March 6: ORD

Today is March 6th. It's the 65th day of the year. 300 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 42 and the normal low is 25. I've calculated the 30-year averages at 41 and 24.

On the warm side, in 1983 the high was the co-record high of 70 with the record warmest low of 53. In 1992 the high was 62 with a low of 47. In 2000 the high was the co-record high of 70 with a low of 32, a 38 degree spread. Five years later, in 2005, the high was 64 with a low of 35. In 1994 the high was 58 with a low of 39. In 1987 the high was 67 with a low of 29, a 38 degree spread. Another warm low was 37 in 2004. 14 of the last 30 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, 11 highs were: 40s (3), 50s (3), 60s (3) and 70s (2). On the colder side, five highs were 20s. A note about yesterday: it was just the 5th high of 60 degrees or more in O'Hare's history and also the 3rd warmest. Highs were 65 at O'Hare (at 15:08), 64 at Rockford (at 15:09), 64 at Northerly Island, 64 at Midway, 65 at the NWS in Romeoville and 65 in West Chicago. Peak wind gusts were 43 MPH from the south at O'Hare and 40 MPH from the southwest at Rockford.

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1973 the high was 64 with a low of 39, a bonus 60s day. In 1972 the high was 49 with a low of 12, a 37 degree spread. In 1969 the high was 39 with a low of 32, a seven degree spread. In 1966 the high was 27 with a low of 21, a six degree spread. In 1965 the high was 33 with a low of 31, a two degree spread. In 1964 the high was 55 with a low of 22, a 33 degree spread. In 1960 the high was 20 with a low of -1, the date of the record low.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1995 (35/31) and six degrees in 1990 (32/26). Another large spread was 30 degrees in 1988 (51/21).

On the cold side, in 1982 the high was 24 with a low of 4. Two years earlier, in 1980, the high was 28 with a low of 6. In 2003 the high was 28 with a low of 11. Four years later, in 2007, the high was 24 with a low of 16. In 1996 the high was 30 with a low of 11. A dozen years earlier, in 1984, the high was 27 with a low of 14. Other cold highs were 30 in both 1989 and 1999. The record low of 2 was set in 1960 and the record coldest high of 15 was set back in 1932. 15 of the last 30 lows have been 20s. Eight lows were in the colder: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (6) and single digits (2). Seven lows were in the warmer: 30s (5), 40s (1) and 50s (1).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 1999, 1.6 inches fell. This was the second 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 5:52 and sunrise is at 6:20. Sunset is at 17:50 and twilight ends at 18:18. Chicago's sunset is at 17:47 and twilight ends at 18:15. There's a total of 11 hours, 30 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 26 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:50 and sunrise is at 6:18. The moon reached first quarter two days ago at 1:46. Illumination was 72% at midnight, will be 77% at noon and 81% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 3:34. Moonrise is at 12:44 and moonset is at 4:17 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 14 hours, 50 minutes which is 22 minutes shorter than yesterday.

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