BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186 ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2009 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME SUNSHINE RETURNS AFTER EARLY MORNING FOG... JANUARY TO MARCH SUNSHINE IS NEAR A RECORD HIGH... Very light rain showers occurred in some parts of the area early this morning, though none were recorded at the Observatory. The early morning fog burned off by mid-morning, and the temperature has jumped to the middle 50s by early afternoon with bright sunshine. The average sunshine for the first three months of the year, which is about 60 percent through March 26, is very high and may rank among the highest on record. Highest Jan-Mar Sunshine (percent) 1) 60, 1978 2) 59, 1964 3) 58, 1977 4) 56, 1988 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Sky partly obscured with fog, scattered stratus and overcast altocumulus, stratus layer below summit SW-NW, few thin spots in overcast overhead Temperature: 40F, Dew point: 39F, Wind: SE at 8 kts Sea-level pressure: 30.06 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 5 miles, fog 6-hour minimum temperature: 39F 6-hour precipitation: 0.00 inches 24-hour precipitation: 0.00 inches BHO SA 1155 –X 4 SCT E120 OVC 5F 180/40/39/1508/006/ F1 STRA LYR BLO SMT SW-NW FEW THN SPTS IOVC OVHD WND LGT/ 8/57/ 53003 10040 20039 10 A.M. Weather: Thin broken altocumulus, thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus distant E-SE Temperature: 49F, Dew point: 40F, Wind: S at 5 kts, Wind: light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.09 inches Hg, rising Visibility: 25 miles, hazy BHO SA 1455 120 -BKN 250 -BKN 25 188/49/40/1705/009/ FEW SC DSNT E-SE HAZY WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/571 50008 1 P.M. Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, few small cumulus, fog bank NNE-ESE Temperature: 54F, Dew point: 41F, Wind: NE at 8 kts Wind: Light and variable Sea-level pressure: 30.05 inches Hg, falling Visibility: 40 miles, visibility NE 12 6-hour maximum temperature: 58F BHO SA 1755 250 –SCT 40 176/54/41/0408/005/ FEW SML CU STRA/FOG LYR NNE-ESE VSBY NNE-NE 12 WND LGT AND VRB/ 8/101 58012 10058 20040 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....57 NORMAL.....48 MIN.....36 NORMAL.....31 MEAN....47 NORMAL.....40 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.................-10 [-0.6 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............18 DEPARTURE.........-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............802 DEPARTURE.........+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........5329 DEPARTURE........-37 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....5013 DIFFERENCE......+316 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............22 S AT 11:53 P.M. * AEROVANE.............20 S AT 11:53 P.M. * ASOS.................21 N AT 9:42 A.M. DAVIS................22 NW AT 6:44 A.M. FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............16 S AT 11:52 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........15 S AT 11:53 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........18 ESE AT 11:17 A.M. AVERAGE.............8.9 NW ASOS................7.9 DAVIS...............8.0 NNE [28 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...........2.80 DEPARTURE.........-1.39 ASOS...............2.72 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............9.33 DEPARTURE.........-3.70 ASOS..............10.34 # # 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.........-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............13.4 DEPARTURE.........+2.7 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............78.7 DEPARTURE........+22.6 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 47/28/38/0/+1/671/93 21 SSW 3/18 59/31/45/+8/0/0/448/62 37 SSW AERO 40 MPH S 3/19 45/36/41/+4/0.04/0/000/00 22 S 3/20 36/25/31/-7/0/0/650/89 26 NNE 3/21 43/23/33/-5/0/0/704/96 21 S 3/22 50/27/39/+1/0/0/206/28 29 NW AERO 31 MPH WNW 3/23 32/18/25/-13/0/0/694/94 38 NW 3/24 44/18/31/-8/0/0/630/85 33 NW AERO 37 MPH NW 3/25 49/29/39/0/0/0/670/90 25 N 3/26 53/33/43/+4/0.25/0/298/40 23 SE 3/27 57/36/47/+7/0.10/0/.../.. 22 S 3/28 morning low temp. 39F; normal low is now 31F 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 28 HIGH 86 IN 1998 LOW 7 IN 1923 PRECIP 2.31 INS. IN 1932 SNOWFALL 3.0 INS. IN 1932 PEAK GUST 60e MPH NW IN 1944, 60 WSW IN 1991 RECORDS FOR MARCH 29 HIGH 85 IN 1945 LOW -2 IN 1923 PRECIP 2.78 INS. IN 1984 SNOWFALL 13.5 INS. IN 1984 PEAK GUST 95 MPH ENE IN 1984 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono