BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2009 
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 

WARMER WEATHER RETURNING WITH VERY DRY AIR TODAY...
The maximum temperature has risen to the upper 40s, 
which is above average for the date.  The dew point
has dropped into the teens, and this has lowered
the relative humidity to 28 percent as of 2 PM EDT. 
The sky has been mostly sunny all day with cirrus
filling part of the sky from storms passing offshore
to our south.  At 2 PM a partial halo was visible
above the sun through the thin cirrus.  
  
Today's observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, smoke layer above
inversion all quadrants, hazy
Temperature: 27F, Dew point: 23F, Wind: SW at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.29 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 25 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 25F 
BHO SA 1155 250 -SCT 25 259/27/23/2210/029/ K LYR ABV 
INVSN ALQDS HAZY/ 8/001 50003 10027 20025 

10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered cirrus, thin smoke layer along
horizon W-NNE, hazy
Temperature: 39F, Dew point: 22F, Wind: WSW at 5 kts
Wind: light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.30 inches Hg, rising 
Visibility: 30 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 30 262/39/22/2505/030/ THN K LYR ALG 
HRZN W-NNE HAZY WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/001 50003 

1 P.M.   
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few lower cirrus, hazy,
partial halo (one-third complete) above the sun 
Temperature: 47F, Dew point: 16F, Wind: SSW at 11 kts,
Wind: direction variable S-SW
Sea-level pressure: 30.25 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 35 miles  
6-hour maximum temperature: 47F  
BHO SA 1755 250 –BKN 35 243/47/16/2011/025/ FEW LWR CI 
HAZY WND 17V23 PARTIAL HALO/ 8/001 58019 10047 20027 
  
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2009
  
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....37    NORMAL.....44
MIN.....19    NORMAL.....27
MEAN....28    NORMAL.....35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.................-15 [-1.4 DEGREES/DAY]  

HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............37  DEPARTURE.........+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............425  DEPARTURE........+13
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4952  DEPARTURE........-30
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4619  DIFFERENCE......+333

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............26 SSE AT  7:30 P.M. 
                   AEROVANE.............24 SSE AT  7:30 P.M.  
                   ASOS.................24 S   AT  7:30 P.M.   
                   DAVIS................24 S   AT  6:24 P.M.    
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............18 SSE AT  7:38 P.M. * 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........20 S   AT  7:30 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........19 S   AT  7:30 P.M.  
                   AVERAGE.............9.6 S
                   ASOS................9.0
                   DAVIS...............8.2 SSW [203 DEGREES]
* Last of several occurrences....

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00 DEPARTURE.........-0.15
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........2.41 DEPARTURE.........+0.46
                         ASOS...............2.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............8.94 DEPARTURE.........-1.85
                         ASOS...............9.96 # 
# 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..........0.0   DEPARTURE.........-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.4   DEPARTURE.........+7.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............78.7   DEPARTURE........+27.5

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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

3/1  28/21/25/-7/0.26/1.9/000/00     38 NNE 
3/2  22/15/19/-13/1.21/8.2/000/00    40 NNE    AERO 37 MPH NNE
3/3  25/11/18/-14/0.01/0.1/640/94    33 NW
3/4  30/6/18/-14/0/0/684/100         31 WNW
3/5  39/16/28/-5/0/0/659/96          25 WSW
3/6  49/30/40/+7/T/0/.../..          43 S      AERO 41 MPH S
3/7  60/42/51/+18/0.06/0/.../..      37 S
3/8  57/42/50/+16/0/0/.../..         39 WNW    AERO 40 MPH WNW 
3/9  42/28/35/+1/0.72/3.2/000/00     33 N
3/10 42/26/34/0/0.02/0/.../..        23 SSE
3/11 50/33/42/+7/0.13/0/000/00       51 W
3/12 39/25/32/-3/0/0/.../..          44 W      AERO 45 MPH W 
3/13 37/19/28/-7/0/0/.../..          26 SSE

3/14 morning low temp: 25F; our normal low is now 27F


NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2009...
3/2: DAILY SNOWFALL 8.2 INS. SURPASSES PREVIOUS 
     RECORD OF 7.1 INS. IN 1948
3/7: DAILY MINIMUM 42 TIES RECORD HIGH MINIMUM FOR DATE
     PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1974 AND 1987
3/8: DAILY MINIMUM 42 TIES RECORD HIGH MINIMUM FOR DATE
     PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1995

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 1.72 INS. IN 1984
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 66 MPH WNW IN 1982

RECORDS FOR MARCH 15
HIGH 80 IN 1990
LOW 6 IN 1993
PRE 1.33 INS. IN 1972
SNOW 12.0 INS. 1967
WIND 73e MPH ESE IN 1940

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono