BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME 0.6 INCH OF LIGHT SNOW OVERNIGHT COOL STREAK MAY BE COMING TO AN END Light rain showers transitioned to light snow showers just before midnight (EST) last night, but only provided a trace of snow/precipitation for Monday. Steady, heavier snow showers began just after midnight, and accumulated to 0.6 inch of snow early this morning. The liquid equivalent was 0.05 inch, giving a snow to liquid ratio of 12:1. The snow that fell melted/sublimated only a couple of hours after sunrise this morning. Snow showers were observed to the summit's west for much of the morning, but no additional precipitation has fallen on the summit. Temperatures today are running very close to the 30-year normal. Today looks to finish right on average, consequently putting an end to our recent streak of below normal temperatures. The streak lasted 12 days (3/14-25), and was the longest stretch of below normal temperatures since March 20 - April 1, 2011. 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) 37.8 in 2013 (through 700 A.M. EST on 3/26/2013) 6) 35.5 in 1993 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken cirrus, few lower cumulus fractus distant NNE-SSE and distant SW-NNW, few moderate cumulus/stratocumulus tops along/offshore distant ENE-SSE, cirrus visible distant SE-S, thin smoke layer aloft distant NNW-NNE and distant SSE, distant haze, snow shower distant WSW and distant NW moving SSE, virga N Temperature: 32F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: NNW at 10 kts, Wind: Direction varialbe WNW-NNE Sea-level pressure: 29.65 ins. Hg, falling then rising Visibility: 60 miles, WNW 55 miles, higher NNW-E-S Snow depth: 2 inches 24-hr snowfall: 0.6 inch 24-hr precip: 0.05 inch 6-hr precip: 0.03 inch 6-hour min. temp: 31F BHO SA 1155 E55 BKN 250 BKN 60 040/32/27/3410/965/ FEW LWR CUFRA DSNT NNE-SSE AND DSNT SW-NNW FEW MDT CU/SC TOPS ALG/OFFSHR DSNT ENE-SSE CI VSBL DSNT SE-S THN K LYR ALF DSNT NNW-NNE AND DSNT SSE DSNT HZ VSBY WNW 55 NNW-E-S HIER SHSN DSNT WSW AND DSNT NW MOVG SSE VIRGA N WND 30V02 TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.6 IN/ 8/801 4/002 53007 MANUAL 60003 ASOS 60003 MANUAL 70005 ASOS 70005 10032 20031 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered stratocumulus, scattered altocumulus, few moderate cumulus SSE-S and WNW-NNW, stratocumulus S-W-NNW, altocumulus S-WNW, snow shower distant SSW-WSW moving SSE, light distant haze Temperature: 41F; Dew Point: 23F; Wind: N at 9 kts, Wind: Direction variable NW-NNE Sea-level pressure: 29.68 ins. Hg, rising Visibility: 70 miles, NW 75 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 40 SCT 55 SCT 100 SCT 70 052/41/23/3509/968/ FEW MDT CU SSE-S AND WNW-NNW SC S-W-NNW AC S-WNW SHSN DSNT SSW-WSW MOVG SSE LGT DSNT HZ VSBY NW 75 WND 31V03/ 8/870 51012 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered stratocumulus cumulogenitus, moderate cumulus all quadrants, mostly clear sky distant NE-E, light distant haze Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 25F; Wind: WNW at 12G21 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 29.69 ins. Hg, rising then falling Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 46F BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 60 SCT 75 055/45/25/3012G21/969/ MDT CU ALQDS MSTLY CLR SKY DSNT NE-E LGT DSNT HZ WND 26V34/ 8/400 50003 10046 20032 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 25 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....40 NORMAL.....47 MIN.....31 NORMAL.....30 MEAN....36 NORMAL.....38 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................-2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-8 [-0.5 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............29 DEPARTURE............+2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........769 DEPARTURE............+6 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4889 DEPARTURE..........-442 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4130 DIFFERENCE.........+759 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............33 NNE AT 6:10 P.M. AERO....................31 NE AT 6:34 P.M. * ASOS....................37 NE AT 6:11 P.M. DAVIS...................35 NNE AT 6:10 P.M. RMY: 38 THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............23 NE AT 4:17 P.M. * MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............23 NE AT 8:01 P.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............23 NE AT 4:19 P.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION.........13.3 NE ASOS..................12.9 DAVIS.................11.5 NE [037 deg] *last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.05 DEPARTURE...........-0.14 ASOS..............0.05 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.63 DEPARTURE...........+1.14 ASOS..............5.79 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........14.02 DEPARTURE...........+1.11 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.........0.6 DEPARTURE............+0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............37.8 DEPARTURE...........+26.9 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............99.0 DEPARTURE...........+41.1 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 36/27/32/-5/0.03/0.3/154/21 15 NNW AERO 8 MPH NW RMY N/A 3/22 39/26/33/-4/0.00/0.0/492/67 30 W AERO 29 MPH W RMY 34 3/23 41/28/35/-3/0.00/0.0/649/88 40 W AERO 38 MPH W RMY 42 3/24 45/28/37/-1/0.00/0.0/704/95 29 WNW AERO 28 MPH WNW RMY N/A 3/25 40/31/36/-2/T/T/.../.. 33 NNE AERO 31 MPH NE RMY 38 3/26 the morning low temp: 31F; the normal low is now 30F 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 26 HIGH 76 IN 1922, 1949 LOW 6 IN 1960 PRECIP 1.99 INS. IN 1988 SNOWFALL 5.4 INS. IN 2001 PEAK GUST 63 MPH S IN 1970 RECORDS FOR MARCH 27 HIGH 78 IN 1998 LOW 12 IN 1975 PRECIP 1.05 INS. IN 1913 SNOWFALL 6.6 INS. IN 1959 PEAK GUST 62 MPH NW IN 1965, SE IN 1992 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser