BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 
 
NARROW BAND OF SHOWERS MOVES THROUGH TODAY
TEMPERATURES COOL INTO THE 30'S
 
A narrow band of rain showers was crossing
New England today.  Rain began here about
11:30 a.m. EDT and just a few hundredths of
rainfall had occurred by the time the rain
was ending this afternoon.  Temperatures
which reached 59 degrees yesterday were much
colder today dropping to 37 degrees during
the rainfall early this afternoon.  
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Overcast altostratus, virga distant NNE   
Temperature: 43F, Dew point: 35F, Wind: WNW at 8 kts,
Wind: a gradual wind shift (veering) past hour
Sea-level pressure: 30.01 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 25 miles, NW 55 miles, hazy all quadrants
6-hour minimum temperature: 41F
BHO SA 1155 E41 OVC 25 163/43/35/2908/001/
VIRGA DSNT NNE VSBY NW 55 HAZY ALQDS GRDL VEERING
WSHFT/ 8/02/ 50009 10043 20041
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, stratocumulus W-N,
precipitation 30 miles W-N, virga all quadrants 
Temperature: 42F, Dew point: 33F, Wind: NW at 10 kts,
Wind: direction variability W-NNW
Sea-level pressure: 30.03 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 40 miles, but 30 miles W-N with precipitation
BHO SA 1455 E44 OVC 40 171/42/33/3110/003/ SC W-N
PCPN/VSBY 30 W-N VIRGA ALQDS WND 27V34/ 8/52/ 51008
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Overcast nimbostratus, few lower stratus fractus,
thin fog E-S-W, very light rain occurring 
Temperature: 38F, Dew point: 36F, Wind: SSE at 3 kts
Wind: low wind speed estimated
Sea-level pressure: 30.03 inches Hg, falling
Visibility: 12 miles, SE-SW 9 miles, north 35 miles
6-hour maximum temperature: 45F 
6-hour rainfall: 0.04 inch  
BHO SA 1755 E18 OVC 12R- 169/38/36/E1603/003/ FEW STFRA
THN FG E-S-W VSBY SE-SW 9 N 35 PCPN VRY LGT/ 8/72/ 58002
MANUAL 6004/ ASOS 60004 10045 20037
      
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2009
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....59    NORMAL.....45
MIN.....31    NORMAL.....28
MEAN....45    NORMAL.....37
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................+8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..................+7  [+0.2 DEGREES/DAY] 
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............20  DEPARTURE.........-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............546  DEPARTURE........-10
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........5073  DEPARTURE........-53
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....4764  DIFFERENCE......+309
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............37 SSW AT  1:41 P.M. *
                   AEROVANE.............40 S   AT 11:49 A.M. 
                   ASOS.................38 S   AT  3:08 P.M.     
                   DAVIS................40 S   AT 12:21 P.M.     
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............30 S   AT 12:22 P.M. * 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........31 S   AT  1:06 P.M.     
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........32 S   AT 12:22 P.M.    
                   AVERAGE............19.5 S 
                   ASOS...............19.0
                   DAVIS..............19.0 S [190 DEGREES]
 * last of several occurrences
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.00 DEPARTURE.........-0.16 
                         ASOS...............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........2.41 DEPARTURE.........-0.34
                         ASOS...............2.34
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............8.94 DEPARTURE.........-2.65
                         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.........+5.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............78.7   DEPARTURE........+25.5
 
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/0/152/22          43 S      AERO 41 MPH S
3/7  60/42/51/+18/0.06/0/429/62      37 S
3/8  57/42/50/+16/0/0/445/64         39 WNW    AERO 40 MPH WNW
3/9  42/28/35/+1/0.72/3.2/000/00     33 N
3/10 42/26/34/0/0.02/0/470/67        23 SSE
3/11 50/33/42/+7/0.13/0/000/00       51 W
3/12 39/25/32/-3/0/0/685/97          44 W      AERO 45 MPH W
3/13 37/19/28/-7/0/0/660/93          26 SSE
3/14 50/25/38/+2/0/0/613/86          24 SSW
3/15 59/34/47/+11/0/0/686/96         17 SSW
3/16 42/29/36/0/0/0/000/00           30 NE
3/17 47/28/38/+1/0/0/671/93 *        21 SSW
3/18 59/31/45/+8/0/0/.../..          37 SSW    AERO 40 MPH S
 
3/19 morning low temp: 41F; our normal low now 29F
 
* the daily temp. dep. is corrected 
  from zero to +1
 
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 19
HIGH 69 IN 1903
LOW -2 IN 1967
PRECIP 1.69 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 17.6 INS. IN 1956 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 75e MPH WNW IN 1941
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 20
HIGH 79 IN 1945
LOW 4 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.39 INS. IN 1957
SNOWFALL 11.4 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling