February 24: ORD

Today is February 24th. It's the 55th day of the year. 310 days remain. It's week 8 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 38 and the normal low is 22. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 38 and 22.

On the warm side, in 2002 the high was 61 with a low of 38. A couple of years earlier, in 2000, the high was 57 with a low of 41. Four years before that, in 1996, the high was 58 with a low of 34. Two years later, in 1998, the high was 54 with a low of 36. In 2001 the high was 56 with a low of 30. Two decades earlier, in 1981, the high was 53 with a low of 32. The record high of 64 was set in 1930 and the record warmest low of 46 was set in 1936. 15 of the last 31 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, ten highs were: 40s (4), 50s (5) and 60s (1). On the colder side, six highs were 10s (1) and 20s (5).

In looking back through the years to the first February at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the high was 51 with a low of 33, a warm day. In 1976 the high was 63 with a low of 38, another warm day. In 1974 the high was a cold 22 with a low of 13, a cold day. In 1967 the high was 9 with a low of -6, another cold day. In 1965 the high was 24 with a low of 19, a five degree spread. In 1964 the high was 29 with a cold low of 4, a cold day. In 1963 the high was 26 with a low of -1, a cold day. In 1962 the high was 29 with a low of 24, a five degree spread. In 1960 the high was 29 with a low of 23, a six degree spread.

More recently, we had a spread of six degrees in 2004 (37/31), a spread of six degrees three years ago (32/26), seven degrees in 1979 (30/23), seven degrees in 1985 (39/32), seven degrees in 1992 (40/33) and a large spread of 32 degrees in 2006 (47/15).

On the cold side, in 1993 the high was 15 with a low of -5. In 1989 the high was 22 with a low of 4. In 2003 the high was 23 with a low of 6. In 1994 the high was 22 with a low of 8. Another cold low was 7 in 1990 and another cold high was 26 in 1988. The record low of -11 was set way back in 1873 and the record coldest high of 8 was set way back in 1889. 19 of the last 31 lows have been: 20s (10) and 30s (9). 11 lows were colder: in the 10s (a.k.a. teens) (6), single digits (4) and negative single digits (1). One low was in the warmer 40s.

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 1994, 0.3 inches fell. This was the third of four days in which 16.1 inches fell. In 1965, 6.7 inches fell. This was the second of three days in which 10.0 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 6:08 and sunrise was at 6:36. Sunset is at 17:37 and twilight ends at 18:05. There's a total of 11 hours, 1 minute of daylight today and 11 hours, 57 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:07 and sunrise is at 6:35. The moon is waxing gibbous. Illumination was 74% at midnight, will be 79% at noon and 83% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 3:40. Moonrise is at 12:53. Moonset is at 4:27 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 14 hours, 47 minutes which is 15 minutes shorter than yesterday.

My birthday is in 11 days and a sister of mine, Christina, celebrates a birthday in two weeks. -Bernie-