW [290 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.02  DEPARTURE......-0.14
                         ASOS..............0.03
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.38  DEPARTURE......-1.86
                         ASOS..............0.43
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.66  DEPARTURE......-1.00
                         ASOS...............N/A ***
*** ASOS annual total not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.5  DEPARTURE........0.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................3.6  DEPARTURE.......-2.9
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............55.9  DEPARTURE.......+2.4


PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/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
M:    Missing data

3/1  61/46/54/+23/0.01/0.0/.../..          41 S   AERO 45 S   RMY 45
3/2  55/26/41/+10/T/T/.../..               58 W   AERO 61 W   RMY 59 
3/3  36/19/28/-4/T/T/.../..                38 W   AERO 44 W   RMY N/A
3/4  20/7/14/-18/T/T/.../..                45 NW  AERO 48 NW  RMY 51
3/5  29/5/17/-15/0.00/0.0/.../..           35 WNW AERO 43 WNW*RMY N/A
3/6  40/11/26/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..           18 WNW AERO 17 NW* RMY N/A
3/7  47/29/38/+5/0.01/0.0/.../..           32 S   AERO 35 S   RMY 36 
3/8  55/43/49/+16/0.05/0.0/.../..          35 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 37
3/9  49/35/42/+9/0.0/0.0/.../..            53 W   AERO 59 W   RMY 58 
3/10 35/20/28/-5/..../.../.../..           35 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 40
3/11 20/7/14/-20/..../.../.../..           43 W   AERO 47 W   RMY 50
3/12 25/4/15/-19/0.00/0.0/.../..           32 W   AERO 40 WNW RMY N/A
3/13 33/8/21/-13/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 WNW AERO 29 WNW RMY N/A

3/14  Low temp since midnight is 23F; normal low is now 26F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2017

3/11/17: DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 20F,
         TIES PREVIOUS RECORD SET IN 1885

3/14/17: DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 7.2 INS (through 16E),
         BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 6.7 INS SET IN 1958

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 4.95 INS. IN 2010 
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ENE IN 2010

RECORDS FOR MARCH 15
HIGH 80 IN 1990
LOW 6 IN 1993
PRE 2.86 INS. IN 2010  
SNOW 12.0 INS. 1967
WIND 73e MPH ESE IN 1940

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Cecilia Borries-Strigle