BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY 
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015   
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

RAIN CHANGES TO SNOW SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS THE MERCURY FALLS,
0.6 INCHES NOT ENOUGH TO BREAK ALL TIME SNOWIEST SEASON

Snow began to mix in with rain showers just past the
1:00 PM EST observation, eventually changing to all snow
sometime after 3:00 PM EST. Temperatures during the frontal
passage dropped from 37F to 33F after the 3:00 PM EST
hour, with a total of 0.6 inches falling during a persistent
squall that set up mostly to our north and east. Areas
north and east, including the city of Boston received substantial
snow, meanwhile Blue Hill fell short of the all time snowiest
season record.   

Seasonal snowfall now sits at 144.0 inches, just 0.4 inches below 
the snowiest season on record set in 1995-1996. For more information 
about this historic winter, visit our web site at bluehill.org.

Clear conditions were observed this morning with gradually warming
temperatures. Following this morning's low reading of 23F, temperatures
warmed to 41F by the 1:00 PM EST observation with cirrostratus beginning
to invade from the west. 

The average snow depth remains at 21 inches as of this morning. This 
is the 42nd consecutive day with 20 inches or more of snow on the 
ground which is firmly in second place all time.  The record is 
53 days set back in 1948. A snow to water equivalence measurement 
was taken today with 21 inches of snow on the ground currently 
containing 8.4 inches of liquid.
   

BHO Greatest Seasonal Snowfall, inches (1885-2015):

1) 144.4 in 1995-1996
2) 144.0 in 2014-2015 (through 1 PM March 16th)
3) 136.0 in 1947-1948
4) 119.4 in 2004-2005
5) 113.1 in 2002-2003
6) 111.5 in 1915-1916
7) 109.6 in 1966-1967
8) 106.8 in 1955-1956
9) 103.4 in 1903-1904
10) 102.5 in 1922-1923

BHO Longest Duration of 20"+ Snow Depth, (1885-2015):

1) 53 days, 27 Dec, 1947 - 17 Feb, 1948
2) 42 days, 3 Feb - 16 Mar, 2015 (through 1 PM March 16th)
3) 34 days, 5 Feb - 9 Mar, 1920
   34 days, 7 Feb - 12 Mar, 1978
5) 23 days, 25 Feb - 19 Mar, 1969
6) 21 days, 27 Jan - 16 Feb, 2011
7) 11 days, 15-25 Mar, 1916
   11 days, 5-15 Jan, 1961


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few cirrus in all directions
Temperature: 26F; Dew Point: 10F; Wind: NW at 14 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.95 ins. Hg, Rising Steadily
Visibility: 80 miles
6-hr Max temp: 26F
6-hr Min temp: 23F
24-hr precip: 0.03 ins
24-hr snowfall: 0.6 ins
Snow depth: 21 inches 
BHO SA 1155 CLR 80 141/26/10/3114/995/ FEW CI ALQDS 
NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.6 INS/ 8/001 4/021 52016 MANUAL 70003 
10026 20023

10 A.M. 
Weather: Scattered cirrus, few altocumulus lenticularis
distant W-WNW
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 14F; Wind: WNW at 7 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.93 ins. Hg, rising, then falling and lower
Visibility: 70 miles
BHO SA 1455 250 SCT 70 136/33/14/3007/993/ FEW ACSL DSNT W-WNW/ 
8/041 58005

1 P.M.
Weather: Broken altocumulus, broken cirrostratus
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 17F; Wind: estimated WNW at 6 kts
Wind Speed: Light
Sea-Level Pressure: 29.87 ins. Hg, falling, then more quickly
Visibility: 70 miles
6-hr Max temp: 41F
6-hr Min temp: 26F
BHO SA 1755 E160 BKN 250 BKN 70 115/40/17/E2906/987/ 
WND LGT/ 8/056 58021 10041 20026 

 
SUMMARY FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2015

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....41   NORMAL.....44
MIN.....24   NORMAL.....26
MEAN....33   NORMAL.....35

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL............................-2
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH...........................-28 [-2.1 DEGREES/DAY] 
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............32  DEPARTURE...........+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............509  DEPARTURE..........+28     
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5217  DEPARTURE.........+168
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......5119  DIFFERENCE.........+98

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY..................39 NW  AT  4:12 P.M.
                   ASOS.......................N/A 
                   DAVIS......................35 WNW AT  3:10 P.M. RMY 39
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY....................31 WNW AT  3:10 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE.................N/A    
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE................26 NW  AT 10:18 P.M.       
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION............15.8 WNW  
                   ASOS.....................N/A   
                   DAVIS.....................13.2 NW [311 degrees] 
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03   DEPARTURE.....-0.15
                         ASOS..............N/A
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.62   DEPARTURE.....-0.80  
                         ASOS..............N/A 
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.96   DEPARTURE.....+2.25
                         ASOS..............N/A *** 
*** ASOS annual totals not available due to erroneous readings

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.6  DEPARTURE......+0.2
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................6.5  DEPARTURE......-0.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON.............144.0  DEPARTURE.....+89.7 

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOWFALL/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/RMY GUST
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system 
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized

3/1  29/14/22/-9/..../.../000/00              25 SSW RMY 25
3/2  35/22/29/-2/..../.../480/71              44 WNW RMY 48
3/3  32/13/23/-9/..../2.8/340/50              33 S   RMY N/A
3/4  41/32/37/+5/..../.../000/00              33 SW  RMY 36  
3/5  36/16/26/-6/0.02/0.2/000/00              28 NW  RMY 29
3/6  26/5/16/-16/0.00/0.0/681/99              28 NW  RMY 25
3/7  38/13/26/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..              30 WSW RMY 30 
3/8  41/25/33/0/T/T/.../..                    38 WNW RMY 41
3/9  45/28/37/+4/0.00/0.0/.../..              40 W   RMY 39
3/10 52/32/42/+9/..../0.0/.../..              28 S   RMY 27
3/11 55/38/47/+13/..../0.0/.../..             37 WNW RMY N/A
3/12 38/23/31/-3/0.00/0.0/.../..              44 N   RMY 48
3/13 40/18/29/-5/0.00/0.0/.../..              23 SSW RMY 26
3/14 41/29/35/0/0.84/0.0/000/00               23 SSW RMY 23
3/15 41/24/33/-2/0.03/0.6/.../..              39 NW  RMY 39

3/16 morning low temp: 23F since midnight, normal low is now 26F

DAILY RECORDS FOR MARCH 2015

-NONE SO FAR.

DAILY EXTREMES 
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):  

RECORDS FOR MARCH 16
HIGH 73 IN 1990
LOW 8 IN 1932
PRE 1.95 INS. IN 1900
SNOW 10.0 INS. IN 1896
WIND 79 MPH NE IN 1956

RECORDS FOR MARCH 17
HIGH 69 IN 2003
LOW 6 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.97 INS. IN 1968
SNOWFALL 6.5 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 70 MPH SSW IN 1973

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Brian Fitzgerald