Earliest 1" Hail in Massachusetts by Over 1 Month

Near and after midnight last night, there were 12 reports of ¾" hail or larger in Worcester, Hampshire, and Middlesex counties in Massachusetts. The largest were 1" measured at Westminster and 1.25" at Littleton. According to the National Climatic Data Center, of the 287 reports of 1" hail or larger in Massacusetts since official records began in 1950, there had never been any previous reports as early as March. The earliest report was on 04/19/1969 in Norfolk County. In fact, of the 825 reports of ¾" hail or larger in the state, none had occurred in March either. The earliest was on 04/06/1982 in Nantucket County. The storm reports, from the National Weather Service:

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1157 PM     HAIL             TEMPLETON               42.56N  72.07W
03/13/2012  M0.88 INCH       WORCESTER          MA   HAM RADIO       

1215 AM     HAIL             WESTMINSTER             42.55N  71.90W
03/14/2012  M1.00 INCH       WORCESTER          MA   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

            HAIL COVERED THE ROAD 

1222 AM     HAIL             GRANBY                  42.26N  72.53W
03/14/2012  M0.75 INCH       HAMPSHIRE          MA   BROADCAST MEDIA 

1228 AM     HAIL             GRANBY                  42.26N  72.52W
03/14/2012  M0.88 INCH       HAMPSHIRE          MA   HAM RADIO       

1235 AM     HAIL             LEOMINSTER              42.52N  71.76W
03/14/2012  M0.88 INCH       WORCESTER          MA   GENERAL PUBLIC  

1242 AM     HAIL             GROTON                  42.61N  71.57W
03/14/2012  M0.75 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   BROADCAST MEDIA 

1243 AM     HAIL             LUNENBURG               42.59N  71.73W
03/14/2012  M0.88 INCH       WORCESTER          MA   HAM RADIO       

1248 AM     HAIL             SHIRLEY                 42.54N  71.65W
03/14/2012  M1.00 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   HAM RADIO       

1255 AM     HAIL             LITTLETON               42.54N  71.47W
03/14/2012  M0.75 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   AMATEUR RADIO   

1257 AM     HAIL             LITTLETON               42.54N  71.51W
03/14/2012  M1.25 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   HAM RADIO       

0120 AM     HAIL             WILMINGTON              42.55N  71.17W
03/14/2012  M0.88 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   HAM RADIO       

0131 AM     HAIL             NORTH READING           42.58N  71.08W
03/14/2012  M0.75 INCH       MIDDLESEX          MA   HAM RADIO