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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2019
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

LARGE COASTAL STORM DEPARTS AFTER MORNING SNOWFALL...
STRONG WINDS AND PARTIAL CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON...

A powerful coastal storm that brought rain early Friday and
ice pellets during the day yesterday ended this morning with 
snow during the early morning hours. When the snow ended at
about 6:25 AM EST this morning, a total of 2.1 inches of new
snow was measured. The total liquid equivalent precipitation
for the storm was 1.00 inches from Thursday night into this
morning. Gusty winds continued today after a peak gust of 
40 mph on Friday, which occurred several times yesterday, and
the peak gust so far today has been 44 mph WNW at 9:07 AM EST. 
A minimum sea-level pressure of 29.07 inches was observed at 
2:45 PM EST on Friday as the intensifying storm crossed 
southern New England.  This is the lowest pressure recorded 
so far this year. The low storm clouds exited quickly this 
morning, and after a few hours of nearly clear sky, scattered 
to broken high clouds have returned. The visibility also climbed 
quickly this morning reaching 80 miles by 10 AM EST with new 
snow visible on Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire nearly 70 
miles away.  


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratus, overcast stratocumulus, few lower
stratocumulus, few breaks in overcast distant SW-W, snow
virga distant SE-SSE, snow ended 6:25 A.M. EST, new snow
past 24 hours 2.1 inches
Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: W at 21G28 kts,
Peak wind: 40 MPH (35 kts) W at 6:05 A.M. EST
Sea-level pressure: 29.43 ins. Hg, rising then more slowly  
Visibility: 50 miles, visibility W-NW 70, SE-S 35
6-hr Max temp: 32F
6-hr Min temp: 28F
24-hr Precip:  0.37 ins.
24-hr snowfall: 2.1 ins.
Snow depth: 2 ins. 
BHO SA 1155 E40 BKN 65 OVC 50 966/29/27/2821G28/943/ FEW LWR SC 
FEW BINOVC DSNT SW-W SNW VIRGA DSNT SE-SSE VSBY W-NW 70 SE-S 35 
S-E25 PK WND 2835/05 NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 2.1 INS/ 8/5// 4/002 
53047 60/// 70037 10032 20028 

10 A.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, thin scattered cirrus, few
cumulus SSE-N, 
Temperature: 35F; Dew Point: 26F; Wind: WNW at 20G34 kts,
Peak wind: 44 MPH (38 kts) WNW at 9:07 A.M. EST    
Sea-level pressure: 29.55 ins. Hg, rising then more quickly  
Visibility: 80 miles
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins. 
BHO SA 1455 160 SCT 250 –SCT 80 007/35/26/2920G34/955/ FEW CU SSE-N 
PK WND 3038/07/ 8/171 51041

1 P.M.
Weather: Thin broken cirrus, few cumulus distant W-N, few
cumulus fractus vicinity station 
Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 27F; Wind: W at 21G30 kts
Peak wind: 35 MPH (30 kts) W at 12:30 P.M. EST    
Sea-level pressure: 29.10 ins. Hg, falling quickly  
Visibility: 3 miles, fog
6-hr Max temp: 38F
6-hr Min temp: 35F
6-hr Precip:  0.22 ins.
6-hr snowfall: 0.0 ins. 
BHO SA 1755 250 –BKN 80 034/42/27/2821G30/963/ FEW CU DSNT W-N 
FEW CUFRA VCNTY STN PK WND 2936/30/ 8/100 51027 10042 20029


SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2019 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....39   NORMAL.....46
MIN.....34   NORMAL.....28
MEAN....37   NORMAL.....37

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..........................0
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH........................-32 [-1.7 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY..............28   DEPARTURE..........0
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH.............714   DEPARTURE........+32
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON...........5200   DEPARTURE........-50
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE......4838   DIFFERENCE......+362

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................40 W   AT  7:53 P.M. *
                   AERO.........................M
                   ASOS.........................47 NNE AT  7:36 A.M. 
                   DAVIS........................45 NE  AT  5:57 A.M.  RMY 44
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................31 NE  AT  5:42 A.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................30 SSE AT  5:33 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................33 SE  AT  5:33 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............19.8 W
                   ASOS.......................18.7
                   DAVIS......................19.6 WNW [293 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.37  DEPARTURE.......+0.18
                         ASOS..............0.38
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........3.95  DEPARTURE.......+0.04
                         ASOS..............3.96
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........12.91  DEPARTURE.......+0.58
                         ASOS.............13.03

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........2.1  DEPARTURE........+1.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH...............23.1  DEPARTURE.......+13.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............47.6  DEPARTURE........-9.4


PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system 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
M:    Missing data

03/01 38/17/28/-3/..../.../.../..           16 NNW AERO 13 NNW RMY 22
03/02 31/27/29/-2/..../.../.../..           29 NNE AERO 22 NNE RMY 30
03/03 40/25/33/+1/..../.../.../..           21 ESE AERO 14 ESE RMY N/A
03/04 35/18/27/-5/..../.../.../..           33 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 32
03/05 29/10/20/-12/0.00/0.0/.../..          28 WNW AERO 12 SW  RMY N/A
03/06 24/10/17/-15/0.00/0.0/.../..          40 WNW AERO 25 WNW RMY 41
03/07 26/6/16/-17/0.00/0.0/.../..           35 W   AERO 18 W   RMY 34
03/08 35/11/23/-10/0.00/0.0/.../..          23 WSW AERO M  M   RMY M 
03/09 43/22/33/0/0.00/0.0/.../..            20 WSW AERO M  M   RMY N/A
03/10 40/26/33/0/..../.../.../..            32 ESE AERO 23 S   RMY 32
03/11 48/33/41/+7/..../.../.../..           40 NW  AERO 37 NNW RMY 41
03/12 41/27/34/0/..../.../.../..            32 N   AERO 33 N   RMY 34
03/13 43/24/34/0/..../.../.../..            18 W   AERO 21 W   RMY 23
03/14 48/32/40/0/..../.../.../..            25 S   AERO 28 S   RMY M
03/15 58/40/49/+14/0.12/0.0/.../..          37 SSW AERO 38 SSW RMY 39
03/16 50/31/41/+6/0.00/0.0/.../..           45 W   AERO 46 W   RMY 48
03/17 40/26/33/-3/0.00/0.0/.../..           40 WNW AERO M  M   RMY N/A
03/18 41/22/32/-4/0.00/0.0/.../..           29 W   AERO M  M   RMY 30
03/19 44/25/35/-1/0.00/0.0/.../..           25 W   AERO M  M   RMY N/A
03/20 50/27/39/+2/0.00/0.0/.../..           26 S   AERO M  M   RMY 29
03/21 50/33/42/+5/..../.../.../..           25 SSE AERO M  M   RMY 46
03/22 39/34/37/0/..../.../.../..            40 W   AERO M  M   RMY 44

03/23 Low temp since midnight is 28F; normal low is 29F


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

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 24
HIGH 70 IN 1920
LOW 6 IN 1906
PRECIP 1.51 INS. IN 1956
SNOWFALL 12.3 INS. IN 1956
PEAK GUST 71 MPH W IN 1968

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Mike Iacono