January 31: ORD

Today is January 31st. It's the 31st day of the year. 334 days remain. It's week 5 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 31 and the normal low is 15. The 30-year averages are 32 and 16.

On the warm side, in 1989 the high was the record high of 65 with a low of 40. A year earlier, in 1988, the high was 55 with a low of 36. Five years after that, in 1993, the high was 46 with a low of 31. Six years onward, in 1999, the high was 40 with a low of 32. A year before that, in 1998, the high was 41 with a low of 28. Other warm highs were 45 in 1990 and 44 in 1997. Other warm lows were 32 in 2003, 30 in 2002, 30 in 2006, 27 in 1992 and 27 in 2001. 19 of the last 30 highs were: 20s (8) and 30s (11). On the warmer side, five highs were 40s, one was in the 50s and one was in the 60s. On the colder side, three highs were in the 10s (a.k.a. teens) and one was in the single digits.

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1971 the high was 1 with a low of -4, a five degree spread and cold day. In 1967 the high was 35 with a low of 28, a seven degree spread. In 1963 the high was 14 with a low of -12, another cold day. In 1959 the high was 9 with a low of -3, yet another cold day.

More recently, there were small spreads of three degrees in 2003 (35/32) and four degrees in 2002 (34/30).

On the cold side, in 1996 the high was 6 with a low of -11. A decade and a year earlier, in 1985, the high was 16 with the record low of -12. Five years ago, in 2004, the high was 14 with a low of -6. A decade before that, in 1994, the high was 13 with a low of -5. Two years ago, in 2007, the high was 20 with a low of 3. Other cold lows were 2 in 1984 and 3 in 1980. The record coldest high of 1 was set in 1971. 22 of the last 30 lows have been: 10s (a.k.a. teens)(10), 20s (6) and 30s (6). Two lows were in the very cold negative 10s, two lows were in the negative single digits and three lows were in the single digits. One low was in the warmer 40s.

Today is a major day in O'Hare's snow history. Seven years ago, in 2002, 7.2 inches fell. This was the second day of a two day, 12 inch storm which was 77% of the month's total of 15.5 inches. Last year was the first day of a two day tally of 7.4 inches. Last year on January 31st, 3.9 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:38 and sunrise is at 7:07. Sunset is at 17:07 and twilight ends at 17:37. There's a total of 10 hours of daylight today and 10 hours, 59 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:37 and sunrise is at 7:06. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 22% at midnight, will be 27% at noon and 32% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 9:15 and moonset is at 23:01. Moonrise is at 9:40 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 46 minutes and is 46 minutes longer than yesterday.

The Super Bowl is tomorrow. Groundhog Day is in a couple of days. Abraham Lincoln's Birthday is in one week, five days. Valentine's Day is in two weeks. The Daytona 500 is in two weeks, one day. President's Day is in two weeks, two days. -Bernie-