March 16: ORD

Today is March 16th. It's the 75th day of the year. 290 days remain. It's week 11 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 46 and the normal low is 28. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 46 and 29.

On the warm side, in 2003 the high was 67 with a low of 42. In 1995 the high was 71 with a low of 37, a 34 degree spread. Last year the high was 65 with a low of 39. In 1990 the high was 62 with a low of 40. The record high of 78 and record warmest low of 49 were set on the same day back in 1945. 27 of the last 31 highs were: 30s (10), 40s (10) and 50s (7). On the warmer side, three highs were: 60s (2) and 70s (1).

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1972 the high was 42 with a low of 35, a seven degree spread. In 1971 the high was a cold 32 with a low of 25, a seven degree spread. In 1969 the high was 53 with a low of 22, a 31 degree spread. In 1968 the high was a warm 63 with a low of 33, a 30 degree spread. In 1964 the high was a warm 66 with a low of 27, a 39 degree spread. In 1963 the high was 57 with a low of 39, just short of being a warm day. In 1960 the high was a cold 31 with a low of 24, a seven degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of three degrees in 2004 (33/30), four degrees in 2001 (34/30) and six degrees in 2006 (38/32).

On the cold side, in 1997 the high was 37 with a low of 11. Other cold highs were 33 in 2004 and 34 in 2001. The record low of -1 and record coldest high of 13 were set on the same day back in 1900. 27 of the last 31 lows were: 20s (15) and 30s (12). Two lows were in the colder 10s (a.k.a. teens) and two lows were in the warmer 40s.

Today is a not a major day in Chicago's snow history.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 6:36 and sunrise was at 7:04. Sunset is at 19:01 and twilight ends at 19:29. There's a total of 11 hours, 57 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 53 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:34 and sunrise is at 7:02. The moon is waxing crescent and reached new last night at 19:01. Illumination was 0% at midnight, will be 1% at noon and 2% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 7:00 this morning. Moonset is at 20:13. Moonrise is at 7:23 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 13 minutes which is 42 minutes longer than yesterday.

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow. My brother and his wife will celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary in three days. -Bernie-