BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME WARM, BREEZY, CLOUDY DAY Temperatures are certainly on the warm side today, running 10-15 degrees above the 30-year average. Southerly winds, gusting at times 30-35 mph, have transported the much warmer and more moist air mass into the region. Sunshine has not been a factor in the warm temperatures, with clouds covering the sky all day long. The day began with the summit shrouded in fog, reducing visibility down to 1/4 mile. The recent warmth has continued to reduce the snowpack on the summit. The snow depth at 7 AM EST this morning was down to 8 inches, with a snow water equivalent of 3.16 inches. Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Sky partially obscured by fog, overcast stratocumulus, stratus drifting over summit, fog dissipating Temperature: 44F; Dew Point: 44F; Wind: SSE at 19G25 kts. Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 1 mile, variable 1/4 to 3 miles, N-E 1/4 mile, fog 6-hr min. temp: 39F Snow depth: 8 inches BHO SA 1155 –X E30 OVC 1VF 174/44/44/1619G25/004/ F4 STRA DRFTNG OVR SMT FG DSSPTNG VSBY 1/4V3 VSBY N-E 1/4/ 8/5// 4/008 58007 10044 20039 10 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, stratus fractus occasionally drifting over the summit, thin fog all quadrants Temperature: 47F; Dew Point: 47F; Wind: SSE at 18G24 kts, Wind: Peak wind of 27 kts. from the SSE at 9:27 AM EST Wind: Direction variable SE-S Sea-level pressure: 30.03 ins. Hg, falling slightly Visibility: 8 miles, thin fog BHO SA 1455 E4 BKN 30 OVC 8 168/47/47/1618G24/003/ STFRA OCNLY DRFTNG OVR SMT THN FG ALQDS PK WND 1627/27 WND 13V19/ 8/8// 58006 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus/cumulus fractus, broken stratocumulus, overcast stratocumulus, thin fog all quadrants, light rain began at unknown time and continued, precipitation very light Temperature: 51F; Dew Point: 48F; Wind: SSE at 15G22 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.96 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 20 miles, WNW 30 miles, light rain, thin fog all quadrants 6-hour precip: Trace 6-hour max. temp: 51F BHO SA 1755 20 SCT E40 BKN 45 OVC 20RW- 145/51/48/1615G22/996/ THN FG ALQDS VSBY WNW 30 R-BUKN CTD VRY LGT/ 8/8// 58023 MANUAL 6000/ 10052 20044 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 11 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....50 NORMAL.....43 MIN.....32 NORMAL.....25 MEAN....41 NORMAL.....34 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+32 [+2.7 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............24 DEPARTURE............-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........326 DEPARTURE...........-33 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4446 DEPARTURE..........-481 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3964 DIFFERENCE.........+482 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............27 S AT 4:35 P.M. AERO....................25 S AT 4:36 P.M. ASOS....................28 S AT 4:36 P.M. DAVIS...................27 S AT 4:36 P.M. RMY: N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............21 S AT 4:39 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............21 S AT 4:37 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............20 S AT 4:37 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........13.5 S ASOS..................13.2 DAVIS.................12.5 SSW [192 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..........3.45 DEPARTURE...........+1.53 ASOS..............3.69 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........11.84 DEPARTURE...........+1.50 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...........+24.4 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............91.2 DEPARTURE...........+38.6 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/+5/0.00/0.0/047/07 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/+5/0/0/123/18 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/+2/0.00/0.0/677/97 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/.../.. 27 S AERO 25 MPH S RMY N/A 3/12 the morning low temp: 32F; 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 12 HIGH 72 IN 2012 LOW 2 IN 1885 PRECIP 2.87 INS. IN 1888 SNOWFALL 9.7 INS. IN 1959 PEAK GUST 66 MPH SE IN 1962 RECORDS FOR MARCH 13 HIGH 72 IN 1990 LOW -1 IN 1885 PRECIP 2.47 INS. IN 1993 SNOWFALL 10.0 INS. IN 1993 PEAK GUST 76 MPH ENE IN 1993 [THE "STORM OF THE CENTURY"] TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser