March 10: ORD

Today is March 10th. It's the 69th day of the year. 296 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 44 and the normal low is 27. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 42 and 23.

On the warm side, in 1990 the high was 62 with a low of 39. Five years before that, in 1985, the high was 64 with a low of 32, a 32 degree spread. Last year the high was 61 with a low of 33. Other warm highs were 58 in 1986 and 57 in 1997. The highs are fairly evenly distributed. 28 of the last 31 highs were: 20s (6), 30s (9), 40s (5) and 50s (8) . On the warmer side, three highs were 60s.

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 67 with a low of 41, a warm day. In 1974 the high was 42 with a low of 35, a seven degree spread. In 1973 the high was 62 with a low of 39, a warm day. In 1972 the low was a cold 15. In 1970 the high was a cold 31. In 1967 the high was a warm 60 with a low of 37, a warm day. In 1966 the high was 56 with a low of 39, a warm day. In 1965 the high was a cold 30 degrees. In 1962 the high was 36 with a low of 32, a four degree spread. In 1961 the low was a cold 15. In 1960 the high was a cold 30.

More recently, we had a small spread of six degrees in 1983 (30/24). There was another large spread of 32 degrees in 2001 (50/18).

On the cold side, in 2003 the high was 20 with the record low of 2. In 1979 the high was 22 with a low of 9. Five years later, in 1984, the high was 28 with a low of 6. In 1998 the high was 23 with a low of 13. Six years earlier, in 1992, the high was 24 with a low of 15. A decade later, in 2002, the high was 28 with a low of 14. Other cold highs were 30 in both 1983 and 1987. Another cold low was 14 in 1996. 22 of the last 31 lows were: 20s (12) and 30s (10). On the colder side, nine lows were: single digits (3) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (6).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 1999, 1.0 inches fell. This was the sixth 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 began at 5:46 and sunrise was at 6:14. Sunset is at 17:54 and twilight ends at 18:22. There's a total of 11 hours, 40 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 36 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:44 and sunrise is at 6:12. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 26% at midnight, will be 22% at noon and 18% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 3:34 this morning. Moonset is at 13:06. Moonrise is at 4:06 tomorrow morning. Moonight time is 9 hours, 32 minutes which is 24 minutes longer than yesterday.

A sister of mine, Christina, celebrates a birthday today. St. Patrick's Day is in a week. -Bernie-