BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 0.3 INCH OF SNOWFALL OVERNIGHT; COOL STREAK CONTINUES Very light snow began late yesterday morning, becoming a little heavier in the evening before ending very early this morning. The snow accumulated to 0.3 inch on the summit, with a liquid equivalent of 0.03 inch. March 2013 remains in 5th place for snowiest Marches on record at Blue Hill (list below). Today marks the 9th consecutive day of below normal temperatures. Such a cold streak has not occurred since April 27 - May 8, 2012. The recent cool weather has pushed the average temperature for the month of March below normal. What a difference a year makes; a record high maximum temperature of 81F was set on this date in 2012. BLUE HILL SNOWIEST MARCHES, INCHES (1885-2013) 1) 52.0 in 1956 2) 42.2 in 1916 3) 41.4 in 2001 4) 41.0 in 1967 5) 37.2 in 2013 (through 3/21/2013) 6) 35.5 in 1993 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus (2 levels), scattered thin cirrus, few cumulus fractus distant SSW-W, stratocumulus layer NNE-SSE, lower altocumulus NNW-E-SSE, higher altocumulus NNE-SSE, thin smoke layer along horizon SSE-W-NNE, distant haze Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 18F; Wind: WNW at 8 kts, Sea-level pressure: 29.66 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 50 miles, NE-SE 20 miles, NW 65 miles, distant haze 24-hr snowfall: 0.3 inch 24-hr precip: 0.03 inch Snow depth: 5 inches 6-hour min. temp: 25F BHO SA 1155 40 SCT 80 SCT 100 SCT 250 –SCT 50 043/26/18/2908/966/ FEW CUFRA DSNT SSW-W SC LYR NNE-SSE LWR AC NNW-E-SSE HIER AC NNE-SSE THN K LYR ALG HRZN SSE-W-NNE DSNT HZ VSBY NE-SE 20 NW 65 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.3 IN/ 8/571 4/005 MANUAL 70003 ASOS 70003 10027 20025 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, scattered dense cirrus, broken thin cirrus, cumulus mostly N-SSE, few moderate cumulus N-SSE and distant W, few stratocumulus lenticularis NE-E, altocumulus distant ENE-ESE, few patches of dense cirrus, light distant haze Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 19F; Wind: W at 10 kts, Wind: Direction variable SW-WNW Sea-level pressure: 29.68 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 70 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 40 SCT 50 SCT 100 SCT 220 SCT 250 –BKN 70 050/33/19/2810/968/ CU MSTLY N-SSE FEW MDT CU N-SSE AND DSNT W FEW SCSL NE-E AC DSNT ENE-ESE FEW PTCHS DNS CI LGT DSNT HZ WND 23V30/ 8/252 51007 1 P.M. Weather: Broken cumulus, broken altocumulus (2 levels), moderate cumulus all quadrants, few altocumulus lenticularis distant ENE, higher altocumulus distant ENE-ESE, light distant haze, virga in the vicinity of the station, virga/snow shower N-NE and distant W-NNW moving ESE Temperature: 37F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: WNW at 11 kts, Wind: Direction variable SW-NW Sea-level pressure: 29.66 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 65 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 38F BHO SA 1755 E55 BKN 65 BKN 100 BKN 65 043/37/17/2911/966/ MDT CU ALQDS FEW ACSL DSNT ENE HIER AC DSNT ENE-ESE LGT DSNT HZ VIRGA VCTY STN VIRGA/SHSN N-NE AND DSNT W-NNW MOVG ESE WND 23V32/ 8/240 58007 10038 20026 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 21 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....36 NORMAL.....46 MIN.....27 NORMAL.....28 MEAN....32 NORMAL.....37 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-5 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................+3 [-0.1 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............33 DEPARTURE............+5 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........650 DEPARTURE............-4 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4770 DEPARTURE..........-452 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4094 DIFFERENCE.........+676 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............15 NNW AT 1:30 P.M. * AERO.....................8 NW AT 1:57 P.M. * ASOS....................15 N AT 1:58 P.M. DAVIS...................13 N AT 1-2 P.M. RMY: N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............11 W AT 12:42 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............12 W AT 12:41 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............11 W AT 12-1 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........5.3 NW ASOS...................5.3 DAVIS..................5.1 NW [316 deg] * last of several occurrences... PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03 DEPARTURE...........-0.17 ASOS..............0.03 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.58 DEPARTURE...........+1.86 ASOS..............5.74 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........13.97 DEPARTURE...........+1.83 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.........0.3 DEPARTURE.............0.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............37.2 DEPARTURE...........+27.5 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............98.4 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/.../.. 37 W AERO 33 MPH W RMY 38 3/21 36/27/32/-5/0.03/0.3/.../.. 15 NNW AERO 8 MPH NW RMY N/A 3/22 the morning low temp: 25F; the normal low is now 28F DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2013 3/7 - NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 11.5 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 11.1 inches in 1967 3/8 - NEW DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 18.0 INCHES; surpasses the previous record of 8.3 inches in 1941 DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated): 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 RECORDS FOR MARCH 23 HIGH 78 IN 1938 LOW 3 IN 1934 PRE 2.52 INS. IN 2010 SNOW 3.0 INS. IN 1977 WIND 78e MPH W IN 1940 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser