February 26: ORD

Today is February 26th. It's the 57th day of the year. 308 days remain. It's week 9 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 39 and the normal low is 23. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 38 and 23.

On the warm side, in 2000 the high was the record high of 64 with the record warmest low of 48. Two years earlier, in 1998, the high was 63 (the former record high which originally occurred in 1932) with a low of 45. Two years ago, in 2009, the high was 53 with a low of 32. Another warm high was 58 in 1988. Another warm low was 38 in 1996. 17 of the last 32 highs (53%) were in the 30s. On the warmer side, 11 highs (34%) were in the: 40s (7), 50s (2) and 60s (2). Our most recent 40s high was 42 in 2004. On the cold side, four highs were in the 20s.

In looking back through the years to the first February at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1978 the high was 25 with a low of 11, a cold day. In 1976 the high was 61 with a low of 37, a warm day. In 1973 the high was 33 with a low of 28, a five degree spread. In 1972 the low was a cold 9 degrees. In 1971 the high was 56 with a low of 40, a warm day. In 1969 the high was 37 with a low of 30, a seven degree spread. In 1967 the high was 34 with a cold low of -1, a 35 degree spread and indeed cold. In 1965 the high was 22 with a low of 2, a cold day. In 1964 the low was a cold 10 degrees. In 1963 the high was 15 with a low of -8, a cold day and year of the record low (-1 at Midway). In 1960 the high was a cold 26 with a low of 21, a five degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1997 (38/34), four degrees in 2007 (34/30), five degrees in 1995 (33/28), six degrees in 1981 (36/30) and six degrees in 1996 (44/38). We had a lone large spread of 36 degrees in 1988 (58/22).

On the cold side, in 1994 the high was 20 with a low of 2. In 1980, the high was 26 with a low of 2. In 2003, the high was 30 with a low of 5. In 1991, the high was 27 with a low of 12. Another cold high was 27 in 1993. The record low of -1 was set in 1963 and the record coldest high of 10 occurred back in 1888. 21 of the last 32 lows (66%) were in the: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (9) and 20s (12). Three lows were in the cold single digits. Eight lows (25%) were in the warm: 30s (6) and 40s (2).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:05 and sunrise is at 6:34. Sunset is at 17:39 and twilight ends at 18:08. There's a total of 11 hours, 5 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 3 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:04 and sunrise is at 6:32. The moon is waning crescent, having reached last quarter two days ago at 17:26. Illumination was 37% at midnight, will be 32% at noon and 27% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 2:40 this morning. Moonset is at 11:50 this morning. Moonrise is at 3:27 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 10 minutes which is the same as yesterday.

Mardi Gras is in ten days. Ash Wednesday is in 11 days. The cool part of Spring (Cool Spring) begins in 14 days on March 12. Cool Spring runs for 32 days, through April 12. High temperatures in this period are usually in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Warmer 60s and 70s occur infrequently. -Bernie-