GEOGRAPHY
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts occupies 8,257 square miles, about one-eight of New England’s total land area. About half of the State is forestland. Its north-south width is approximately 50 miles, except 100 miles in the eastern, Atlantic coast, portion. The east-west extension is barely 150 miles, excepting “the Cape”. Including the Cape, the State is nearly 200 miles in length. Although the Massachusetts coastline is only about 192 miles in length, the Atlantic Ocean “tidal shoreline” covers over 1,519 miles, which provides the State with numerous fine harbors.
The land surface is rather mountainous (by East Coast standards) along the western border and generally considered rolling hills elsewhere. However, the Cape and some other sections of the coastal plain consist of flat land with numerous marshes and some small lakes and ponds.
WEATHER & TEMPERATURE
Weather and temperature conditions tend to vary between eastern and western regions of the state. Summers vary from comfortable 70s F (low 20s C) to the 90s F (up to 35C). The fall season ranges from 50F to 70F (0-20C). Winter temperatures usually hover around freezing and sometimes lower.
Massachusetts is fortunate in having its precipitation rather evenly distributed through the year with annual rainfall between 40 and 48 inches and average snow fall of 43.3 in (110.0 cm) in state’s capital, Boston.
For historical weather and temperature averages:CLICK HERE
SUNRISE & SUNSET CHARTS
Please click on the city or town for yearly sunrise and sunset charts.
For more cities and towns, please visit the National Weather Service.
For daily sunrise and sunset charts for each city or town please click here.
EXPLANATIONS:
Times are shown corrected for daylight savings when in use if this option is selected. The adjustment dates for daylight savings time are those used in the United States. All times are either EST or EDT.
Times use a 24 hour clock. Subtract 12 hours from times greater than 12:59 to get the “PM” times.
TERMS
Sunrise and Sunset:
Times for sunrise and sunset are computed for the point that the sun is 50 minutes of arc below the horizon (assuming no mountains.) If sunset occurs after midnight it is shown on the day that it actually sets.
Day length:
The length of the day is derived by subtracting the time of rise (rounded off) from the time of set (rounded off.) This applies to the day that it is actually shown for. Sunsets that occur on the following day are not used for the current day calculation.
Change:
The change in length of day is derived by subtracting the day length of the previous day (undisplayed and not rounded off) from the day length of the current day (also not change is displayed to the nearest second and is value of the true change.
Civil Twilight:
Times for beginning and ending of civil twilight are computed for the point that the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon.
Azimuth
The rise and set azimuths show the angle that the sun rises and sets with respect to true north.
Max Elev
The maximum elevation is that highest angle that the sun reaches during the day.
Solar Noon:
This is the transit time when the sun is due south (180 degrees) shown to the nearest second.
TIDAL CHARTS
Massachusetts Tides
Below is a listing of the tides along the Massachusetts coast with the execption of Mount Hope Bay. This information was gatehred from the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association Website.
North Shore – Merrimack River to Nahant
Boston Harbor – Winthrop to Hull
South Shore – Cohasset to the Cape Cod Canal
Cape Cod – Cape Cod Canal to Provincetown
The Islands – Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket
Buzzards Bay – Cuttyhunk to Westport