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

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

SUNSHINE RETURNS AFTER A 3 DAY CLOUDY/DAMP PERIOD....

A pleasant sight to see, the sun returns after a 3 day period of
persistent cloud cover and occasional periods of wet weather.

We recorded another 0.26" of rainfall last night as the final
disturbance in a series moved through. This brings the monthly
total to 4.67", which is 0.73" below normal for the month to
date.

Visibility has been gradually improving through the day, starting
at 30 miles early this morning, increasing to 60 miles early this
afternoon. 

Our high temperature so far today is 40F, which is 9 degrees 
lower than our daily normal high temperature of 49F. The low
since midnight is 32F, which is normal for the date.

A note of interest, today and tomorrow mark the 23 year
anniversary of the April Fools blizzard in 1997. 15.0" of snow
was recorded on each day bringing a storm total of 30". The
amazing part is that most of the that fell in a 12 hour period!
We had very impressive periods of heavy snow accompanied by many
bouts of thundersnow. At times snowfall rates were as high as
4 inches per hour. Remarkable for so late in the season!


Today's Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, broken altocumulus
Temperature: 33F; Dew Point: 30F; Relative Humidity: 88%
Wind: NNE at 9G18 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg: rising, then more rapidly
Visibility: 30 miles
6-hr Max temp: 34F
6-hr Min temp: 32F
24-hr Precip:  0.26 ins.
24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1155 E20 BKN 90 BKN 30 184/33/30/0309G18/007/ 8/530 53012
6/// 70026 10034 20032

10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus
Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 28F; Relative Humidity: 78%
Wind: N at 10G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.07 ins. Hg: rising then falling
Visibility: 40 miles, hazy
3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1455 E20 BKN 40 182/34/28/0110G17/007/ HAZY/ 8/500 58002 

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered stratocumulus, scattered cirrus
Temperature: 39F; Dew Point: 28F; Relative Humidity: 64%
Wind: ENE at 9 kts 
Sea-level pressure: 30.04 ins. Hg: falling then rising
Visibility: 60 miles, hazy
6-hr Max temp: 40F
6-hr Min temp: 33F
6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins.
6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins.
BHO SA 1755 30 SCT 250 SCT 60 174/39/28/0709/004/ HAZY/ 8/501
55008 10040 20033


SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2020 

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....40   NORMAL.....49
MIN.....34   NORMAL.....31
MEAN....37   NORMAL.....40

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL....................-3
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH..................+188 [+6.1 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............28  DEPARTURE........+3
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH..............703  DEPARTURE......-188
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............4843  DEPARTURE......-616
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......5389  DEPARTURE......-546

PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) 
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................33 NE  AT  1:47 A.M.  
                   AERO.........................33 NE  AT  8:06 P.M  
                   ASOS.........................33 NE  AT  1:05 A.M. 
                   DAVIS........................32 ENE AT 12:41 A.M. RMY 33
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................23 NE  AT 12:49 A.M. 
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................22 NE  AT 12:08 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................22 NE  AT 12:08 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............13.6 NE               
                   ASOS.......................13.3
                   DAVIS......................13.6 NE [049 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.26  DEPARTURE......+0.08
                         ASOS..............0.26
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........4.67  DEPARTURE......-0.73
                         ASOS..............4.82
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........9.33  DEPARTURE......-4.49
                         ASOS..............9.73

SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.3
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................2.8  DEPARTURE.......-9.6
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............27.6  DEPARTURE......-31.8


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  66/37/52/+15/..../0.0/.../..        48 W   AERO 48 W   RMY 46
03/21  55/29/42/+5/0.00/0.0/.../..         45 W   AERO 48 W   RMY N/A
03/22  36/23/30/-7/0.00/0.0/.../..         23 NE  AERO 24 NE  RMY 23
03/23  40/25/33/-5/..../1.6/.../..         38 NNE AERO 39 NNE RMY 38
03/24  48/33/41/+3/..../.../.../..         37 NNW AERO 37 NNW RMY N/A
03/25  41/35/38/0/0.03/0.0/.../..          28 ENE AERO 28 ENE RMY 27
03/26  51/30/41/+2/..../0.0/.../..         25 SSE AERO 26 SSW RMY N/A
03/27  61/41/51/+12/..../0.0/.../..        32 NW  AERO M  M   RMY 33
03/28  56/36/46/+7/..../0.0/.../..         22 S   AERO 21 E   RMY N/A
03/29  43/37/40/0/..../0.0/.../..          32 NE  AERO 33 NE  RMY 33
03/30  40/34/37/-3/..../0.0/.../..         33 NE  AERO 33 NE  RMY 33

03/31 The low since midnight is 32F, daily normal minimum is 32F 

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

RECORDS FOR MARCH 31
HIGH 89 IN 1998  [RECORD HIGH FOR MONTH]
LOW 16 IN 1923
PRECIP 2.89 IN 1987
SNOWFALL 15.0 IN 1997
PEAK GUST 81 MPH SSE IN 1987

RECORDS FOR APRIL 1
HIGH 74 IN 1967
LOW 6 IN 1923 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PRECIP 3.47 IN. IN 2004 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
SNOWFALL 15.0 IN. IN 1997 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 75 MPH SSW IN 1962

TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Matt Douglas