Hello Friends!

Here's my summary for March 1996....The weather in Easton is completely 
described below.  Note that the peak wind gust report is based on readings
 recorded at 190 feet above sea level at Oliver Ames High School in N. Easton
 about 4 mi north of the station. The town of Easton is situated in what is
 considered the Metro South portion of Boston....The town's geographic center
 is 24.5 mi SSW from Boston.  

The month of March 1996 was the first month to average cooler than normal 
since December 1995.  The mean temperature of 34.5 was approximately 3 
degrees cooler than normal.  Forest rangers have a good reason to be 
concerned about local brush fires as through the date of this article, 
Easton has had 11 consecutive days with no measurable precipitation 
whatsoever. March had a low frequency of precipitation with just 9 days 
being recorded as measurable. Note our departure from normal precipitation
this month in the statistics below. Overall the month's weather was benign 
with all of the snow events occurring in the first half of the month. The 
snow covered landscape in town was completely diminished by the 19th after 
reaching a maximum of 12" on the 8th. Note the highest barometer reading 
for the month of 30.86."  This was actually the highest barometer reading 
since December 27, 1992. .  

NB:  Seasonal snowfall total of 108.5" is a new station record and a new 
Easton/Brockton areal all time record based on 90 years of known 
precipitation records.

EASTON, MASSACHUSETTS
NORTHEAST BRISTOL COUNTY
CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT

MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR MARCH 1996

TEMPERATURE	(°F)
Average High		44.2
Average Low		24.7
Mean for March		34.5
Highest			67	26th
Lowest			4	10th
Highest Min		41	26th
Lowest Max		30	4th

PRECIPITATION
Total for the Month:		3.41"
Max in 24 hour Obs Day:	0.87" 	6th	
DN for the Month to Date:	-1.52"	(based on 12 yr record)
Total for the Year to Date:	13.97"
DN for the Year to Date:	+2.19"
Snowfall for the Month:		17.8"
Departure from Normal:		+11.2"
Max in 24 hour Obs Day:		6.2"	2nd
Snowfall for the Season:	108.5"

WEATHER
Days with FOG	2
Days with SLEET	2

SNOW ON THE GROUND
Maximum Snow Depth was 12" at 5PM on the 8th

WIND
Peak Gust was 38 MPH out of the WNW on the 3rd at 4:34 PM EST

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
Lowest was 29.42" on the 21st @ 1:58 PM EST 
Highest was 30.86" on the 10th @ 10:09 AM EST

DEW POINT/RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Average 5PM Dew Point	21.4
Average 5PM RH		53%   *

*NB:  Very low RH readings noted in the last 10 days of the month.  
The lowest being on the very last day on the 31th when the RH dropped to an 
amazing 14% @ 1512 EST.  This is quite unusual not just for March but for 
that matter any other month of the year.  More than times than often, a low 
RH reading such as this is not even recorded in the driest portions of mid 
Fall! 

***************
Josh Nichols
Easton, MA weather observer
75613.1534@compuserve.com
Weather Hotline508-230-2590
Lyndon State Freshman Class '96-97
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