BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME QUIET, PLEASANT SPRING DAY Winds have quieted down today after breezy conditions overnight. Since late this morning, winds have generally averaged less than 10 mph. An extensive area of clouds associated with a coastal storm off of the Mid-Atlantic coast covered much of the sky this morning. The clouds have dissipated and moved offshore this afternoon, providing form some intermittent sunshine. SSW-SW winds that developed yesterday afternoon continued to pump warmer and more moist air into the region overnight. This morning's low of 36F was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, and just a couple of degrees above the 30-year normal. The high temperature has pushed into the mid 50s with the aid of some sunshine this afternoon as clouds slowly dissipate and depart the region. Added moisture in the air is producing a bit of haze, and keeping visibility in the 45-50 mile range. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, broken altostratus, broken cirrostratus, lower altocumulus/altocumulus lenticularis distant SSW-W, breaks in overcast distant WNW-N, hazy Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: SSW at 12 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.94 ins. Hg, falling then steady Visibility: 50 miles, hazy 6-hour min. temp: 36F BHO SA 1155 60 SCT E100 BKN 140 BKN 200 OVC 50 138/38/29/2112/994/ LWR AC/ACSL DSNT SSW-W BINOVC DSNT WNW-N HAZY/ 8/077 56010 10038 20036 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken altocumulus (2 levels), broken altostratus, broken cirrostratus, stratocumulus distant WSW-NNW, altocumulus chaotic, virga distant W-NNW, sun dimly visible, hazy Temperature: 45F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: SW at 11 kts. Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 45 miles, WNW 50 miles, E-S lower, hazy BHO SA 1455 40 SCT E60 BKN 100 BKN 140 BKN 200 BKN 45 113/45/26/2211/986/ SC DSNT WSW-NNW AC CHAOTIC VIRGA DSNT W-NNW SUN DMLY VSBL HAZY VSBY WNW 50 E-S LWR/ 8/597 58025 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altostratus, scattered cirrostratus, few cumulus distant ESE-S, stratocumulus lenticularis NNW-E-SSW and overhead, altostratus distant SE-S, cirrostratus distant NE-SSW, few cirrocumulus tops visible distant ENE-S, mostly clear sky SW-NW, thin smoke/haze layer distant all quadrants Temperature: 53F; Dew Point: 28F; Wind: SW at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable S-WSW Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 50 miles, thin smoke/haze distant all quadrants 6-hour max. temp: 54F BHO SA 1755 40 SCT 140 SCT 200 SCT 50 070/53/28/2308/974/ FEW CU DSNT ESE-S SCSL NNW-E-SSW AND OVHD AS DSNT SE-S CS DSNT NE-SSW FEW CC TOPS VSBL DSNT ENE-S MSTLY CLR SKY SW-NW THN K/HZ DSNT ALQDS WND 19V25/ 8/878 58043 10054 20038 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 4 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....55 NORMAL.....51 MIN.....26 NORMAL.....33 MEAN....41 NORMAL.....42 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................-1 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH....................-9 [-2.5 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............24 DEPARTURE..........+1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........103 DEPARTURE..........+9 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........5123 DEPARTURE........-455 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4366 DIFFERENCE.......+757 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............30 WSW AT 4:22 P.M. AERO....................27 WSW AT 4:22 P.M. ASOS....................30 SSW AT 7:15 P.M. DAVIS...................29 SSW AT 11:37 P.M. RMY: 31 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............23 SSW AT 11:37 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............23 SSW AT 6:50 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............22 SSW AT 11:38 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........13.9 WNW ASOS..................13.7 DAVIS.................12.3 WSW [247 deg] *last of several occurrences 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...........-0.34 ASOS..............0.35 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........14.43 DEPARTURE...........-0.25 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............-0.8 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............99.0 DEPARTURE...........+38.5 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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 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 55/26/41/-1/0.00/0.0/.../.. 30 WSW AERO 27 MPH WSW RMY 31 4/5 morning low temp: 36F; the normal low is now 34F 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 5 HIGH 81 IN 1928 LOW 15 IN 1995 PRECIP 2.15 IN. IN 1987 SNOWFALL 4.0 IN. IN 1898 PEAK GUST 76 MPH WNW IN 1963 RECORDS FOR APRIL 6 HIGH 82 IN 1921 LOW 16 IN 1982 PRE 1.72 INS IN 1886 SNOW 12.3 INS IN 1982 WIND 71e MPH WNW IN 1940 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser