January 13: ORD

Today is January 13th. It's the 13th day of the year. 352 days remain. It's week 2 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. Observations have been official at O'Hare since Thursday, January 17, 1980.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 29 and the normal low is 14. The 31-year averages are 32 and 17.

On the warm side, in 2006 the high was 49 with a low of 32. In 1995 the high was 38 with a low of 33, a five degree spread. In 1987 the high was 44 with a low of 24. In 2001 the high was 36 with a low of 32, a four degree spread. In 1980 the high was 39 with a low of 28. In 2002 the high was 42 with a low of 24. In 1996 the high was 44 with a low of 21. Another warm high was 47 in 2005. Other warm lows were 29 three years ago and 27 two years ago. The record high of 58 and record warmest low of 44 were both set back in 1932. 16 of the last 31 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, five highs were 40s. On the colder side, eight highs were 20s and two highs were 10s.

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the low was a cold -2 degrees. In 1975 the high was a cold 12 with a low of 3, a cold day. In 1974 the low was a cold 2 degrees. In 1971 the high was 33 with a low of 28, a five degree spread. In 1967 the high was 45 with a low of 29, a warm day. In 1965 the low was a cold 2 degrees. In 1963 the high was 10 with a low of -7, a cold day. In 1961 the high was 52 with a low of 29, a warm day and rare 50s high. In 1960 the high was 53 with a low of 37, a warm day and rare 50s high. In 1959 the high was a warm 41 degrees.

More recently, we had a small spread of four degrees three years ago (33/29). In 2005 the spread was a large 32 degrees (47/15).

On the cold side, in 1997 the high was 10 with a low of -4. A year later, in 1998, the high was 15 with a low of -1. Other cold lows were 1 in 1994 and -2 last year. The record low of -9 was set back in 1929. The record coldest high of -2 was set way back in 1893. 21 of the last 31 lows were: 10s (12) and 20s (9). Seven lows were in the colder: negative single digits (3) and single digits (4). Three lows were in the warmer 30s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:49 and sunrise is at 7:20. Sunset is at 16:44 and twilight ends at 17:15. Chicago's sunset is at 16:43 and twilight ends at 17:13. There's a total of 9 hours, 24 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 26 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:49 and sunrise is at 7:20. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 4% at midnight, will be 2% at noon and 1% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 6:19 and moonset is at 15:19. Moonlight time is exactly 9 hours which is 11 minutes longer than yesterday.

Today is a major day in O'Hare's snow history. In 1979, 15.3 inches fell. This was the third day of a 21.7 inch, seven day storm. Midway had 16.5 inches on this same day.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is in five days. My brother will be celebrating a birthday in 11 days. -Bernie-