March 3: ORD

Today is March 3rd. It's the 62nd day of the year. 303 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 39 and 22.

On the warm side, in 1983 the high was 73 with a low of 37, a 36 degree spread. Another warm high was 56 last year. Other warm lows were 38 in 2004 and 36 in 1992. The record high of 80 was set in 1974 and the record warmest low of 48 was set way back in 1880. 15 of the last 30 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, 11 highs were: 40s (9), 50s (1) and 70s (1). Remarkably, there have been no highs in the 60s at O'Hare on this date ever. On the colder side, four highs have been 20s.

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the high was 46 with a low of 39, a seven degree spread. In 1974 the high was 76 with a low of 42, a 34 degree spread, bonus 70s day and also the day of the record high. In 1968 the high was 46 with a low of 10, a 36 degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1992 (40/36), seven degrees on three days: 1985 (36/29), 1998 (37/30) and two years ago (27/20). There was one large spread of 32 degrees last year (56/24).

On the cold side, in 2002 the high was 21 with a low of 0. In 1996 the high was 25 with a low of 1. In 2003 the high was 31 with a low of 8. In 1980 the high was 35 with a low of 8. Another cold low was 12 in 1995. Other cold highs were 27 in 1982 and 27 two years ago. The record low of -6 and the record coldest high of 8 were set on the same day way back in 1873. 14 of the last 30 lows have been 20s. Ten lows were in the colder: single digits (4) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (6). Six lows were in the warmer 30s. Today has been one of our coldest March 3rd days. In Crystal Lake, the temperature at 5:10 is 9 degrees. In Des Plaines (next to O'Hare) the temperature is 18 degrees.

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 2002, 0.8 inches fell. This was the third of four days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. This comprised 91% of the month's total of 11.2 inches. In 1982, 0.1 inches fell. This was the second of three days in which 12.1 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:57 and sunrise is at 6:25. Sunset is at 17:46 and twilight ends at 18:14. Chicago's sunset is at 17:44 and twilight ends at 18:12. There's a total of 11 hours, 21 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 17 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:55 and sunrise is at 6:23. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 38% at midnight, will be 44% at noon and 49% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 0:30. Moonrise is at 9:31 and moonset is tomorrow at 1:40. Moonlight time is 14 hours, 59 minutes which is 23 minutes shorter than yesterday.

My birthday is in four days. Daylight Saving Time begins in five days. A sister of mine, Christina, has a birthday in a week. St. Patrick's Day is in two weeks. -Bernie-