March 2: ORD

Today is March 2nd. It's the 61st day of the year. 304 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 39 and 23.

On the warm side, in 1983 the high was 65 with a low of 30, a 35 degree spread. In 1992 the high was 58 with a low of 32. Three years ago, in 2008, the high was 57 with a low of 32. Four years before that, in 2004, the high was 48 with a low of 39. The record high of 71 was set in 1974 and the record warmest low of 44 occurred the prior year, in 1973. 21 of the last 32 highs (66%) were in the: 30s (11) and 40s (10). Our most recent 40s high was 48 in 2004. On the warmer side, four highs were in the 50s and one was a 60. On the cold side, six highs were in the 20s. Today is the median date for our first 60s high of the year based upon the last 32 years. A synonym for median is middle.

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 25 with a low of 10, a cold day. In 1976 the high was 43 with a warm low of 38, a five degree spread. In 1974 the high was 68 with a low of 45, a warm day and year of the record high of 71 (at Midway). In 1973 the high was 52 with a warm low of 41, a warm day and year of the record warmest low of 44 (at Midway). In 1972 the high was 21 with a low of 11, a cold day. In 1970 the high was 43 with a warm low of 36, a seven degree spread. In 1966 the high was a warm 58 with a low of 28, a 30 degree spread. In 1962 the high was 22 with a low of 10, a cold day. In 1961 the high was a warm 63 with a low of 30, a 33 degree spread and warm day. In 1960 the high was 27 with a low of 12, a cold day.

More recently, we had small spreads of six degrees in 1979 (37/31) and seven degrees in 2007 (32/25).

On the cold side, in 1980 the high was 21 with a low of -1. In 1996 the high was 28 with a low of 2. The year earlier, 1995, the high was 28 with a low of 7. Two years ago, in 2009, the high was 22 with a low of 14. Four years prior, in 2005, the high was 27 with a low of 13. Another cold high was 27 in 1989. Other cold lows were 10 in 2003 and 11 in 1994. The record low of -4 was set in 1913 and the record coldest high of 10 occurred three decades later in 1943. 22 of the last 32 lows (69%) were in the: 20s (13) and 30s (9). Ten lows were in the cold: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (7), single digits (2) and negative single digits (1).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. In 2002, 7.1 inches fell. This was the second of four days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. This was 91% of the month's total of 11.2 inches. In 1982, 3.5 inches fell. This was the first of three days in which 12.1 inches fell. In 1954 at Midway, 11.5 inches fell. In 1948 at Rockford, 13.0 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:59 and sunrise is at 6:27. Sunset is at 17:44 and twilight ends at 18:12. There's a total of 11 hours, 17 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 13 minutes between twilights. We gained three minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:58 and sunrise is at 6:26. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 6% at midnight, will be 4% at noon and 2% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 5:08 this morning. Moonset is at 15:58 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 5:34 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 50 minutes which is 34 minutes longer than yesterday.

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