BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
COLDER AND MUCH DRIER AIR MASS CONTINUES TO ARRIVE
CLOUDS AND VIRGA ARE FILLING THE SKY ALONG
WITH GUSTY W-WNW WINDS
 
Colder air continues to arrive today and after a morning low
temp. of 29F, the high was only 34F by early this afternoon
with a mostly cloudy sky filled with lots of virga.  Showers
of snow can be seen distant from the station all around but
nothing has been reaching the ground here.  The air mass is
getting drier and drier with dew points falling close to 10F
this afternoon.
 
The day is cold and blustery with W-WNW wind gusting to near
30 MPH making near freezing temperatures feel quite a lot
colder.
 
There was no sunshine this morning and the month's sunshine
is running far below normal at around 30% to date.  The
normal for March is 48%.   
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M. 
Weather: Overcast altocumulus, duplicatus, opaqus, few stratocumulus 
north to northeast, small breaks in the overcast, virga all quadrants 
Temperature: 30F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: WNW at 12 kts
Wind: Gust to 24 kts past hour 
Sea-level pressure: 29.77 ins. Hg, rising slightly
Visibility: 70 miles, mountain distant NW partly obscured by virga
Min. temp: 29F
24-hour precip: none
Snow depth: trace (patchy cover)
BHO SA 1155 E80 OVC 70 081/30/14/2912/977/ FEW SC N-NE SML BINOVC
VIRGA ALQDS DSNT MTNS NW PTLY OBSCD VIRGA GST 24 KTS PST HR/
8/57/ 51009 10032 20029
 
10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus, bright spots in the
overcast, small break in overcast W-WNW, sun occasionally visible
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 15F; Wind: WNW at 12 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.76 ins. Hg, falling slightly  
Visibility: 70 miles, mountain 70 miles NW occasionally in cloud 
BHO SA 1455 45 SCT E65 OVC 70 077/32/15/2912/976/ BRGHT SPTS IOVC SUN OCNL DMLY VSB
VIRGA ALQDS MTN 70 NW OCNL INCLD/ 8/57/ 58004 
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, overcast altocumulus translucidus,
breaks in overcast, virga all quadrants 
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 12F; Wind: W at 17G24 kts,
Wind: Direction variable WSW to NW
Sea-level pressure: 29.71 ins. Hg, falling then more slowly
Visibility: 60 miles, showers of snow and virga obscuring the
mountains 60 miles NW
6-hour max. temp: 34F
BHO SA 1755 E55 BKN 75 OVC 60 060/32/12/2817G24/971/ BINOVC
VIRGA ALQDS SHSN/VIRGA OBSCRG MTNS 60 NW WND 25V31/ 8/53/ 56017
10034 20039
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....50     NORMAL.....43
MIN.....34     NORMAL.....26                         
MEAN....42     NORMAL.....34  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+8
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+52 [+3.8 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............23   DEPARTURE............-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........368   DEPARTURE...........-53
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4488   DEPARTURE..........-500
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....3981   DIFFERENCE.........+507
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............32 WNW AT  6:07 P.M.  
                   AERO....................32 WNW AT  6:08 P.M. 
                   ASOS....................31 WNW AT  6:08 P.M. 
                   DAVIS...................32 W   AT  6:08 P.M. RMY: 34
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............23 WNW AT  6:09 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............23 WNW AT  6:09 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............22 W   AT  6:09 P.M.M
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........13.8 WNW          
                   ASOS..................12.5
                   DAVIS.................12.0 WNW [290 deg]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE...........-0.16
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.96  DEPARTURE...........+1.72
                         ASOS..............4.20
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.35  DEPARTURE...........+1.69
                         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...........+23.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............91.2   DEPARTURE...........+37.7
 
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/+7/0.00/0.0/099/14     27 S   AERO 25 MPH S   RMY N/A
3/12  52/39/46/+12/0.51/0.0/000/00    45 S   AERO 46 MPH S   RMY 47
3/13  50/33/42/+8/T/0.0/674/95        32 WNW AERO 32 MPH WNW RMY 34
 
3/14  the morning low temp: 29F; 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 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
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 15
HIGH 80 IN 1990
LOW 6 IN 1993
PRE 2.86 INS. IN 2010 
SNOW 12.0 INS. 1967
WIND 73e MPH ESE IN 1940
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling