BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME VERY COLD EARLY APRIL TEMPERATURES START TO MODERATE VERY GUSTY WEST WINDS CONTINUE FOR A 2ND DAY AN EXTREMELY DRY AIR MASS WITH VERY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY A mostly clear sky with strong April sunshine is boosting the high temperature today several higher than yesterday's high of 40F which was 10 degrees colder than normal. As of early this afternoon our maximum temperature had reached 44F despite starting just as cold as 24 hours ago which was also a low of 27F. This moderation in temperatures is occurring despite a continuing strong and very gusty west wind which has gusted 35 to 45 MPH. The air had become very dry this afternoon and, like yesterday, was well down in the 20% range. MARCH 2013 PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: (departures relative to 1981-2010 average) TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 42.6F [-1.7F] Average Min Temp: 28.6F [+2.0F] Mean Temp: 35.6F [+0.1F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 35.2F [-0.5F] Max Temp: 59F on 31st Min Temp: 16F on 18th Total heating degree day units (month): 900 [ -16] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 5,020 [-464] *start July 1 (NCDC) PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 5.70 inches [+0.12 inches] Greatest 24-hr precipitation: 2.33 inches on 7th/8th Total snowfall: 37.8 inches [+25.1 inches] Greatest snowfall in 24 hours: unavailable at this time Greatest snow depth: 19 inches on 9th Total seasonal snowfall: 99.0 inches [+39.3 inches] WIND: Avg wind speed: 13.0 MPH Avg corrected wind speed: 13.4 MPH Prevailing wind direction: NW [22%] Peak gust: 47 MPH NE on 6th Peak fastest mile: 34 MPH NE on 6th SUNSHINE: Astronomical minutes: 9,799 of possible 22,247 or 44% Campbell-Stokes card minutes: 9,482 of possible 21516 or 44% BLUE HILL SNOWIEST MARCHES, INCHES (1885-2013) 1) 52.0 in 1956 2) 42.2 in 1916 3) 41.4 in 2001 4) 41.0 in 1967 5) 37.8 in 2013 6) 35.5 in 1993 Although 99.0 inches would only tie for 12th snowiest for the full season, the 2012-13 season is the eighth snowiest through March. BLUE HILL SNOWIEST OCT-MAR, INCHES (1885-2013) 1) 136.0 in 1947-48 2) 120.2 in 1995-96 3) 119.2 in 2004-05 4) 108.6 in 2002-03 5) 102.4 in 1966-67 6) 101.6 in 1922-23 7) 101.1 in 1993-94 8) 99.0 in 2012-13 9) 98.4 in 1903-04 10) 95.7 in 1955-56 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, cumulus fractus/cumulus offshore distant ENE-SE, few cumulus fractus forming SW-W, few patches of altocumulus lenticularis distant NW, cirrus layer N thru distant ENE Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: W at 18G30 kts, Wind: Peak wind gust 30 kts W at 6:52 A.M. EST Sea-level pressure: 29.99 ins. Hg, rising steadily Visibility: 75 miles 24-hour precip: trace 24-hour snowfall: trace 6-hour min. temp: 27F BHO SA 1155 CLR 75 157/29/10/2718G30/999/ CUFRA/CU DSNT OFFSHR ENE-SE FEW CUFRA FRMG MSTLY DSNT SW-W FEW PTCHS ACSL DSNT NW CI LYR N-DSNT ENE PK WND 2730/52/ 8/141 52017 10029 20027 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus fractus, cumulus forming mostly distant SW-W, few altocumulus lenticularis NW, cirrus/cirrocumulus lenticularis N-E Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: W at 20G30 kts, Wind: Peak wind of 38 kts. from the W at 9:43 A.M. EST Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.96 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly Visibility: 75 miles BHO SA 1455 CLR 75 147/37/10/2820G30/996/ CUFRA/SML CU FRMG MSTLY DSNT SSE-W FEW ACSL WNW-NW CI/CCSL/FEW DNS CI N-E LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2838/43/ WND 26V33/ 8/149 56010 1 P.M. Weather: Clear, few small cumulus WNW, few altocumulus lenticularis N, cirrus N-ENE, light distant haze Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 8F; Wind: W at 18G29 kts, Wind: Peak wind of 34 kts. from the WNW at 11:59 A.M. EST Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg, falling then rising slightly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 44F BHO SA 1755 CLR 70 143/42/8/2718G29/995/ FEW SML CU WNW FEW ACSL DSNT N CI N-ENE LGT DSNT HZ PK WND 2934/1659/ WND 24V31/ 8/141 55004 10044 20029 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 2 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....40 NORMAL.....50 MIN.....27 NORMAL.....33 MEAN....34 NORMAL.....41 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-2 [-1.2 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............31 DEPARTURE.............+7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............50 DEPARTURE.............+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........5070 DEPARTURE...........