BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2005 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME [unless otherwise noted] HEAVY WET SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AFTER RAIN THIS MORNING... SEASONAL SNOWFALL NOW FIFTH GREATEST AND CLIMBING... After some light snow on Friday afternoon amounting to 1.2 inches, very light rain and snow mixed continued during the night. This turned largely to rain until mid-morning when the precipitation turned over to all snow after 9:30 AM. Steady accumulating snow began after 10 AM, and this has now amounted to 3.2 inches through 1 PM. The 9" snow depth at 7 AM has climbed to 12 inches at early afternoon. Heavy wet snow is expected to continue through this afternoon. The seasonal total through 7 AM was 105.0 inches and through 1 PM it is up to 108.2 inches, which makes this now the 5TH GREATEST SEASONAL SNOWFALL ON RECORD. The temperature has remained close to 32 on the summit since sunrise, though it briefly rose to 34 during the rain early this morning. UPDATE AS OF 2:30 P.M... An additional 1.2 inches of snow has fallen between 1 PM and 2:30 PM, giving a storm total of 4.4 inches since 7 AM this morning. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Light rain and light snow with fog Temperature: 32F, Dew point: 32F, Wind: NNE 10 mph Sea-level pressure: 29.30 inches, falling Visibility: 1/8 mile 24-hour precipitation: 0.11 inch, 1.2 inches snow Snow depth: 9 inches BHO SA 1155 W3 X 1/8R-S-F 922/32/32/0309/930/ TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 1.2 INS/ 8//// 4/009 56014 6//// 70011 10033 20031 10 A.M. Weather: Light snow and fog Temperature: 32F, Dew Point: 32F, Wind: E 7 mph Visibility: 1/2 mile, variable 1/4 to 1 mile Sea-level pressure: 29.23 inches, falling BHO SA 1455 W3 X 1/2VS-F 898/32/32/0806/923/ R-E30 VSBY 1/4V1 WND LGT TOTAL NEW SNW PST 3 HRS 0.4 IN/ 8//// 56024 6//// 1 P.M. Weather: Heavy snow and fog, sky obscured Temperature: 32F, Dew Point: 32F, Wind: NNW 6 mph Visibility: 1/4 mile Sea-level pressure: 29.22 inches, falling 6-hour precipitation: 0.54 inch, 3.2 inches new snow Snow depth: 12 inches BHO SA 1755 W3 X 1/4S+F 895/32/32/3405/922/ WND LGT SNOINCR 1/12 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 6 HRS 3.2 INS/ 8//// 4/012 55003 6054/ 10034 20032 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 11: TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....32 NORMAL.....43 ASOS.....31 AT MIDNIGHT P.M. MIN.....18 NORMAL.....26 ASOS.....18 AT 1:24 A.M. MEAN....25 NORMAL.....35 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.....-10 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.....-81 (-7.6 DEGREES/DAY) HEATING DEGREE DAY INFORMATION TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR FRIDAY.........40 DEPARTURE....+10 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE MONTH.....432 DEPARTURE....+80 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR THE SEASON...4891 DEPARTURE....-31 TOTAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS FOR LAST YEAR....4900 DIFFERENCE....-9 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY........29 E AT 5:51 P.M. AEROVANE.........28 E AT 5:51 P.M. ASOS.............28 E AT 5:39 P.M. DAVIS............24 SE AT 10:47 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..........21 E AT 4:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.......23 E AT 5:52 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..10.1 SE ASOS...........10.4 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.11 DEPARTURE....-0.04 ASOS..............0.08 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.86 DEPARTURE....+0.21 ASOS..............1.68 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.20 DEPARTURE....+1.71 ASOS.............11.34* *EXCLUDES 3.19 INCHES OF ERRONEOUS PRECIPITATION RECORDED FROM 1/23-1/28. SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........1.2 DEPARTURE.....+0.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............10.8 DEPARTURE.....+5.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............105.0 DEPARTURE....+54.6 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 2005......CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane recording wind system when significant TSTM: Thunderstorm day ....: Data not yet available 3/1 29/23/26/-6/0.53/3.6/000/00 52 MPH NNE Aero 52 MPH NNE 3/2 33/20/27/-5/T/T/264/39 42 MPH W Aero 45 MPH W 3/3 28/15/22/-10/0/0/640/94 43 MPH W Aero 43 MPH W 3/4 31/12/22/-11/0/0/561/82 40 MPH W Aero 44 MPH W 3/5 39/18/29/-4/0/0/679/99 29 MPH W 3/6 40/24/32/-1/0/0/345/50 42 MPH SSW Aero 44 MPH SSW 3/7 47/33/40/+7/0/0/.../.. 45 MPH S Aero 50 MPH SSE 3/8 42/12/27/-7/1.20/5.7/0/0 63 MPH WNW Aero 66 MPH WNW 3/9 21/6/14/-20/0.02/0.3/663/95 54 MPH W Aero 52 MPH W 3/10 29/11/20/-14/0/0/.../.. 29 MPH WSW 3/11 32/18/25/-10/../../.../.. 29 MPH E 3/12 ..overnight low 31 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 12 HIGH 67 IN 1977 LOW 2 IN 1885 PRECIP 2.87 INCHES IN 1888 SNOWFALL 9.7 INCHES IN 1959 PEAK GUST 66 MPH SE IN 1962 RECORDS FOR MARCH 13 HIGH 72 IN 1990 LOW -1 IN 1885 PRECIP 2.47 INCHES IN 1993 SNOWFALL 10.0 INCHES IN 1993 PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1993 [THE "STORM OF THE CENTURY"] TODAY'S REPORT BY: Mike Iacono