March 1: ORD

Today is March 1st. It's the 60th day of the year. 305 days remain. It's week 9 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. ORD has been the official site of record for Chicago since Thursday, January 17, 1980.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 41 and the normal low is 24. I've calculated the 30-year averages at 42 and 26.

On the warm side, in 1992 the high was the record high of 71 with a low of 38, a 33-degree spread. In 2004 the high was 62 with the co-record warmest low of 45. In 1991 the high was 51 with the co-record warmest low of 45, a six degree spread. In 2000 the high was 56 with a low of 36. Three years earlier, in 1997, the high was 55 with a low of 33. Another warm high was 56 in 1983. 19 of the last 30 highs were 30s (10) and 40s (9). On the warmer side, five highs were 50s, one was a 60 and one was a 70. On the colder side, three highs were 20s and three were 10s (a.k.a. teens).

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1976 the high was 40 with a low of 35, a five degree spread. In 1972 the high was 57 with a low of 19, a 38 degree spread. In 1970 the high was 38 with a low of 32, a six degree spread. In 1968 the high was 51 with a low of 15, a 36 degree spread. In 1967 the high was 35 with a low of 3, a 32 degree spread. In 1963 the high was 34 with a low of 3, a 31 degree spread. In 1962 the high was 17 with a low of -8, a cold day. In 1960 the high was 23 with a low of 0, another cold day.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1981 (35/31) and six degrees in 1998 (38/32). The lone large spread was 33 degrees in 1983 (56/23).

On the cold side, in 1980 the high was 19 with a low of 8. In 1995 the high was 23 with a low of 10. In 1989 the high was 23 with a low of 11. Another cold high was 27 in 2005. The record low of -5 was set in 1962 and the record coldest high of 14 was set way back in 1890. 22 of the last 30 lows have been: 20s (10) and 30s (12). Six lows were in the colder: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (5) and single digits (1). Two lows were in the warmer 40s.

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 2002, 2.0 inches fell. This was the first of four days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. This was 91% of the month's total of 11.2 inches.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 6:00 and sunrise was at 6:28. Sunset is at 17:44 and twilight ends at 18:12. There's a total of 11 hours, 16 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 12 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:59 and sunrise is at 6:27. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 18% at midnight, will be 23% at noon and 28% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 8:13 and moonset is at 23:16. Moonrise is at 8:38 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 15 hours, 3 minutes which is 45 minutes longer than yesterday.

My birthday is in six days. Daylight Saving Time begins in a week. A sister of mine, Christina, has a birthday in a week and two days. -Bernie-