-462 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4330 DIFFERENCE..........+740 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............45 W AT 4:22 P.M. AERO....................42 W AT 4:22 P.M. ASOS....................45 W AT 5:11 P.M. DAVIS...................46 WSW AT 2:10 P.M. RMY: 47 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............35 W AT 4:23 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............35 W AT 4:23 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............33 W AT 2:11 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........18.8 W ASOS..................17.4 DAVIS.................16.1 W [273 deg] *last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...trace DEPARTURE...........-0.17 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.34 DEPARTURE............0.00 ASOS..............0.35 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........14.43 DEPARTURE...........+0.09 ASOS..............N/A* *ASOS malfunctioned during storm on 2/8-9, leading to erroneous totals SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.......trace DEPARTURE............-0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.............trace DEPARTURE............-0.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............99.0 DEPARTURE...........+38.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH & APRIL 2013 CALENDAR DAY DATA DATA REPORTED: DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust RMY: RMY = R.M. Young wind gust recording system added 8/9/2011 TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized 3/1 39/33/36/+5/0.00/0.0/047/07 25 NNW AERO 24 MPH NNW RMY 28 3/2 42/30/36/+5/0.00/0.0/400/59 18 NW AERO 16 MPH NW RMY 21 3/3 42/30/36/+4/0.01/0.2/034/05 17 WNW AERO 15 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/4 39/26/33/+1/T/T/328/48 32 NW AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY 37 3/5 43/30/37/+5/0.00/0.0/123/18 27 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/6 37/33/35/+3/0.19/0.3/000/00 47 NE AERO 46 MPH NE RMY 51 3/7 34/29/32/-1/1.36/11.5/000/00 45 NE AERO 45 MPH NE RMY 47 3/8 37/28/33/0/1.89/18.0/000/00 41 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNW RMY 45 3/9 40/29/35/+2/0.00/0.0/677/97 29 N AERO 23 MPH N RMY 28 3/10 40/27/34/+1/0.00/0.0/372/53 21 S AERO 17 MPH S RMY N/A 3/11 50/32/41/+7/0.00/0.0/099/14 27 S AERO 25 MPH S RMY N/A 3/12 52/39/46/+12/0.51/0.0/000/00 45 S AERO 46 MPH S RMY 47 3/13 50/33/42/+8/T/0.0/674/95 32 WNW AERO 32 MPH WNW RMY 34 3/14 34/20/27/-8/0.00/0.0/014/02 37 W AERO 37 MPH NW RMY 38 3/15 39/17/28/-7/0.00/0.0/408/57 35 NW AERO 37 MPH W RMY 34 3/16 39/25/32/-3/T/T/352/49 23 NW AERO 18 MPH WNW RMY 20 3/17 38/23/31/-5/0.00/0.0/665/95 32 WNW AERO 28 MPH WNW RMY 34 3/18 37/16/27/-9/0.14/1.1/557/77 27 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY N/A 3/19 35/26/31/-5/1.45/5.8/000/00 42 E AERO 39 MPH E RMY 43 3/20 37/22/30/-7/T/T/628/86 37 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 38 3/21 36/27/32/-5/0.03/0.3/154/21 15 NNW AERO 8 MPH NW RMY N/A 3/22 39/25/32/-5/T/T/492/67 30 W AERO 29 MPH W RMY 34 3/23 41/26/34/-4/0.00/0.0/649/88 40 W AERO 38 MPH W RMY 42 3/24 45/28/37/-1/0.00/0.0/704/95 29 WNW AERO 28 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/25 40/31/36/-2/T/T/060/08 33 NNE AERO 31 MPH NE RMY 38 3/26 48/31/40/+1/0.05/0.6/486/65 25 NW AER0 23 MPH N RMY 25 3/27 52/30/41/+2/T/0.0/398/53 30 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY 30 3/28 46/35/41/+2/0.01/0.0/053/07 23 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY N/A 3/29 56/35/46/+6/0.00/0.0/279/37 25 W AERO 22 MPH NW RMY 27 3/30 56/35/46/+6/0.00/0.0/735/97 25 WWN AERO 20 MPH WNW RMY 25 3/31 59/37/48/+7/0.06/0.0/411/54 37 SSW AERO 35 MPH SSW RMY 40 4/1 61/31/46/+5/0.34/0.0/.../.. 40 W AERO 44 MPH WNW RMY 46 4/2 40/27/34/-7/T/T/.../.. 45 W AERO 42 MPH W RMY 47 4/3 the morning low temp: 27F; the normal low is now 33F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2013 3/7 - NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 11.5 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 11.1 inches in 1967 3/8 - NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 18.0 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 8.3 inches in 1941 DAILY RECORDS FOR APRIL 2013 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR APRIL 3 HIGH 76 IN 1892 LOW 16 IN 1894 PRECIP 2.18 IN. IN 1990 SNOWFALL 8.0 IN. IN 1915 PEAK GUST 83e MPH NW IN 1977 [RECORD FOR MONTH] RECORDS FOR APRIL 4 HIGH 76 IN 2010 LOW 12 IN 1954 PRECIP 1.45 IN. IN 1987 SNOWFALL 3.7 IN. IN 1975 PEAK GUST 80 MPH WNW IN 1963 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling