January 26: ORD

Today is January 26th. It's the 26th day of the year. 339 days remain. It's week 4 of the year.

Unless noted, the following data is based upon observations collected by the National Weather Service,Chicago,at O'Hare International Airport (ORD) between November 1978 and last year. Observations have been official at O'Hare since Thursday, January 17, 1980.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 30 and the normal low is 14. The 30-year averages are 31 and 13.

On the warm side, in 2002 the high was 53 with a low of 34. In 1981 the high was 43 with a low of 35. Three years later, in 1984, the high was 41 with a low of 31. Five years after that, in 1989, the high was 41 with a low of 27. Other warm highs were 43 in 1996, 2006 and 2007. The record high of 62 was set in 1944 and record warmest low of 49 was set back in 1916. 26 of the last 30 highs were: 20s (11), 30s (8) and 40s (7). On the warmer side, one high was in the 50s. On the colder side, three highs were in the 10s (a.k.a. teens).

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable. In 1973 the high was 57 with a low of 29, a bonus 50s day. In 1972 the high was 8 with a low of 2, a six degree spread and cold day. In 1971 the high was 32 with a low of 2, a 30 degree spread. In 1970 the high was 37 with a low of 31, a six degree spread (at Midway). In 1967 the high was 30 with a low of 28, a two degree spread. 1967 was the first day of the Blizzard of '67 (see below).

More recently, there were small spreads in of four degrees in 2004 (24/20) and six degrees in 1994 (26/20).

On the cold side, in 1982 the high was 13 with a low of -13. Three years later, in 1985, the high was 20 with a low of -6. A year later, in 1986, the high was 21 with a low of -3. Two years later, in 1988, the high was 19 with a low of 0. Fifteen years later, in 2003, the high was 19 with a low of 1. In 1980 the high was 20 with a low of 1. In 1997 the high was 22 with a low of 0. Another cold low was 0 in 1979. The record low of -16 and record coldest high of -3 were set on the same day way back in 1897. 24 of the last 30 lows have been: single digits (10), 10s (a.k.a. teens)(7) and 20s (7). Three lows were colder: one low in the negative 10s (a.k.a. negative teens) and two lows in the negative single digits. Three lows were in the warmer 30s.

Today is a major day in O'Hare's snow history. In 1967, 13.4 inches fell. This was the first day of a two day, 20.4 inch period of snow known as the Blizzard of '67. This paralyzed Chicago for a few days. Midway Airport reported 16.4 inches this day, part of a two day total of 23 inches. This comprised 80% of Midway's snow for the month.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:42 and sunrise is at 7:12. Sunset is at 17:00 and twilight ends at 17:30. Chicago's sunset/end of twilight is 16:59/17:29. There's a total of 9 hours, 48 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 48 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:41 and sunrise is at 7:11. The moon reached new today at 1:55. Illumination was 0% at midnight, will be 0% at noon and 1% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 7:25 and moonset is at 17:33. Moonrise is at 7:50 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 8 minutes.

The Super Bowl is in six days. Groundhog Day is in a week. Abraham Lincoln's Birthday is in two weeks, three days. Valentine's Day is in two weeks, five days. President's Day is in three weeks. -Bernie-