January 1: ORD

Today is January 1st. It's the 1st day of the year. 364 days remain. It's week 1 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 30 and the normal low is 15. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 32 and 18.

On the warm side, in 2000 the high was 48 with a low of 35. Three years before, in 1997, the high was 39 with a low of 33, a six degree spread. In 2007 the high was 43 with a low of 29. In 1994 the high was 41 with a low of 30. In 2006 the high was 45 with a low of 26. A decade earlier, in 1996, the high was 38 with a low of 32, a six degree spread. In 2004 the high was 49 with a low of 21. Other warm lows were 31 in 1992, 30 in 1987 and 27 in 2003. The record high of 65 was set way back in 1876. The record warmest low of 43 was set back in 1950. 23 of the last 32 highs (72%) were: 20s (9) and 30s (14). On the warmer side, seven highs were 40s. On the cold side, two highs were: single-digits (1) and 10s (aka teens)(1). Our first 10s (aka teens) high of 16 occurred last year. Four straight years (2004-2007) had 40s highs. These were, in order: 49, 41, 45 and 43. Two days ago, the high of 46 and low of 34 made it the 5th warmest December 30th of the past 33 years which puts it in the top 15% of warm days for the date. Yesterday's high of 53 and low of 41 made it the second warmest December 31st of the past 33 years which puts it in the top 6% of warm days for the date.

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: in 1978 the high was 32 with a cold low of -1, a 33 degree spread. In 1977 the high was 13 with a low of 1, a cold day. In 1976 the high was 38 with a warm low of 33, a five degree spread and warm day. In 1974 the high was 8 with a low of -3, a cold day. In 1972 the high was 41 with a warm low of 33, a warm day. In 1971 the high was 39 with a warm low of 31, a warm day. In 1970 the high was 29 with a low of 22, a seven degree spread. In 1969 the high was 5 with a low of -7, a cold day. 1969 was the year of the record coldest high and record low. In 1968 the high was 16 with a low of -11, a cold day. In 1966 the high was a warm 42 degrees. In 1965 the high was 38 with a warm low of 34, a four degree spread and warm day. In 1964 the high was 25 with a cold low of -13, a 35 degree spread and cold day. In 1960 the low was a warm 27 degrees.

More recently, we had small spreads of three degrees in 1987 (33/30), five degrees in 1990 (30/25), five degrees in 1992 (36/31), six degrees in 2003 (33/27), seven degrees in 1981 (33/26) and seven degrees in 1982 (21/14).

On the cold side, in 1988 the high was 8 with a low of -1. Last year the high was 16 with a low of 5. The record low of -10 and the record coldest high of 5 were set on the same day in 1969. 19 of the last 32 lows (59%) were: 10s (10) and 20s (9). On the cold side, seven lows were: negative single digits (1) and single digits (6). On the warmer side, six lows were 30s. Our most recent 30s low was 35 in 2000.

Today is a major snow day in O'Hare's history. In 1999, 2.0 inches fell. This was the first day of a three day, 21.6 inch storm. This storm comprised 73% of the month's total of 29.6 inches.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:50 and sunrise is at 7:22. Sunset is at 16:32 and twilight ends at 17:03. There's a total of 9 hours, 10 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 13 minutes between twilights. We are gaining a minute of daylight per day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:51 and sunrise is at 7:22. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 11% at midnight, will be 8% at noon and 5% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 4:57 this morning. Moonset is at 14:07 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 5:56 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 10 minutes which is 18 minutes less than yesterday.

New Year's Day is today. -Bernie-