BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME WARM, DRY, AND CALM; WELL-DEVELOPED CUMULUS FILLING THE SKY THIS AFTERNOON WITH A FEW AREAS OF VIRGA With a low of 35F and an afternoon high of 55F so far, temperatures today are running several degrees above normal. Such a 'warm' day has not occurred in more than 2 weeks! Just to put things in perspective, while 55 degrees feels pleasant and quite warm compared to the recent trend, the record high temperature for the date is another 30 degrees higher (85F in 1945)! Today's warm surface conditions coupled with a cool air mass aloft are helping to fuel the development of plenty of well-developed cumulus this afternoon. Some of the better developed clouds are dropping a little bit of virga/rain. The air is quite dry near the surface, with dew points in the upper 20s this afternoon. Consequently, most precipitation falling from the clouds is evaporating before reaching the ground. The relative warmth of the past few days and the continued warmth expected through the weekend looks to push March out of a negative temperature departure, and into positive territory. The month is likely to finish very close to the 30-year normal, and a bit on the warm side. 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 3/29/2013) 6) 35.5 in 1993 Today's observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus (2 levels), scattered thin cirrus, few altocumulus castellanus distant NNE-ENE, moderate altocumulus castellanus tops distant NNE, lower altocumulus distant NNW-ENE, higher altocumulus distant W-N-ESE, virga distant NNW-N, thin smoke layer distant all quadrants, light distant haze Temperature: 38F; Dew Point: 32F; Wind: WNW at 10 kts. Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg, rising then steady Visibility: 80 miles, light distant haze Snow depth: Trace 24-hour precip: Trace 6-hour min. temp: 35F BHO SA 1155 80 SCT 100 SCT 250 –SCT 80 174/38/32/3010/004/ FEW ACC DSNT NNE-ENE MDT ACC TOPS DSNT NNE LWR AC DSNT NNW-ENE HIER AC DSNT W-N-ESE VIRGA DSNT NNW-N THN K LYR DSNT ALQDS LGT DSNT HZ/ 8/081 51007 MANUAL 7000/ 10038 20035 10 A.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered altocumulus, broken altocumulus, cumulus forming ESE-W and distant W-NNE, few moderate cumulus distant NNW-N, lower altocumulus NW-ENE, virga distant N-NNE, thin smoke/haze layer distant WSW-N, light distant haze Temperature: 49F; Dew Point: 33F; Wind: NW at 13 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-NNW Sea-level pressure: 30.05 ins. Hg, rising slightly Visibility: 80 miles, light distant haze BHO SA 1455 55 SCT 80 SCT E100 BKN 80 177/49/33/3113/005/ CU FRMG ESE-W AND DSNT W-NNE FEW MDT CU DSNT NNW-N LWR AC NW-ENE VIRGA DSNT N-NNE THN K/HZ LYR DSNT WSW-N LGT DSNT HZ WND 28V34/ 8/240 51003 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered cumulus, scattered stratocumulus cumulogenitus, broken altocumulus, small cumulonimubs NW-N moving ESE, towering cumulus WSW and NE moving ESE, cumulus/moderate cumulus all quadrants except ENE-E, altocumulus lenticularis distant NNE, light distant haze, rain shower/ virga NW-N and distant NNE and distant SSE-SSW moving ESE Temperature: 54F; Dew Point: 29F; Wind: NNW at 8 kts, Wind: Direction variable W-N Sea-level pressure: 30.01 ins. Hg, falling Visibility: 75 miles, light distant haze 6-hour max. temp: 55F BHO SA 1755 50 SCT 100 SCT E120 BKN 75 164/54/29/3308/001/ SML CBS NW-N MOVG ESE TCU WSW AND NE MOVG ESE CU/MDT CU ALQDS XCPT ENE-E ACSL DSNT NNE LGT DSNT HZ SHRA/VIRGA NW-N AND DSNT NNE AND DSNT SSE-SSW MOVG ESE WND 28V01/ 8/340 58013 10055 20038 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 28 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....46 NORMAL.....48 MIN.....35 NORMAL.....31 MEAN....41 NORMAL.....39 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.......................+2 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.......................-3 [-0.3 DEGREE/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY............24 DEPARTURE............-2 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........842 DEPARTURE............+1 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........4962 DEPARTURE..........-447 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....4211 DIFFERENCE.........+751 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY...............23 NNW AT 12:46 A.M. * AERO....................18 NNW AT 12:46 A.M. * ASOS....................23 NNW AT 12:46 A.M. DAVIS...................21 NW AT 12-1 A.M. RMY: N/A THE FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY.............16 NNW AT 12:48 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE..............15 NNE AT 9:29 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE.............15 NNE AT 9-10 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..........8.0 NW ASOS...................7.7 DAVIS..................7.1 NNW [339 deg] *last of several occurrences PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M...Trace DEPARTURE...........-0.18 ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........5.64 DEPARTURE...........+0.59 ASOS..............5.80 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........14.03 DEPARTURE...........+0.56 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............-0.3 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH..............37.8 DEPARTURE...........+26.0 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............99.0 DEPARTURE...........+40.2 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/+3/0.19/0.3/000/00 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/060/08 33 NNE AERO 31 MPH NE RMY 38 3/26 48/31/40/+1/0.05/0.6/486/65 25 NW AER0 23 MPH N RMY 25 3/27 52/30/41/+2/T/0.0/.../.. 30 NNW AERO 30 MPH NNW RMY 30 3/28 46/35/41/+2/0.01/0.0/.../.. 23 NNW AERO 18 MPH NNW RMY N/A 3/29 the morning low temp: 35F; the normal low is now 31F 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 29 HIGH 85 IN 1945 LOW -2 IN 1923 PRECIP 2.78 INS. IN 1984 SNOWFALL 13.5 INS. IN 1984 PEAK GUST 95 MPH ENE IN 1984 RECORDS FOR MARCH 30 HIGH 83 IN 1977 LOW 10 IN 1887 PRECIP 2.92 INS. IN 2010 SNOWFALL 3.9 INS. IN 1957 PEAK GUST 60 MPH NW IN 1999 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Sean Fankhauser