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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

ABOVE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURE DAY BEGINS FOGGY AS
SNOW CONTINUES TO MELT...

After a generally below seasonable March, above 
seasonable temperatures continue on top of Great Blue 
Hill. Temperatures rose to 55F yesterday for the second 
day in a row. This is 6 degrees above the daily normal 
of 49F. So far today we reached a max of 62F, which is 
already 13 degrees above the daily normal. Yesterday we 
measured a low temperature 39F, which is 8 degrees above 
the daily normal of 31F. Since midnight we had had a 
well above seasonable low of 46F, which is 15 degrees 
above the daily normal of 31F. 
Yesterday we observed a quick moving rain shower which 
began and ended shortly after the 1:00 P.M. observation.
Showers continued intermittently today and we measured 
0.01 ins. of precipitation by 1:00 P.M.
Visibility was limited to 3 miles at 7:00 A.M. due to fog
from the melting snow. The fog began to dissipate and we
could see 40 miles with a distant fog at 10:00 & 1:00. 

Blue Hill Observatory Greatest March Snowfall Totals, 
Inches (1885-2018)

1) 52.0 in 1956
2) 45.5 in 2018 (through 3/30)
3) 42.2 in 1916
4) 41.4 in 2001
5) 41.0 in 1967
6) 37.8 in 2013
7) 35.5 in 1993

Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Very light drizzle and fog, scattered stratus fractus, 
broken altocumulus, overcast altostratus, sun dimly visible
Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 50F; Wind: SSW at 16G22 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling then rising      
Visibility: 3 miles
6-hr Max temp: 50F
6-hr Min temp: 47F
24-hr precip:  Trace
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: 2 ins.
BHO SA 1155 8 SCT E85 BKN E120 OVC 3L-F 061/50/50/201816G22/971/ 
SUN DMLY VSBL PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/71/ 4/002 55000 10050 20047 

10 A.M.
Weather: Very light drizzle, scattered stratus, overcast 
altostratus, break in overcast WNW
Temperature: 57F; Dew Point: 54F; Wind: SSW at 18G25 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, steady 
Visibility: 40 miles, distant fog in all directions 
3-hr precip: Trace 
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 35 SCT E100 OVC 40L- 061/57/54/2118G25/971/ 
BINOVC WNW DSNT FG ALQDS PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/61/ 55000 
MANUAL 600// ASOS 60001
  
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratus fractus, overcast stratus 
Temperature: 58F; Dew Point: 54F; Wind: W at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.68 ins. Hg, falling, then more rapidly
Visibility: 40 miles, distant fog in all directions  
6-hr Max temp: 62F
6-hr Min temp: 50F
6-hr precip: Trace
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 
Snow depth: 1 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E17 BKN E55 OVC 40 054/58/54/2711/968/ DSNT FG 
ALQDS/ 8/6// 4/001 58007 MANUAL 6001/ ASOS 60001 10062 20050 

SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....55   NORMAL.....49
MIN.....39   NORMAL.....31
MEAN....47   NORMAL.....40

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL............................+7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................-38 [-1.5 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............18   DEPARTURE..........-7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............909   DEPARTURE.........+43
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........5031   DEPARTURE........-403
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4847   DIFFERENCE.......+184

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................24 SSE AT 11:25 P.M.  
                   AERO........................21 SSE AT 11:23 P.M.
                   ASOS........................22 S   AT 11:55 P.M.
                   DAVIS.......................20 M   AT 11:25 P.M ** RMY N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................14 SSE AT 11:48 P.M.*
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................16 S   AT  8:46 P.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................15 M   AT  7:53 P.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............7.7 NE
                   ASOS.......................8.5
                   DAVIS......................7.3 
* Last of multiple occurrences
** 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..........8.61  DEPARTURE......+3.56
                         ASOS..............9.32  
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........18.72  DEPARTURE......+5.25
                         ASOS.............20.17

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............45.5  DEPARTURE.......+33.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............90.2  DEPARTURE.......+30.9

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 42/26/34/0/0.00/0.0/583/83      28 NW  AERO 26 NW  RMY 29
3/12 39/26/33/-1/T/T/155/22          36 ENE AERO 33 ENE RMY N/A
3/13 35/26/31/-3/..../23.0/000/00    60 N   AERO 60 N   RMY 64
3/14 36/24/30/-5/..../.../470/66     38 WSW AERO 38 WSW RMY 41
3/15 40/29/35/0/..../.../422/59      44 W   AERO 44 W   RMY 44
3/16 35/23/29/-6/0.00/0.0/308/43     41 NW  AERO 41 NW  RMY 45
3/17 40/15/28/-8/0.00/0.0/533/74     46 W   AERO 45 W   RMY 49
3/18 31/10/21/-15/0.00/0.0/694/96    39 NW  AERO 38 NW  RMY 40
3/19 35/13/24/-12/0.00/0.0/704/97    32 WNW AERO 32 WNW RMY 34
3/20 40/18/29/-8/0.00/0.0/372/51     23 NW  AERO 21 NW  RMY N/A
3/21 35/31/33/-4/..../.../000/00     43 NE  AERO 44 NE  RMY N/A
3/22 39/30/35/-2/..../.../000/00     28 NNW AERO 26 NNW RMY 30
3/23 44/28/36/-2/0.00/0.0/.../..     21 NNW AERO 18 NNW RMY 21
3/24 45/32/39/+1/T/T/.../..          23 NE  AERO 21 NE  RMY N/A
3/25 36/29/33/-5/0.18/1.8/.../..     35 NNE AERO 30 NNE RMY 33
3/26 38/27/33/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..     33 NE  AERO 26 NE  RMY 30
3/27 44/25/35/-4/0.00/0.0/.../...    24 NE  AERO 17 NE  RMY 20
3/28 55/33/44/+5/0.01/0.0/.../..     21 SSW AERO 14 SSW RMY 18 
3/29 55/39/47/+7/T/0.0/.../..        24 SSE AERO 21 SSE RMY N/A

3/30 Low temp since midnight is 46F; normal low is now 31F

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

3/13/18: NEW MONTHLY RECORD MAXIMUM DAILY SNOWFALL OF 23.0 INS.
         PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 18.0 INS. SET ON 8 MARCH 2013

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 30
HIGH 83 IN 1977
LOW 10 IN 1887
PRECIP 2.92 INS. IN 2010
SNOWFALL 3.9 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 60 MPH NW IN 1999

RECORDS FOR MARCH 31
HIGH 89 IN 1998  [RECORD HIGH FOR MONTH]
LOW 16 IN 1923
PRECIP 2.89 IN 1987
SNOWFALL 15.0 IN 1997
PEAK GUST 81 MPH SSE IN 1987

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Kaitlin Geagan