March 26: ORD

Today is March 26th. It's the 85th day of the year. 280 days remain. It's week 13 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 50 and the normal low is 32. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 52 and 33.

On the warm side, three years ago the high was the record high of 79 with the record warmest low of 63. In 1998 the high was 75 with a low of 60. Seven years earlier, in 1991, the high was 75 with a low of 52. In 2004 the high was 67 with a low of 45. In 1989 the high was 76 with a low of 34, a 42 degree spread. Other warm highs were 68 in 2000, 65 in 1985, 63 in 1986 and 63 in 1981. 12 of the last 31 highs were 40s. On the warmer side, 14 highs were: 50s (5), 60s (5) and 70s (4). On the colder side, five highs were: 20s (1) and 30s (4). Today is the median (middle) date of our first high in the 70s based upon the last 32 years.

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1978 the high was a cold 33 with a low of 31, a two degree spread. In 1977 the high was a warm 69 with a low of 31, a 31 degree spread. In 1976 the high was 77 with a low of 53, the former record high and warm day. In 1975 the high was 35 with a low of 20, a cold day. In 1969 the high was a cold 32 with a low of 22, a cold day. In 1968 the high was 74 with a low of 47, a warm day. In 1967 the high was a warm 65. In 1966 the high was a cold 38. In 1965 the high was 28 with a low of 3, a cold day. That low of 3 was colder than the record low (see below). In 1964 the high was 25 with a low of 18, a seven degree spread and another very cold day. In 1961 the high was 72 with a low of 47, a warm day. In 1960 the high was 34 with a low of 11, yet another cold one. In 1959 the high was a cold 38 with a low of 34, a four degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of seven degrees in 1982 (34/27) and seven degrees in 1987 (49/42). There were large spreads of 34 degrees in 1985 (65/31), 32 degrees in 2000 (68/36) and 30 degrees in 1986 (63/33).

On the cold side, in 1996 the high was the record coldest high of 23 with a low of 15. The record coldest high of 23 also occurred back in 1937. Five years later, in 2001, the high was 33 with a low of 16. In 1979 the high was 33 with a low of 16. Other cold highs were 34 in 1982 and 38 in 2002. The record low of 7 was set way back in 1873. 16 of the last 31 lows were 30s. Ten lows were in the colder: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (3) and 20s (7). Five lows were in the warmer: 40s (2), 50s (1) and 60s (2).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. At O'Hare in 1965, this was the seventh of seven days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. Today 0.7 inches fell. In 1970 at O'Hare, this was the third of five days in which 11.8 inches fell. Today 4.8 inches fell. At Midway in 1970, 8.9 inches fell. This was the second of two days in which a total of 14.3 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 6:18 and sunrise was at 6:46. Sunset is at 19:12 and twilight ends at 19:40. Chicago's sunset is at 19:10 and end of twilight is at 19:38. There's a total of 12 hours, 26 minutes of daylight today and 13 hours, 22 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:16 and sunrise is at 6:45. The moon is waxing gibbous, heading towards the full Worm moon in three days. Illumination was 80% at midnight, will be 85% at noon and 89% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 4:36 this morning. Moonrise is at 15:24. Moonset is at 5:06 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 12 minutes which is 44 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Palm Sunday is in two days. April Fool's Day is in six days. -Bernie-