BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
 
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
VERY LIGHT SNOW AND SNOW FLURRIES BY LATE MORNING
TEMPERATURE REMAINS WELL ON THE COLD SIDE OF AVERAGE
ONE YEAR AGO AT THIS TIME FAR ABOVE AVERAGE WARMTH
 
A mostly cloudy sky has included considerable virga,
and flurries began reaching the ground by
late this morning continuing into this afternoon
with some sunshine still filtering through the
clouds.  The precipitation has remained very light.
 
Temperatures averaging below normal for just over
a week now will soon change March into a colder
than normal month as the departure through yesterday
was but plus 0.2 degree.  The first 13 days of the
month had averaged almost 4 degrees milder than average.
 
One year ago temperatures were far above normal and
reached highs of 72 to 81 degrees from March 18-23.
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, broken dense cirrostratus,
overcast cirrostratus, virga vicinity NNE-E, higher clouds
visible vicinity W-N and distant NE-SSE 
Temperature: 28F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: NW at 3 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.78 ins. Hg, steady
Visibility:  55 miles light distant haze
6-hour min. temp: 27F
24-hr precip: none
24-hr snowfall: none
Snow depth: 5 inches
BHO SA 1155 65 SCT E200 BKN 220 OVC 55 086/28/19/3203/978/
VIRGA VC NNE-E HIER CLD VSB VC W-N AND DSNT NE-SSE LGT DSNT HZ/
8/507 4/005 58001 10029 20027
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, overcast altostratus,
virga all quadrants, higher cloud occasionally visible,
sun occasionally dimly visible  
Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 16F; Wind: NNW at 3 kts,
Wind: Light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 29.75 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly 
Visibility: 40 miles and lowering in haze and some precipitation,
NE-SE 20 miles, WNW 50 miles 
BHO SA 1455 40 SCT E55 OVC 40 076/32/16/3303/975/ VIRGA ALQDS
HIER CLDS OCNL VSB SUN OCNL DMLY VSB WND LGT VSBY NE-SE 20
WNW 50 VSBY LWRG WND L/V VSBY LWRG DSNT HZ/PCPN/ 8/52/ 58010
 
1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, breaks in overcast overhead and
vicinity of station south thru southwest, light snow occurring,
precipitation very light
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: WNW at 4 kts,
Wind: Light
Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, falling then more rapidly 
Visibility: 8 miles, except 6 miles NNW-E, 10 miles SE-SW 
6-hour max. temp: 34F
6-hour precip: trace
6-hour snowfall: trace
BHO SA 1755 E40 OVC 8S- 053/34/22/2904/969/ BINOVC/THN SPTS
IOVC OVHD-VC S-SW HIER CLD VSB VSBY NNW-E 6 SE-SW 10 PCPN VRY LGT
WND LGT/ 8/5// 58023 MANUAL 6000/ 10034 20028
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....37     NORMAL.....45
MIN.....22     NORMAL.....28                         
MEAN....30     NORMAL.....37  
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+8 [+0.2 DEGREE/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS 
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............35   DEPARTURE............+7
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........617   DEPARTURE............-9
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4737   DEPARTURE..........-457
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4094   DIFFERENCE.........+643
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............37 W   AT  2:41 P.M. *
                   AERO....................33 W   AT  1:34 P.M.
                   ASOS....................38 W   AT 10:13 A.M. 
                   DAVIS...................36 W   AT 10:00 A.M. RMY: 38
THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............29 W   AT  1:47 P.M.   
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............28 W   AT  1:49 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............26 W   AT 11:26 A.M.  
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........15.4 W
                   ASOS..................13.8
                   DAVIS.................13.5 W [270 deg]
* last of several occurrences...
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE...........-0.19
                         ASOS..............0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.55  DEPARTURE...........+2.03
                         ASOS..............5.70
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........13.94  DEPARTURE...........+2.00
                         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..............36.9   DEPARTURE...........+27.5
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............98.1   DEPARTURE...........+41.7
 
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/+3/0.19/0.3/000/00     47 NE  AERO 46 MPH NE  RMY 51
3/7  34/29/32/-1/1.36/11.5/000/00    45 NE  AERO 45 MPH NE  RMY 47
3/8  37/28/33/0/1.89/18.0/000/00     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 34/20/27/-8/0.00/0.0/014/02     37 W   AERO 37 MPH NW  RMY 38
3/15 39/17/28/-7/0.00/0.0/408/57     35 NW  AERO 37 MPH W   RMY 34
3/16 39/25/32/-3/0.00/0.0/352/49     23 NW  AERO 18 MPH WNW RMY 20
3/17 38/23/31/-5/0.00/0.0/665/95     32 WNW AERO 28 MPH WNW RMY 34
3/18 37/16/27/-9/0.14/1.1/557/77     27 NNW AERO 23 MPH NNW RMY N/A
3/19 35/26/31/-5/1.45/5.8/000/00     42 E   AERO 39 MPH E   RMY 43  `
3/20 37/22/30/-7/0.00/0.0/628/86     37 W   AERO 33 MPH W   RMY 38
 
3/21 the morning low temp: 27F; the normal low is now 28F
 
DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2013
3/7 - New record daily snowfall of 11.5 ins;
      surpasses 11.1 ins. in 1967
3/8 - New record daily snowfall of 18.0 ins;
      surpasses 8.3 ins. in 1941
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958
 
RECORDS FOR MARCH 22
HIGH 81 IN 2012
LOW 3 IN 1885
PRE 3.48 INS. IN 2001
SNOW 8.7 INS. 1967
WIND 84e MPH E IN 1977
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling