BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
CALM DAY TODAY WITH CLOUDS BREAKING THIS AFTERNOON
 
For the second day in a row following this past week's snowstorm, calm
weather dominated at the summit today.  Unlike yesterday, skies were
mostly cloudy for much of the day today, with a persistent layer of
stratocumulus preventing significant sunshine this morning. 
This cloud layer has broken up some this afternoon, however. 
Today's temperatures have been running close to average, rising to 40F
by the 1PM observation today.  Winds have been very light today, with
no gusts past 16mph observed so far and an average speed well under 10mph.
 
THIRD GREATEST MARCH SNOWSTORM ENDS ON FRIDAY...
SECOND SNOWSTORM OF TWO FEET OR MORE OF THE SEASON
 
The three-day snowstorm that began as a few rain showers
early on Wednesday before turning to snow later that day
finally ended in the late afternoon Friday.  The storm total
snowfall of 29.8 inches is the third greatest snowstorm on record
in March and the fifth greatest for any month.  This is
the first time that two snowfalls of 25 inches or more
have occurred in a single winter season in the 128-year
record of the Observatory.  The seasonal snow total is now
over 91 inches, though this is not among the ten highest
seasonal totals.  The liquid equivalent precipitation for
the recent storm starting Wednesday was 3.44 inches. Excluding the
0.07 inch that fell as rain, the snow to liquid equivalent
ratio for the storm was about 9:1.
 
Blue Hill Greatest Snowstorms, inches, (1885-2013):
1) 38.7 on Feb 24-28, 1969
2) 30.3 on Mar 3-5, 1960
3) 30.1 on Feb 6-7, 1978
4) 30.0 on Mar 31 - Apr 1, 1997
5) 29.8 on Mar 6-8, 2013
6) 26.6 on Feb 8-9, 2013
7) 24.7 on Feb 17-18, 2003
 
Greatest March Snowstorms, inches (1885-2013)
1) 30.3 on 3-5 Mar, 1960
2) 30.0 on 31 Mar-1 Apr, 1997
3) 29.8 on 6-8 Mar, 2013
4) 23.0 on 5-7 Mar, 2001
5) 19.5 on 19-20 Mar, 1956
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, thin smoke layer S-NNW
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: N at 6 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.39 ins. Hg, steady then rising 
Visibility: 25 miles
Snow depth: 16 inches
6-hr min. temp: 28F
BHO SA 1155 E20 BKN 25 290/29/29/0106/039/ THN K LYR S-NNW/ 8/500 4/016
53007 10029 20028
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, thin spots in overcast E-SSE 
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: NE at 8 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.41 ins. Hg, rising then rising more slowly
Visibility: 30 miles
BHO SA 1455 E18 OVC 30 298/36/30/0408/041/ THN SPTS INOVC E-SSE
8/5// 51008
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus   
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: ENE at 6 kts,
Wind: Direction variable N-E
Sea-level pressure: 30.38 ins. Hg, rising then falling
Visibility: 35 miles
6-hour max. temp: 40F
BHO SA 1755 E20 BKN 35 287/40/30/0606/038/ WND 01V09 8/500 58011
10040 20029                       
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 9
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....40     NORMAL.....42
MIN.....29     NORMAL.....24                         
MEAN....35     NORMAL.....33  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+24 [+2.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............30   DEPARTURE............-2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........271   DEPARTURE...........-25
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4391   DEPARTURE..........-473
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3908   DIFFERENCE.........+483
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............29 N   AT  3:34 A.M.
                   AERO....................23 N   AT  3:37 A.M.
                   ASOS....................30 NE  AT  8:08 A.M.
                   DAVIS...................28 N   AT  1:14 A.M. RMY 28
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............19 NNE AT  9:05 A.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............20 NE  AT  9:05 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............19 N   AT  8:09 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........12.4 N
                   ASOS..................12.2
                   DAVIS.................11.2 NNE [29 deg]
* Last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE...........-0.18
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.45  DEPARTURE...........+1.88
                         ASOS..............3.69
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........11.84  DEPARTURE...........+1.85
                         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............-0.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............30.0   DEPARTURE...........+25.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............91.2   DEPARTURE...........+39.6
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR 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
 
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  39/26/33/+1/T/T/.../..          32 NW  AERO 33 MPH WNW RMY 37
3/5  43/30/37/+5/0/0/.../..          27 WNW AERO 24 MPH WNW RMY N/A
3/6  37/33/35/+3/.../.../000/00      47 NE  AERO 46 MPH NE  RMY 51
3/7  34/29/32/-1/.../.../000/00      45 NE  AERO 45 MPH NE  RMY 47
3/8  37/28/33/0/.../../000/00        41 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNW RMY 45
3/9  40/29/35/+2/0.00/0.0/.../..     29 N   AERO 23 MPH N   RMY 28
 
3/10 the morning low temp: 27F; the normal low is now 25F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2013
None so far.
Calendar day precipitation and snowfall amounts for 3/7 and 3/8 are
under review.
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 10
HIGH 69 IN 1977
LOW 2 IN 1984
PRECIP 2.00 INS. IN 1994
SNOWFALL 4.0 INS. IN 1997
PEAK GUST 80 MPH NW IN 1974
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 11
HIGH 65 IN 1967
LOW 4 IN 1939, 1960
PRECIP 2.11 INS. IN 1901
SNOWFALL 6.3 INS. IN 1934
PEAK GUST 66e MPH W IN 1980
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Jonathan O'Brien and Peter Volpe