March 8: ORD

Today is March 8th. It's the 67th day of the year. 298 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 26. I've calculated the 30-year averages at 42 and 25.

On the warm side, in 2000 the high was the record high of 78 with the record warmest low of 56. In 1987 the high was 73 with a low of 36, a 37 degree spread. In 1992 the high was 63 with a low of 43. A decade later, in 2002 the high was 64 with a low of 37. In 1988 the high was 55 with a low of 39. Three years ago the high was 53 with a low of 39. 18 of the last 30 highs were: 30s (9) and 40s (9) . On the warmer side, seven highs were: 50s (3), 60s (2) and 70s (2). On the colder side, five highs were: 20s (4) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (1).

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 70 with a low of 35, a 35 degree spread and bonus 70s day. In 1974 the high was 48 with a low of 41, a seven degree spread. In 1967 the high was 26 with a low of 7, a cold day. In 1964 the high was 39 with a low of 32, a seven degree spread. In 1962 the high was 36 with a low of 30, a six degree spread.

More recently, we had a small spread of three degrees in 1998 (39/36).

On the cold side, in 1996 the high was 15 with a low of 1. In 1982 the high was 29 with a low of -1. A couple years later, in 1984, the high was 24 with a low of 9. Last year the high was 25 with a low of 14. Other cold lows were 12 in 1986, 13 in 2003 and 13 two years ago. Other cold highs were 29 in 1995, 30 in 1999 and 30 in 2005. The record low of -7 was set in 1943 and the record coldest high of 10 was set in 1932. 25 of the last 30 lows were: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (9), 20s (7) and 30s (9). Three lows were in the colder: single digits (2) and negative single digits (1). Two lows were in the warmer: 40s (1) and 50s (1).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 1999, 4.0 inches fell. This was the fourth of six days in which a total of 18.2 inches fell. Today 1.67 inches of rain fell. This broke the old record of 1.41 inches set in 1990.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 6:49 and sunrise was at 7:17. Sunset is at 18:52 and twilight ends at 19:20. There's a total of 11 hours, 35 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 31 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:47 and sunrise is at 7:15. The moon is waxing gibbous. Illumination was 90% at midnight, will be 93% at noon and 96% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 5:51. Moonrise is at 16:19 and moonset is at 6:19 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 32 minutes which is 44 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Daylight Saving Time began today. A sister of mine, Christina, has a birthday in two days. St. Patrick's Day is in a week and two days. -Bernie-