BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018   ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME    ANOTHER BLUSTERY DAY WITH BELOW SEASONABLE  TEMPERATURES... We continue the pattern of below seasonable  daytime temperatures and seasonable or  slightly above overnight low temperatures.  Our high of 40F yesterday is 4 degrees below  the normal of 44F. So far temperatures today  have been cooler than yesterday. We have had  a high of 33F, so far which is 11 degrees below  the normal of 44F. We have had a low yesterday  of 29F, this is 3 degrees above the daily  normal of 26F. Since midnight the low is 25F,  1 degree below the daily normal of 26F. The wind was calmer overnight but began to pick up after 7:00 A.M. EST. The wind continues from the  W-WNW with strong gusts at times. We have had  frequent gusts at or over 30 kts (35 MPH). So  far we have measured a peak gust of 36 kts  (41 MPH) from the WNW just before 11:00 A.M. EST  this morning. Visibility increased today with 70 miles by 1:00 P.M. We had a distant fog from W-E this morning obscuring visibility to 50 miles in that direction.   BHO Greatest March Snowstorms,  inches (1885-2018): 1) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960 2) 30.0 on 31 Mar - 1 Apr, 1997 3) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013 4) 23.0 on 13 Mar, 2018    23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001 6) 19.5 on 19-20 Mar, 1956 7) 17.8 on 15-16 Mar, 1967 8) 17.5 on 20-22 Mar, 1958 9) 16.9 on 11-14 Mar, 1939 10) 15.4 on 29-30 Mar, 1984 BHO Greatest Snowstorms,  inches (1885-2018): 1) 38.7 on 24-28 Feb 1969 2) 30.8 on 26-28 Jan 2015 3) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar 1960 4) 30.1 on 6-7 Feb 1978 5) 30.0 on 31 Mar - 1 Apr 1997 6) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar 2013 7) 26.6 on 8-9 Feb 2013 8) 24.7 on 17-18 Feb 2003 9) 24.3 on 5-7 Dec 2003 10) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar 2001     23.0 on 13 Mar, 2018  BHO Greatest March Calendar Day Snowfalls,  inches (1885-2018): 1) 23.0 on 13 Mar, 2018 2) 18.0 on 8 Mar, 2013 3) 17.6 on 19 Mar, 1956 4) 17.3 on 4 Mar, 1960 5) 15.5 on 6 Mar, 2001 6) 15.0 on 31 Mar, 1997 7) 13.5 on 29 Mar, 1984 8) 13.0 on 5 Mar, 1891 9) 12.8 on 3 Mar, 1960 10) 12.3 on 24 Mar, 1956 Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Few stratocumulus distant off shore, few altocumulus in all directions, scattered cirrostratus  Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: WNW at 14G21 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.53 ins. Hg, rising, then more rapidly            Visibility: 70 miles, except W-E 50 miles due to a distant fog 6-hr Max temp: 29F 6-hr Min temp: 25F 24-hr precip:  0.00 ins. 24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. Snow depth: 13 ins. BHO SA 1155 200 SCT 70 999/28/18/2914G21/953/ FEW SC DSNT  OFFSHR NNE-N FEW AC ALQDS VSBY W-E 50 DSNT FG W-E/ 8/568  4/013 53015 10029 20025  10 A.M. Weather: Overcast stratocumulus with a break from S-SSW Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: NW at 17G28 kts, Peak Wind: 32 (37 MPH) NW at 8:59 A.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.56 ins. Hg, rising, the more slowly Visibility: 60 miles 3-hr precip:  0.00 ins. 3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.     BHO SA 1455 E46 OVC 60 009/30/18/3117G28/956/  BINOVC S-SSW PK WND 3132/1359/ 8/5// 51010        1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: WNW at 20G34 kts, Peak Wind: 34 kts (39 MPH) WNW at 12:53 P.M. Sea-level pressure: 29.56 ins. Hg, falling then steady Visibility: 70 miles  6-hr Max temp: 33F 6-hr Min temp: 27F 6-hr precip:   0.00 ins. 6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. Snow depth: 12 ins. BHO SA 1755 E46 BKN 70 009/32/18/3020G34/956/  PK WND 3034/53/ 8/500 4/012 54000 10033 20027      SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....40   NORMAL.....44 MIN.....29   NORMAL.....26 MEAN....35   NORMAL.....35 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.............................0 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................+21 [+1.2 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............35   DEPARTURE...........0 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............465   DEPARTURE.........-16 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4587   DEPARTURE........-462 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4413   DIFFERENCE.......+174 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)  PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................44 W   AT  8:26 A.M.                     AERO........................44 W   AT  8:25 A.M.                    ASOS........................45 WNW AT  8:27 A.M.                    DAVIS.......................41 M   AT  8:26 A.M ** RMY 44 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................28 W   AT  9:57 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................28 W   AT 10:54 A.M.   MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................26 M   AT  9:57 A.M.** AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.............18.2 W                     ASOS......................18.0                      DAVIS.....................15.8 **  ** Davis direction malfunctioning 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..........7.97  DEPARTURE......+5.56                          ASOS..............8.67   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........18.08  DEPARTURE......+7.25                          ASOS.............19.52 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............40.1  DEPARTURE.......+32.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............84.8  DEPARTURE.......+30.4 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 3/01 61/37/49/+18/0.00/0.0/378/56    39 ENE AERO 37 ENE RMY N/A  3/02 40/32/36/+5/3.47/0.7/000/00     73 NNE AERO 70 NNE RMY N/A 3/03 40/32/26/+4/T/T/034/05          52 NNE AERO 50 NNE RMY 49 3/04 39//34/37/+5/T/T/000/00         36 NNE AERO 32 NNE RMY 32  3/05 40/29/35/+3/.../1.2/261/38      40 NE  AERO 39 NE  RMY 40 3/06 34/29/32/0/0.00/0.0/062/09      20 N   AERO 16 N   RMY N/A 3/07 35/31/33/0/..../.../000/00      52 ENE AERO 53 ENE RMY 50  3/08 34/28/31/-2/..../.../000/00     44 NNE AERO 47 NNE RMY N/A 3/09 36/24/30/-3/T/T/265/38          28 W   AERO 26 W   RMY N/A  3/10 37/28/33/0/0.00/0.0/343/49      38 WNW AERO 38 WNW RMY 41 3/11 42/26/34/0/0.00/0.0/.../..      28 NW  AERO 26 NW  RMY 29 3/12 39/26/33/-1/T/T/.../..          36 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY N/A 3/13 35/26/31/-3/..../23.0/.../..    60 N   AERO 60 N   RMY 64 3/14 36/24/30/-5/..../.../.../..     38 WSW AERO 38 WSW RMY 41 3/15 40/29/35/0/..../.../.../..      44 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 44 3/16 Low temp since midnight is 25F; normal low is now 26F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2018 3/02/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION OF 3.47 INS.          PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 2.15 INS. SET IN 1983 3/13/18: NEW DAILY RECORD MAXIMUM SNOWFALL OF 23.0 INS. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 10.0 INS. SET IN 1993 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):     RECORDS FOR MARCH 16 HIGH 73 IN 1990 LOW 8 IN 1932 PRE 1.95 INS. IN 1900 SNOW 10.0 INS. IN 1896 WIND 79 MPH NE IN 1956 RECORDS FOR MARCH 17 HIGH 69 IN 2003 LOW 6 IN 1885 PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968 SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956 PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Ann Geagan