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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

DENSE FOG TO START, THEN INCREASING 
VISIBILITY AND TEMPERATURES....

Today began very similar to yesterday's 1PM
observation. Conditions consisted of light
drizzle accompanied by thick fog which limited 
visibility to 1/16 mile. Rain overnight 
left 0.11 inches in the gauge by 7 A.M., with
a 24hr total of 0.48 inches. We tacked
on another 0.01 inch by 1 P.M. The precipitation
was greatly needed as our current annual deficit
is at a notable 6.01 inches! Fog lifted late
morning yielding a max visibility of 35 miles.
Temperatures reached 58 by the early afternoon,
increasing so after 1 P.M. 

The high so far today is 58F, this is 13 degrees 
above the normal high of 45F. The low since 
midnight is 37F, this is 9 degrees above the 
normal low of 28F.


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Vertical visibility 200 ft, sky obscured, light drizzle
Temperature: 40F; Dew Point: 40F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: S at 17G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.00 ins. Hg: falling unsteadily
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 37F
24-hr Precip:  0.48 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W2 1/16L-F 158/40/40/1917G21/000/ L-CTD/
8//// 70048 57022 10040 20037

10 A.M.
Weather: Vertical visibility 200 ft, sky obscured, light drizzle
Temperature: 46F; Dew Point: 46F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: SW at 14G21 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.90 ins. Hg: falling, then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 1/16 mile, fog
3-hr Precip:  0.01 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 X W2 1/16L-F 126/46/46/2114G20/990/ L-CTD/
8//// 60001 58032

1 P.M.
Weather: Overcast Altostratus & Altocumulus (some higher clouds visible;
sun dimly visible)
Temperature: 58F; Dew Point: 54F; Relative Humidity: 86%
Wind: S at 17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.79 ins. Hg: falling, then falling more rapidly
Visibility: 35 miles, distant fog
6-hr Max temp: 58F
6-hr Min temp: 40F
6-hr Precip:  0.01 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 E130 OVC 35 088/58/54/1917/979/ THN FG ALQDS 
HIR CLDS VSB SUN DMLY VSBL / 8/09/ 60001 58038 10058 20040


SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....43   NORMAL.....45
MIN.....37   NORMAL.....27
MEAN....40   NORMAL.....36

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL..................+4
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..................+159 [+8.2 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............25  DEPARTURE....... -4
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............439  DEPARTURE......-159
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............4579  DEPARTURE......-587
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......5122  DEPARTURE......-543

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................36 E   AT   1:08 P.M.  
                   AERO.........................35 E   AT   1:00 P.M.   
                   ASOS.........................36 ENE AT  12:43 P.M. 
                   DAVIS........................36 E   AT   1:00 P.M. RMY 34
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................28 E   AT   1:08 P.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................25 E   AT   1:09 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................27 E   AT   1:09 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............12.6 E                
                   ASOS.......................12.0
                   DAVIS......................12.8 E  [83 deg.]


PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.48  DEPARTURE......+0.29
                         ASOS..............0.54
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........1.08  DEPARTURE......-2.25
                         ASOS..............1.23
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........5.74  DEPARTURE......-6.01
                         ASOS..............6.14

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.4
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................1.2  DEPARTURE.......-7.8
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............26.0  DEPARTURE......-30.0


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  33/15/24/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..         28 WNW AERO 28 WNW RMY 27
03/02  52/24/38/+7/T/T/.../..              40 S   AERO 39 S   RMY 41
03/03  64/45/55/+23/..../0.0/.../..        30 S   AERO 30 S   RMY N/A
03/04  50/38/44/+12/..../0.0/.../..        56 W   AERO 56 W   RMY 58
03/05  51/32/42/+10/0.00/0.0/.../..        31 W   AERO 31 NW  RMY 32
03/06  47/30/39/+7/..../.../.../..         46 NE  AERO 45 NE  RMY 46
03/07  43/26/35/+2/..../.../.../..         42 N   AERO 43 N   RMY 44
03/08  53/26/40/+7/0.00/0.0/.../..         31 W   AERO 30 W   RMY 28
03/09  72/40/56/+23/0.00/0.0/.../..        32 SW  AERO 32 SW  RMY 31
03/10  68/49/59/+26/0.00/0.0/.../..        48 WSW AERO 46 WSW RMY 49
03/11  56/37/47/+13/0.00/0.0/.../..        31 WNW AERO M  M   RMY 21
03/12  46/31/39/+5/..../0.0/.../..         21 SE  AERO 18 SE  RMY N/A
03/13  59/38/49/+15/..../0.0/.../..        46 WNW AERO 44 WNW RMY 46
03/14  51/35/43/+8/0.00/0.0/.../..         37 W   AERO 36 W   RMY 35
03/15  47/28/38/+3/0.00/0.0/.../..         28 NW  AERO 28 NW  RMY N/A
03/16  36/22/29/-6/0.00/0.0/.../..         21 NE  AERO 21 ESE RMY 21
03/17  43/28/36/0/..../0.4/.../..          29 W   AERO 30 W   RMY 29
03/18  54/31/43/+7/..../0.0/.../..         26 S   AERO 26 S   RMY 26
03/19  43/37/40/+4/..../0.0/.../..         36 E   AERO 35 E   RMY 34

03/20 The low since midnight is 37F, daily normal minimum is 28F 


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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 20
HIGH 79 IN 1945
LOW 4 IN 1885
PRECIP 1.39 INS. IN 1957
SNOWFALL 11.4 INS. IN 1957
PEAK GUST 63 MPH SE IN 1975

RECORDS FOR MARCH 21
HIGH 81 IN 1921
LOW 2 IN 1885
PRECIP 2.67 INS. IN 1974
SNOWFALL 10.6 INS. IN 1958
PEAK GUST 72 MPH NE IN 1958


TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Andrew Swanson