March 1: ORD

Today is March 1st. It's the 60th day of the year. 305 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 41 and the normal low is 24. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 41 and 26.

On the warm side, in 1992 the high was the record high of 71 with a low of 38, a 33-degree spread. In 2004 the high was 62 with the co-record warmest low of 45. In 1991 the high was 51 with the co-record warmest low of 45, a six degree spread. In 2000 the high was 56 with a low of 36. Three years earlier, in 1997, the high was 55 with a low of 33. Another warm high was 56 in 1983. 20 of the last 32 highs (62%) were in the: 30s (11) and 40s (9). On the warmer side, five highs were in the 50s, one was a 60 and one was a 70. On the cold side, four highs were in the 20s (most recently 22 in 2009) and one was in the 10s (a.k.a. teens) (19 in 1980).

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 28 degrees. In 1976 the high was 40 with a low of 35, a five degree spread. In 1975 the high was a cold 28 degrees. In 1973 the low was a warm 37 degrees. In 1972 the high was a warm 57 with a low of 19, a 38 degree spread. In 1970 the high was 38 with a low of 32, a six degree spread. In 1968 the high was 51 with a low of 15, a 36 degree spread. In 1967 the high was 35 with a cold low of 3, a 32 degree spread and cold day. In 1965 the high was 58 with a low of 39, a warm day. In 1963 the high was 34 with a cold low of 3, a 31 degree spread and cold day. In 1962 the high was 17 with a low of -8, a cold day and year of the record low of -5. In 1960 the high was 23 with a low of 0, another cold day.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1981 (35/31) and six degrees in 1998 (38/32). The lone large spread was 33 degrees in 1983 (56/23).

On the cold side, in 1980 the high was 19 with a low of 8. In 1995 the high was 23 with a low of 10. In 1989 the high was 23 with a low of 11. Two decades later (two years ago), in 2009, the high was 22 with a low of 14. Another cold high was 27 in 2005. The record low of -5 was set in 1962 and the record coldest high of 14 occurred way back in 1890. 23 of the last 32 lows (72%) were in the: 20s (11) and 30s (12). Seven lows were in the cold: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (6) and single digits (1). Two lows were in the warmer 40s (the co-record warmest lows of 45 in 1991 and 2004).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 2002, 2.0 inches fell. This was the first of four days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. This was 91% of the month's total of 11.2 inches.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:01 and sunrise is at 6:29. Sunset is at 17:43 and twilight ends at 18:11. There's a total of 11 hours, 14 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 10 minutes between twilights. We gained three minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:59 and sunrise is at 6:27. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 12% at midnight, will be 9% at noon and 6% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 4:40 this morning. Moonset is at 14:56 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 5:08 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 16 minutes which is 29 minutes longer than yesterday.

Mardi Gras is in seven days. Ash Wednesday is in eight days. The cool part of Spring (Cool Spring) begins in 11 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-