March 22: ORD

Today is March 22nd. It's the 81st day of the year. 284 days remain. It's week 12 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 48 and the normal low is 30. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 49 and 29.

On the warm side, in 1991 the high was 64 with a low of 46. Three years later, in 1994, the high was 71 with a low of 37, a 34 degree spread. In 2007 the high was 64 with a low of 44. In 2000 the high was 59 with a low of 43. Other warm highs were 69 in 1979, 64 in 1988, 61 in 2009 and 60 in 1987. The record high of 79 and the record warmest low of 59 were set on the same warm day back in 1938. 14 of the last 32 highs (44%) were in the 40s. On the warmer side, 12 highs (37%) were in the: 50s (5), 60s (6) and 70s (1). On the cold side, six highs (19%) were in the: 20s (1) and 30s (5).

In looking back through the years to the first March at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1969 the high was a warm 60 with a low of 26, a 34 degree spread. In 1968 the high was a cold 33 with a low of 26, a seven degree spread. In 1962 the high was 38 with a low of 33, a five degree spread. In 1961 the high was 45 with a low of 38, a seven degree spread. In 1960 the high was 35 with a low of 17, cold day. In 1959 the low was a cold 18 degrees.

More recently, we had a small spread of five degrees in 1993 (38/33). There were large spreads of 35 degrees in 1988 (64/29) and 38 degrees in 1979 (69/31).

On the cold side, in 1983 the high was 28 with a low of 13. In 2002 the high was 37 with a low of 14. In 1992 the high was 34 with a low of 20. Another cold high was 36 in 1984. The record low of -1 and record coldest high of 18 were on the same cold day way back in 1888. 26 of the last 32 lows (81%) were in the: 20s (14) and 30s (12). Three lows were in the cold 10s (a.k.a. teens). Three lows were in the warmer 40s.

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. At O'Hare in 1965, this was the third of seven days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. Today 3.5 inches fell. In 1932 in Rockford, 4 inches fell following 11 inches the previous day. Three years ago, in 2008, this was the second day of a two day storm. At O'Hare, 0.6 inches fell, part of a 5.4 inch total. Rockford had 0.3 inches, part of a 5.6 inch total. Midway had 0.4 inches, part of a 3 inch total. Midway's total was held down because part of it was a wintry mix (freezing rain, sleet).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:26 and sunrise is at 6:54. Sunset is at 19:08 and twilight ends at 19:36. There's a total of 12 hours, 14 minutes of daylight today and 13 hours, 10 minutes between twilights. We gained three minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:24 and sunrise is at 6:52. The moon is waning gibbous. Illumination was 91% at midnight, will be 87% at noon and 83% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 8:12 this morning. Moonrise is at 23:21 tonight. Moonset is at 8:56 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 8 hours, 51 minutes which is 37 minutes shorter than yesterday.

April Fool's Day is ten days. The warm part of Spring (Warm Spring) begins in 22 days on April 13. Warm Spring runs for 52 days, through June 3. High temperatures in this period are usually in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Warmer 80s and 90s occur infrequently. -Bernie-