March 5: ORD

Today is March 5th. It's the 64th day of the year. 301 days remain. It's week 10 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 25. I've calculated the 30-year averages at 41 and 26.

On the warm side, in 1983 the high was the record high of 75 with the record warmest low of 56. In 1992 the high was 63 with a low of 43. In 2000 the high was 69 with a low of 34, a 35 degree spread. Four years later, in 2004, the high was 61 with a low of 39. Another warm low was 37 in 1987. 15 of the last 30 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, 11 highs were: 40s (4), 50s (3), 60s (3) and 70s (1). On the colder side, four highs were 20s.

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1978 the high was 23 with a low of -3, a cold day and day of the record low (0 at Midway). In 1977 the high was 38 with a low of 31, a seven degree spread. In 1972 the high was 22 with a low of 7, another cold day. In 1967 the high was 35 with a low of 29, a six degree spread. In 1963 the high was 34 with a low of 32, a two degree spread. In 1962 the high was 26 with a low of 19, a seven degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of three degrees in 1979 (32/29), four degrees in 1996 (33/29), six degrees in 1990 (36/30), six degrees in 2005 (41/35), seven degrees in 1995 (38/31) and seven degrees in 1998 (39/32).

On the cold side, in 1982 the high was 34 with a low of 7. In 2003 the high was 24 with a low of 19, a five degree spread. Other cold lows were 12 in 2002 and 15 in 1980. Other cold highs were 27 in 1989, 28 in 2001 and 29 in 1985. The record low of 0 was set in 1978, tying 0 way back in 1873. The record coldest high of 12 was set back in 1901. 27 of the last 30 lows have been: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (8), 20s (11) and 30s (8). One low was in the colder single digits. Two lows were in the warmer: 40s (1) and 50s (1).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 1999, 3.8 inches fell. This was the first of six days in which a total of 18.2 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:54 and sunrise is at 6:22. Sunset is at 17:48 and twilight ends at 18:16. Chicago's sunset is at 17:46 and twilight ends at 18:14. There's a total of 11 hours, 26 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 22 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:52 and sunrise is at 6:20. The moon reached first quarter yesterday at 1:46. Illumination was 61% at midnight, will be 66% at noon and 72% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 2:42. Moonrise is at 11:30 and moonset is tomorrow at 3:34. Moonlight time is 15 hours, 12 minutes which is 3 minutes shorter than yesterday.

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