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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2018  
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

CLEAR SKIES AND GOOD VISIBILITY AS WARM TEMPERATURES
CONTINUE...

Warm temperatures continued on top of Great Blue 
Hill yesterday.  Temperatures rose to 62F, which 
is 13 degrees above the daily normal of 49F.  Yesterday 
we measured a low temperature 35F, which is 4 degrees 
above the daily normal of 31F. 
 
Yesterday we had some rain showers in the area, giving the 
summit 0.08 inches of rain for the day.  Conditions have become 
very dry today with humidities falling into the upper 20s by 
mid morning and no clouds in the sky.  

Visibility was high all day with 80 mile visibility at all
3 observations 

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

1) 52.0 in 1956
2) 45.5 in 2018 (through 3/31)
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: Few cirrostratus W and NNE-SE
Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: NW at 13G19 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, rising, then more slowly      
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
24-hr precip:  0.08
24-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins.
Snow depth: Trace
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 217/37/14/3213G19/017/ FEW CS W AND NNE-SE/ 8/008/ 
51048 MANUAL 70008 ASOS 70007 10040 20035 

10 A.M.
Weather: SKC, no clouds observed
Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: NNW at 34G08 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.24 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly 
Visibility: 80 miles 
3-hr precip: 0.0 ins. 
3-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 SKC 80 240/45/15/3408/024/ 8/000 50123
  
1 P.M.
Weather:  SKC, no clouds observed
Temperature: 54F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: W at 7 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg, steady then falling
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 54F
6-hr Min temp: 40F
6-hr precip: 0.0 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 CLR (SKC) 80 220/54/15/2807/017/ 8/000 50820 10054 

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....62   NORMAL.....49
MIN.....42   NORMAL.....31
MEAN....52   NORMAL.....40

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........................+12
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................-26 [-1.0 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............13   DEPARTURE.........-12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............922   DEPARTURE.........+31
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........5044   DEPARTURE........-415
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4872   DIFFERENCE.......+172

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...................32 NW  AT 11:07 P.M.*  
                   AERO........................30 NW  AT 11:23 P.M.
                   ASOS........................33 SSW AT  3:28 A.M.
                   DAVIS.......................31 M   AT  3:28 A.M ** RMY 36
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.....................23 SSE AT  3:31 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..................23 SSW AT  9:55 A.M.  
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.................22 M   AT  3:33 A.M.**
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............14.4 NE
                   ASOS.......................14.4
                   DAVIS......................13.1 
* Last of multiple occurrences
** Davis direction malfunctioning 

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.08  DEPARTURE......-0.09
                         ASOS..............0.07
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........8.69  DEPARTURE......+3.47
                         ASOS..............9.39  
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........18.80  DEPARTURE......+5.16
                         ASOS.............20.24

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE........-0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............45.5  DEPARTURE.......+33.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............90.2  DEPARTURE.......+30.7

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 62/42/52/+12/0.08/0.0/.../..    32 NW  AERO 30 NW  RMY 36

3/31 Low temp since midnight is 35F; normal low is now 32F

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 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

RECORDS FOR APRIL 1
HIGH 74 IN 1967
LOW 6 IN 1923 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PRECIP 3.47 IN. IN 2004 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
SNOWFALL 15.0 IN. IN 1997 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSW IN 1962

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Millette