January 5: ORD

Today is January 5th. It's the 5th day of the year. 360 days remain. It's week 1 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 15. The 30-year averages are 31 and 17.

On the warm side, in 1998 the high was the near-record high of 55 with a low of 40. The record high of 56 was set way back in 1890. Two years ago the high was 50 with the near-record warmest low of 42. The record warmest low of 44 was set back in 1946. A year ago the high was 43 with a low of 35. In 1992 the high was 36 with a low of 34, a two degree spread. Three years ago the high was 37 with a low of 31, a six degree spread. Other warm lows were 30 in 2003 and 28 in 2002. 17 of the last 30 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, two highs were 40s and two highs were 50s. On the colder side, five highs were 20s, two highs were 10s, one high was in the single digits and one high was in the negative single digits.

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable. In 1977 the high was 30 with a low of 25, a five degree spread. In 1963 the high was 33 with a low of 26, a seven degree spread. In 1959 the high was 8 with a low of -13, a cold day.

More recently, we had small spreads of two degrees in 2003 (32/30), five degrees in 2005 (31/26), six degrees in 1983 (32/26) and seven degrees in 2002 (35/28).

On the cold side, in 1988 the high was -2 with a low of -11. In 1979 the high was 4 with a low of -11. Two decades later, in 1999, the high was 18 with the near-record low of -16. The record low of -18 was set way back in 1884. Four years earlier, in 1995, the high was 19 with a low of -1. The record coldest high of -5 was set back in 1924. Other cold lows were -2 in 1981, 4 in 1986 and 4 in 2004. 12 of the last 30 lows were 20s. On the colder side, 12 lows were colder: 10s (5), 0s (2), negative 0s (2) and negative 10s (3). On the warmer side, four lows were 30s and two lows were 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:51 and sunrise is at 7:22. Sunset is at 16:36 and twilight ends at 17:07. There's a total of 9 hours, 14 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 16 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:51 and sunrise is at 7:22. The moon is waxing gibbous. First quarter was yesterday at 5:56. Illumination was 58% at midnight, will be 64% at noon and 69% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 1:12 and moonrise is at 11:37. Moonset is at 2:26 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 35 minutes today.

Today is a major snow day in O'Hare's history. Four years ago, in 2005, 6.2 inches fell. This was the second day of a three day, 9.8 inch snowstorm. In 1962, 0.3 inches fell. This was the first day of a three day, 11 inch snowstorm.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is in two weeks. The presidential inauguration is in two weeks, one day. My brother will be celebrating a birthday in two weeks, five days. -Bernie-