BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME TEMPS. DROP INTO 20'S EARLY TODAY WINDS INCREASE AND BECOME QUITE GUSTY FROM WNW The low temperature fell to 26F this morning, still above normal and continuing a long series of days with above normal minima since February 18. Wind speeds have been increasing with gusts to 30 to 35 MPH from the WNW, and are the highest since February 27th. February finished on the warm side and eighth wettest on record. It was also the fifth snowiest February on record. The 2012-13 winter season (Dec-Feb) was overall on the warm side, and it finished as the 12th warmest winter on record at Blue Hill. Winter precipitation and snowfall were also above normal. FEBRUARY 2013 PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: (departures relative to 1981-2010 average) TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 35.9F [-0.9F] Average Min Temp: 22.5F [+3.4F] Mean Temp: 29.2F [+1.3F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 28.7F [-0.4F] Max Temp: 48F on 15th Min Temp: 9F on 10th Total heating degree day units (month): 994 [ -43] *NCDC method Total heating degree day units (season): 4,120 [-448] *start July 1 (NCDC) PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 6.97 ins. [+2.90 ins.] Greatest 24-hr precipitation: 2.82 ins. on 8th/9th Total snowfall: 39.7 inches [+25.8 ins.] Greatest snow depth: 20 ins. on 9th, 10th WIND: Avg wind speed: 13.6 MPH Avg corrected wind speed: 14.0 MPH Prevailing wind direction: W [20%] Peak gust: 63 MPH NE on 8th Peak fastest mile: 42 MPH NNE on 8th SUNSHINE: Campbell-Stokes sunshine card minutes: 7,554/17,148 or 44% [-6%] Astronomical minutes totaled: 7,844/17,785 or 44% BLUE HILL WETTEST FEBRUARYS, INCHES (1885-2013): 1) 9.32 in 1969 2) 8.29 in 1886 3) 8.17 in 2008 4) 7.93 in 1981 5) 7.80 in 1984 6) 7.43 in 1920 7) 7.03 in 1926 8) 6.97 in 2013 9) 6.82 in 1900 6.82 in 1998 BLUE HILL SNOWIEST FEBRUARYS, INCHES (1886-2013): 1) 65.4 in 1969 2) 51.3 in 2003 3) 45.2 in 1967 4) 40.4 in 1920 5) 39.7 in 2013 6) 37.0 in 1893 WINTER 2012-13 (DEC, JAN, FEB) PRELIMINARY STATISTICS: (departures relative to 1981-2010 average) TEMPERATURE: Average Max Temp: 38.5F [+1.9F] Average Min Temp: 24.8F [+4.9F] Mean Temp: 31.7F [+3.4F] 24-hr. Corr. Mean Temp: 31.5F [+2.5F] * 12th warmest Max Temp: 59F on 12/10, 1/14, 1/30 Min Temp: 0F on 1/24 PRECIPITATION: Total precipitation: 14.91 ins. [+1.60 ins.] Total snowfall: 55.2 inches [+10.8 ins.] Greatest snow depth: 20 ins. on Feb. 9th, 10th Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus/altocumulus lenticularis, scattered cirrus, thin broken cirrus, few stratocumulus WNW-NW, few cumulus fractus, cumulus/stratocumulus distant ENE-ESE offshore Temperature: 27F; Dew Point: 20F; Wind: WNW at 13 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.62 ins. Hg, increasing slightly Visibility: 50 miles, distant haze 6-hour min. temp: 26F 24-hr. total precip. 0.01 24-hr snowfall: 0.2 in. Snow depth: Trace BHO SA 1155 100 SCT 220 SCT 250 –BKN 50 031/27/20/2913/962/ FEW SC WNW-NW AND CUFRA/SC OFFSHR DSNT ENE-ESE TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.2 IN DSNT HZ/ 8/841 52007 MANUAL 70001 ASOS 70002 10030 20026 10 A.M. Weather: Thin broken cirrus, 2 levels, altocumulus layer distant NNW-NE, dense cirrus distant N-NE, few cirrocumulus lenticularis distant SSE-S Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 21F; Wind: WNW at 18G25 kts, Wind: Peak wind from WNW at 26 kts at 9:33 A.M., Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.60 ins. Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 60 miles, except 70 NW BHO SA 1455 250 –SCT 300 –BKN 60 024/33/21/3018G25/960/ CUFRA/SC FRMG ALQDS AC LYR DSNT NNW-ENE DNS CI DSNT N-NE FEW CCSL DSNT S PK VSBY NW 70 WND 2926/33/ WND 25V32/ 8/872 58007 1 P.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, numerous lenticularis, broken dense cirrus, overcast cirrus, breaks in overcast, virga distant WNW-N Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: W at 18G25 kts, Wind: Direction variable WSW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.58 ins. Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 60 miles, virga WNW-N 6-hr max temp: 39F BHO SA 1755 E60 BKN 200 BKN 250 OVC 60 016/38/23/2818G25/958/ FEW LWR CU NMRS SCSL ALQDS DNS CI VIRGA WNW-N BINOVC WND 24V32/ 8/802 58008 10039 20027 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 3 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....42 NORMAL.....41 MIN.....30 NORMAL.....23 MEAN....36 NORMAL.....32 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+4 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+14 [+4.5 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............29 DEPARTURE............-5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............87 DEPARTURE...........-14 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4207 DEPARTURE..........-462 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3755 DIFFERENCE.........+452 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............17 WNW AT 11:51 P.M. AERO....................15 WNW AT 11:51 P.M. ASOS....................18 NW AT 11:57 P.M. DAVIS...................18 W AT 9:30 P.M. RMY N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............12 WNW AT 11:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............13 WNW AT 11:51 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............13 WNW AT 11:50 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........8.5 WNW ASOS...................9.2 DAVIS..................8.1 WNW [300 deg] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.01 DEPARTURE...........-0.16 ASOS..............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.01 DEPARTURE...........-0.51 ASOS..............0.02 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........8.40 DEPARTURE...........-0.55 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.........0.2 DEPARTURE............-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............0.2 DEPARTURE............-1.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............61.4 DEPARTURE...........+12.9 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY & MARCH 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 2/1 32/19/26/0/T/T/325/54 39 WSW AERO 38 MPH W RMY 42 2/2 30/15/23/-3/0/0/452/75 28 SSW AERO 23 MPH SSW RMY 28 2/3 26/19/23/-3/0.08/1.2/000/00 22 W AERO 21 MPH WSW RMY N/A 2/4 29/17/23/-3/T/T/547/90 44 W AERO 46 MPH W RMY N/A 2/5 25/18/22/-4/0.04/0.8/000/00 21 W AERO 16 MPH W RMY N/A 2/6 37/22/30/+4/0.01/0.2/521/85 35 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 35 2/7 29/16/23/-4/0.00/0.0/306/52 24 NW AERO 21 MPH NW RMY 24 2/8 31/18/25/-2/1.86/16.1/000/00 63 NE AERO 61 MPH NE RMY 66 2/9 20/12/16/-11/0.98/10.5/000/00 51 NNW AERO 52 MPH N RMY 51 2/10 37/9/23/-4/0.00/0.0/623/100 29 NW AERO 27 MPH NW RMY N/A 2/11 44/23/34/+7/0.15/T/000/00 33 S AERO 35 MPH S RMY 39 2/12 44/30/37/+10/0.00/0.0/606/96 39 W AERO 37 MPH S RMY 39 2/13 42/27/35/+7/T/T/615/97 22 W AERO 17 MPH W RMY N/A 2/14 43/29/36/+8/T/0.1/564/89 21 NNW AERO 16 MPH NNW RMY N/A 2/15 48/29/39/+11/0.00/0.0/566/89 31 S AERO 30 MPH S RMY 32 2/16 35/29/32/+4/0.07/1.3/000/00 25 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY 40 2/17 29/15/22/-6/0.41/5.1/000/00 54 NW AERO 54 MPH NW RMY 58 2/18 31/11/21/-8/0.00/0.0/632/98 52 WNW AERO 52 MPH WNW RMY 53 2/19 45/21/33/+4/0.43/0.0/201/31 33 SSW AERO 32 MPH SSW RMY 36 2/20 40/23/32/+3/T/0.0/189/29 44 W AERO 43 MPH W RMY 47 2/21 31/22/27/-2/0.00/0.0/438/67 40 WNW AERO 40 MPH WNW RMY 43 2/22 37/22/30/+1/0.00/0.0/387/59 28 NW AERO 24 MPH NW RMY 24 2/23 37/30/34/+4/0.31/T/000/00 21 SE AERO 18 MPH SE RMY N/A 2/24 37/29/33/+3/1.19/4.3/000/00 31 NNE AERO 29 MPH NNE RMY 33 2/25 40/27/34/+4/0.01/0.1/339/51 16 NNW AERO 13 MPH NW RMY 15 2/26 43/31/37/+7/0.00/0.0/454/68 25 E AERO 23 MPH E RMY N/A 2/27 40/35/38/+7/1.43/T/000/00 47 E AERO 48 MPH E RMY 50 2/28 43/32/38/+7/T/0.0/067/10/ 14 W AERO 14 MPH W RMY 16 3/1 39/33/36/+5/0.00/0.0/.../.. 25 NNW AERO 24 MPH NNW RMY 28 3/2 42/30/36/+5/0.00/0.0/.../.. 18 NW AERO 16 MPH NW RMY 21 3/3 42/30/36/+4/0.01/0.2/.../.. 17 WNW AERO 15 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/4 the morning low temp: 26F; the normal low is now 23F DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2013 2/8 - NEW RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL OF 16.1 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 11.0 inches in 1891 2/8 - TIED DAILY RECORD PEAK WIND GUST OF 63e MPH NE IN 1945 2/27- NEW RECORD DAILY PRECIPITATION OF 1.43 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 0.90 inch in 1922 DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2013 None so far. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): RECORDS FOR MARCH 4 HIGH 69 IN 1974 LOW -5 IN 1950 PRECIP 1.80 IN 1960 SNOWFALL 17.3 IN 1960 PEAK GUST 81e MPH SSW IN 1971 RECORDS FOR MARCH 5 HIGH 64 IN 1979 LOW -2 IN 1948 PRECIP 1.76 INS. IN 2001 SNOWFALL 13.0 INS. IN 1891 PEAK GUST 76e MPH WNW IN 1971 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling