BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
GUSTY SSE-S WINDS AND TEMPS. IN LOW 50'S YESTERDAY
INTO LAST EVENING MELTED AWAY MUCH OF 8 INCHES OF
SNOW ON THE GROUND 24 HOURS AGO--ONLY A PATCHY SNOW
COVER REMAINS EXCEPT IN THE WOODS AWAY FROM THE
SUMMIT WHERE A CONTINUOUS SNOW COVER REMAINS
 
South-southeast to south winds imported very mild
and moist air yesterday with the high temperature
reaching 52F last evening. About six hours of
rain showers, moderate at times, deposited a half
inch of rainfall ending last evening followed by
south winds gusting to around 45 MPH.
 
High cloudiness but continued mild today with temperatures
starting out well above normal with a low 35F this morning
and rising to the upper 40's to near 50F by early this
afternoon.  
 
The warmth and half inch of rain with strong SSE to S winds
yesterday afternoon and evening together with temperatures in the low 50's
erased most of the 8 inches of snow on the ground yesterday morning.
This morning only traces of snow remain in our observation area. 
Several inches are still seen on the ground in protected wooded areas.
However, this was possibly a near record meltdown of a significant
snow cover. The snow to water equivalent for 8 inches of snow as
measured yesterday morning was 3.16 inches and that combined with
a half inch of rainfall sent 3.66 inches of melt-water into the ground
and stream runoff during the past 24 hours!  
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Thin scattered cirrus, thin broken cirrus, with a layer of
altocumulus duplicatus distant NE-S receding away to the east and
southeast.
Temperature: 36F; Dew Point: 32F; Wind: WNW at 11 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.77 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 30 miles, hazy
6-hr min. temp: 35F
24-hour rainfall: 0.51 inch 
Snow depth: trace (patches of snow cover)
BHO SA 1155 250 –SCT 300 –BKN 30 080/36/32/3011/977/ AC LYR DSNT NE-S 
RCDNG HAZY/ 8/071 53002 ASOS 70051 MANUAL 70051 10042 20035 
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, thin broken cirrus,
stratocumulus forming distant WSW-NW, dense cirrus
extending N-E-S 
Temperature: 43F; Dew Point: 32F; Wind: WNW at 10 kts,
Wind: Direction variable W-NW
Sea-level pressure: 29.74 ins. Hg, falling 
Visibility: 50 miles, except 40 miles NE-SE, distant haze 
BHO SA 1455 220 SCT 250 –BKN 50 072/43/32/3010/974/
FEW SC FRMG DSNT  WSW-NW DNS CI N-E-S VSBY NE-SE 40
DSNT HZ WND 26V32/ 8/502 58008
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered dense cirrus, patch of dense cirrus extending
NNE-S, few stratocumulus distant W-NNE
Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 30F; Wind: W at 14 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling
Visibility: 55 miles, distant haze
6-hour max. temp: 49F
BHO SA 1755 200 SCT 55 062/49/30/2714/971/ FEW SC DSNT W-NNE
PTCH DNS CI NNE-S DSNT HZ/ 8/502 58010 10049 20036
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 12
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....52     NORMAL.....43
MIN.....39     NORMAL.....25                         
MEAN....46     NORMAL.....34  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+12
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+44 [+3.5 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............19   DEPARTURE...........-12
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........345   DEPARTURE...........-45
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4465   DEPARTURE..........-493
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3973   DIFFERENCE.........+492
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............45 S   AT  8:39 P.M.
                   AERO....................46 SSE AT  6:21 P.M.
                   ASOS....................46 S   AT  8:20 P.M.
                   DAVIS...................47 S   AT  8:50 P.M. RMY: 47 MPH
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............32 SSE AT  5:54 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............30 SSE AT  6:22 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............30 SSE AT  5:55 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........20.8 SSE
                   ASOS..................19.5
                   DAVIS.................19.1 S [170 deg]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.51  DEPARTURE...........+0.35
                         ASOS..............0.51
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.96  DEPARTURE...........+1.88
                         ASOS..............4.20
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.35  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............-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............30.0   DEPARTURE...........+24.0
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............91.2   DEPARTURE...........+38.2
 
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  52/39/46/+12/0.51/0.0/.../..    45 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 47
 
3/13  the morning low temp: 35F; the normal low is now 26F
 
* The precip. and snowfalls for calendar days March 6-8 are
  still under review and will remain so for awhile. The records
  under review are as follows: (in inches)
  March 6  0.19 precip //  0.3 snowfall
  March 7  1.36 precip // 11.5 snowfall  
  March 8  1.89 precip // 18.0 snowfall
  
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 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"]
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 14
HIGH 74 IN 1946
LOW 8 IN 1926
PRECIP 4.95 INS. IN 2010
SNOWFALL 6.7 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 67 MPH ENE IN 2010
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling