BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2009 STATS 
Degrees F
Av. Max. 39.4
Av. Min. 21.7
Mean     30.6 [+2.3]
Mean (corr.) 30.3
Maximum temp: 59/11th
Minimum temp:  3/5th
Total heating units:   959 [-75]
Total seasonal units: 4257 [-43 ]
Total precip: 2.37 ins. [-1.69 ]
Total snowfall: 10.2 [-5.8 ]
Av. corr. wind speed: 15.4 MPH (uncorr. 15.1 MPH)
Prevailing direction: W 23%
Peak gust: 58 MPH S [27th] Aerovane 59 MPH S
Sunshine: total corr. mins. 11339 or 64%
Total uncorr. mins: 10914 or 64% (from sun card)
(additional stats will become available later)
 
THE BIG EARLY MARCH SNOWFALL EVENT
 
FINAL SNOWFALL TOTAL OF 10.2 INCHES--1-3 MARCH
HEAVY AMOUNT OF MELTED PRECIP.--1.48 INCHES
JANUARY-LIKE COLD THIS MORNING -- 11F 
 
The snow which began Sunday morning and
accumulated to 1.0 inch by early afternoon
after measurable amounts ended started up 
again Sunday evening. The snow had a grainy
texture during the morning hours of yesterday
accounting for above average water content.
Since the precipitation was all snow as far as
we could tell, the snow to water equivelant
was 7:1.  
 
By dawn yesterday morning we had heavy snow
accumulation at rates of one to two inches per
hour by 7 a.m. Thundersnow was reported to
our south in Brockton and Stoughton around this time.
A "gravity wave" passed starting at 8 a.m. as the
pressure dropped 0.10 inch in just 15 minutes during
a period ending at 8:15 a.m. We then recorded a
rise in pressure of 0.10 inch in the next 15 minutes
ending at 8:30 a.m. A veering of the winds from NNW
to NNE occurred during the passage of this feature.
Peak gusts to 35 kts NNE occurred, the last one
of which was at 8:19 a.m. Intense snowfall
became very light after the passage of this wave of
rapid pressure changes. 
 
An additional accumulation 1.0 inch of fluffy snow
fell during yesterday afternoon and evening not
ending until the early hours of today. 
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus and cumulus/stratocumulus distant
northeast through southeast
Temperature: 11F, Dew point: 2F, Wind: WNW at 12G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.02 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 60 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 11F
6-hour precip: 0.01 inch
6-hour snowfall: 0.3 inch
Total new snow past 24 hrs. 3.0 ins. 
Snow depth on ground: 8 inches 
BHO SA 1155 E45 BKN 60 166/11/2/2912G21/002/
SC/CU ALG HRZN NE-SE TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 3.0 INS/
8/800 4/008 53018 ASOS 60001 MANUAL 6001/
ASOS 70035 MANUAL 70032 10015 20011
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Clear, cumulus, stratocumulus, NW-NE-SE 
Temperature: 18F, Dew point: 3F, Wind: WNN at 12G20 kts,
Wind: direction variability WSW-NW 
Sea-level pressure: 30.06 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 60 miles, NW 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 CLR 60 181/18/3/2912G20/006/
SC/CU NW-NE-SE VSBY NW 70 WND 24V31/ 8/800 53015
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Broken variable scattered stratocumulus  
Temperature: 23F, Dew point: 4F, Wind: W at 9 kts,
Wind: direction variability WSW-NW 
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 60 miles, 70 miles NW
6-hour maximum temperature: 24F
BHO SA 1755 E40 BKN 60 183/23/4/2809/007/
BKN V SCT VSBY NW 70 WND 25V32/
8/500 50002 10024 20011
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....22    NORMAL.....40
MIN.....15    NORMAL.....24
MEAN....19    NORMAL.....32
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................-13
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.................-20 [-9.8 per day] 
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............46  DEPARTURE........+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............86  DEPARTURE........+19
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4613  DEPARTURE........-24
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4319  DIFFERENCE......+294
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............40 NNE AT  8:19 A.M. * 
                   ASOS.................41 NNE AT  8:19 A.M.  
                   AEROVANE.............37 NNE AT  8:19 A.M. *
                   DAVIS................40 N   AT  5:24 A.M. 
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............28 NNE AT  8:20 A.M. * 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........26 NNE AT  8:20 A.M.          
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........28 NNE AT  8:19 A.M.         
                   AVERAGE............16.3 N 
                   ASOS...............15.9 
                   DAVIS..............15.2 NNW [330 DEGREES]
* last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.32 DEPARTURE........+0.17
                         ASOS...............0.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.48 DEPARTURE........+1.18
                         ASOS...............1.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............8.01 DEPARTURE........-1.13
                         ASOS...............8.96 #
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 1/1/09, 1/2/09 and 2/27/09.
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........3.0   DEPARTURE.........+2.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............10.2   DEPARTURE.........+9.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............75.5   DEPARTURE........+29.1
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY - MARCH 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
2/1  45/15/30/+4/0/0/402/67          35 SW
2/2  50/32/41/+15/0/0/568/94         29 NNW
2/3  33/22/28/+2/0.44/5.6/000/00     39 N    AERO 38 MPH N 
2/4  24/10/17/-9/0.05/0.9/572/94     37 WNW
2/5  17/3/10/-17/0/0/538/88          33 W
2/6  26/4/15/-12/0/0/509/83          26 W
2/7  42/16/29/+2/0/0/314/51          45 S    AERO 44 MPH S
2/8  49/30/40/+13/0/0/433/70         54 W    AERO 54 MPH W
2/9  37/21/29/+2/0/0/621/100         38 WNW  AERO 38 MPH WNW
2/10 36/22/29/+2/0/0/006/01          21 SSE
2/11 59/34/47/+20/0/0/482/77         29 SSE  
2/12 51/37/44/+16/0.13/0/063/10      54 WSW  AERO 54 MPH WSW
2/13 38/24/31/+3/0/429/68            47 W    AERO 47 MPH W
2/14 39/20/30/+2/0/0/595/94          42 W    AERO 40 MPH W
2/15 39/23/31/+3/0/0/637/100         30 NW   AERO 28 MPH NW
2/16 35/21/28/0/0/0/633/99           23 NW   
2/17 35/19/27/-2/0/0/641/100         21 NW 
2/18 41/24/33/+4/0.25/1.6/361/56     33 E    
2/19 46/24/35/+6/0.34/0.4/155/24     43 W    AERO 44 MPH W
2/20 27/18/23/-6/T/T/364/56          50 W    AERO 48 MPH W
2/21 37/23/30/+1/0/0/626/96          42 W    AERO 37 MPH W
2/22 41/28/35/+5/0.83/1.7/000/00     46 W    AERO 48 MPH W
2/23 31/18/25/-5/T/T/507/77          51 W    AERO 53 MPH W
2/24 34/15/25/-5/0/0/661/100         35 WNW  AERO 28 MPH WNW
2/25 37/17/27/-4/0/0/431/65          22 NW  
2/26 47/26/37/+6/0/0/047/07          31 S
2/27 58/34/46/+15/0.17/0/415/62      58 S    AERO 59 MPH S
2/28 49/28/39/+8/0.03/0/329/49       33 WNW
 
3/1/ 28/21/25/-7/..../.../000/00     38 NNE
3/2  22/15/19/-13/.../.../000/00     40 NNE
 
3/3  morning low temp. 11F; our normal low is now 24F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2009...
 
None 
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 3
HIGH 64 IN 1991
LOW -1 IN 1950
PRECIP 2.36 INS. IN 1972
SNOWFALL 12.8 INS. IN 1960
PEAK GUST 78e MPH E IN 1942
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 4
HIGH 69 IN 1974
LOW  -5 IN 1950
PRECIP 1.80 IN 1960
SNOWFALL 17.3 IN 1960
PEAK GUST 81e MPH SSW IN 1971
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Robert Skilling