BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPERATURES WARMING AFTER COLD START TODAY West to west-northwest winds have gradually backed to the west-southwest and much warmer air is arriving today with the thermometer rising from a morning low of 26F to the mid-50's this afternoon. We've enjoyed full sunshine all day. The air continues to be very dry with dew points near 10F this afternoon and relative humidity dropping under 20%. 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: 22.0 inches, 7th/8th 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 21,516 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 This was the second highest snowfall for Feb-Mar behind 1967 and just ahead of 1969. Wind speed was fourth lowest. BLUE HILL GREATEST FEB-MAR SNOWFALL, INCHES (1886-2013) 1) 86.2 in 1967 2) 77.5 in 2013 3) 77.3 in 1969 4) 75.6 in 1916 5) 72.4 in 1956 BLUE HILL LOWEST MARCH WIND SPEED, MPH (1885-2013) 1) 12.1 in 1995 2) 12.8 in 2012 3) 13.2 in 2009 4) 13.4 in 2013 5) 13.6 in 1898 13.6 in 2005 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Clear, perfectly clear, [SKC] Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: W at 11 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.30 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly Visibility: 60 miles, distant haze 6-hour min. temp: 26F BHO SA 1155 CLR 60 260/30/16/2811/030/ SKC DSNT HZ/ 51030 10030 20026 10 A.M. Weather: Clear, cirrus/cirrostratus layer distant SW-WSW along & near horizon slowly invading sky Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts, Sea-level pressure: 30.27 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 CLR 70 250/43/12/2907/027/ CI/CS LYR DSNT SW-WSW ALG/NR HRZN INVADING LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/005 58010 1 P.M. Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, cirrus SSE-W, lower cirrus distant SSW-WSW gradually invading the sky, light haze gradually increasing Temperature: 50F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: WSW at 12 kts, Wind: Direction variable SSW-WNW Sea-level pressure: 30.20 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly Visibility: 65 miles, 70 miles NW, light distant haze slowly increasing 6-hour max. temp: 51F BHO SA 1755 300 ñSCT 65 228/50/10/2412/020/ CI SSE-W LWR CI DSNT SSW-WSW GRDLY INVDNG VSBY NW 70 LGT HZ GRDLY INCRSNG WND 19V30/ 8/005 58022 10051 20030 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....45 NORMAL.....51 MIN.....27 NORMAL.....33 MEAN....36 NORMAL.....42 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-6 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-8 [-2.9 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............29 DEPARTURE.............+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............79 DEPARTURE.............+8 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........5099 DEPARTURE...........-456 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4351 DIFFERENCE..........+748 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............44 W AT 9:43 A.M. AERO....................43 W AT 9:43 A.M. ASOS....................45 W AT 9:43 A.M. DAVIS...................46 WNW AT 9:42 A.M. RMY: 47 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............33 W AT 11:23 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............31 W AT 11:23 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............30 W AT 11:23 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........21.0 W ASOS..................18.7 DAVIS.................18.0 W [280 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00 DEPARTURE...........-0.17 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.34 DEPARTURE...........-0.17 ASOS..............0.35 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........14.43 DEPARTURE...........-0.08 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........0.0 DEPARTURE............-0.2 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH.............trace DEPARTURE............-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............99.0 DEPARTURE...........+38.7 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 45/27/36/-6/0.00/0.0/.../.. 44 W AERO 43 MPH W RMY 47 4/4 morning low temp: 26F; 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