BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FT. ABOVE MSL....10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA FRIDAY MARCH 22 2002 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT: http://www.bluehill.org/ DAILY DISCUSSION.....3/22/2002 STRONG COLD FRONT COMES THROUGH OVERNIGHT, ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW IN A FEW FLURRIES...TODAY LIKELY TO AVERAGE MORE THAN 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL... The mild weather of yesterday is now but a distant memory as an arctic air-mass, heralded on strong northwest winds, has overtaken the region. The dewpoint this morning is about as low as it's been all season with a value as low as -6F between 8-9 A.M. The high temperature for today was back at midnight when the mercury read 34 degrees, the low this morning was 14. Chances are these will be the final values for the today, giving us a mean for the day of 24 degrees. This is some 14 degrees below normal for the date, more than likely our biggest negative departure all season. Amazing! Wind gusts this morning have topped over 50mph with 56mph on Aerovane, 53 mph on both ASOS and the NWS 420C just around 4 A.M. this morning. TODAY'S OBSERVATIONS.... 7 A.M. BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 089/15/-4/3025G38/979/ FEW SC DSNT NW-N AND NNE-ESE AC LYR DSNT NE-S PK WND 3039/43/ 8/530/ 51024 6000/ 10029 20014 10 A.M. BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 103/20/-4/2924G36/983/ FEW SC NE-E WND 25V34 PK WND 2936/52/ 8/500/ 51014 THE DATA RECORDED FOR THURSDAY MARCH 21... TEMPERATURES.... MAX : 51 MIN: 30 // ASOS MAX: 51 ASOS MIN: 30 NORMAL HIGH AND LOW: 46/29 MEAN 41 [+ 3] TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR MARCH TO DATE: + 71 degrees MARCH IS AVERAGING 3.4 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL DAILY... PRECIPITATION....ON 03/22 AS OF 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M. . TRACE. ASOS......................0.00 IN. TOTAL FOR MARCH . .......2.89 IN. STD. GAGE DEP. FROM NORMAL.........-0.34 IN. ASOS MARCH TOTAL..........2.72 IN. *** *** ASOS DATA NOT RELIABLE DUE UNSTABLE GAGE IN STRONG WINDS... the supporting base plate is cracked and the gage is rocking in strong winds...NWS has been notified... PRECIP. TOTAL YEAR 2002: 8.84 IN. (std. gage ) DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL....-3.23 IN. SNOWFALL.... ON 03/22 AS OF 7 A.M. 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.... TRACE. MARCH TOTAL...............6.3 INS. SEASONAL TOTAL TO DATE. 38.5 INS. WIND DATA....FOR 03/21... PEAK GUST ASOS: 44 MPH WNW AT 11:59 P.M. PEAK GUST 420C: 46 MPH WNW AT 11:58 P.M. PEAK GUST AERO: 46 MPH WNW AT 11:58 P.M. MARCH 2002 PRELIMINARY DATA.... MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUNSHINE/ WIND GUST 3/01 42/23/33/+1/0/0/664/99/ 32 W 3/02 47/31/39/+7/0.02/0/305/45/ 32 SSE 3/03 56/37/47/+15/0.89/0/000/00/ 58 SSE (Aero 61 MPH S ) 3/04 43/20/32/-1/0/0/477/70/ 38 WNW 3/05 32/16/24/-9/0/0/679/99/ 33 WNW 3/06 50/23/37/+4/T/T/158/23/ 44 SW 3/07 51/36/44/+11/0/0/491/71/ 26 ENE 3/08 42/35/39/+5/0/0/028/04/ 25 E 3/09 67/38/53/+19/0.04/0/404/58/ 46 S 3/10 58/25/42/+8/0.43/T/455/65/ 71 S (Aero 74 MPH S ) 3/11 38/22/30/-5/0/0/682/97/ 42 W 3/12 45/29/37/+2/T/0/000/00/ 30 SSW 3/13 44/35/40/+5/0.06/0/113/16/ 22 NNE 3/14 61/38/50/+14/0/0/.../../ 28 NW 3/15 51/39/45/+9/0/0/.../../ 32 E 3/16 49/27/38/+2/0.45/0/.../../ 32 NNW 3/17 40/22/31/-6/0/0/475/66/ 18 NE 3/18 33/29/31/-6/0.21/2.1/000/00/ 30 E 3/19 36/31/34/-3/0.06/0.2/000/00/ 17 NE 3/20 37/31/34/-4/0.73/4.0/000/00/ 39 SSE 3/21 51/30/41/+3/0/0/.../../ 46 WNW 3/22 HI/LO so far today 34/14 RECORDS FOR MARCH 22 HIGH 71 IN 1948 LOW 03 IN 1885 PRECIP 3.48 INS 2001 SNOWFALL: 8.7 INS. 1967 PEAK GUST 84e MPH E IN 1977 RECORDS FOR MARCH 23 HIGH 78 IN 1938 LOW 03 IN 1934 PRECIP 1.58 INS 1903 SNOWFALL: 3.0 INS. 1977 PEAK GUST 78e MPH W IN 1940 e = estimated MFD