March 26: ORD

Today is March 26th. It's the 85th day of the year. 280 days remain. It's week 13 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 50 and the normal low is 32. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 52 and 33.

On the warm side, in 2007 the high was the record high of 79 with the record warmest low of 63. The former record high of 77 occurred in 1976. The former record warmest lows were 56 in 1976 followed by 60 in 1998. In 1998 the high was 75 with a low of 60. Seven years earlier, in 1991, the high was 75 with a low of 52. In 2004 the high was 67 with a low of 45. In 1989 the high was 76 with a low of 34, a 42 degree spread. Other warm highs were 68 in 2000, 65 in 1985, 63 in 1986 and 63 in 1981. 13 of the last 32 highs (40%) were in the 40s. On the warmer side, 14 highs (44%) were in the: 50s (5), 60s (5) and 70s (4). On the cold side, five highs were in the: 20s (1) and 30s (4). Today is the median (middle) date of our first high in the 70s based upon the last 32 years.

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 33 with a low of 31, a two degree spread. In 1977 the high was a warm 69 with a low of 38, a 31 degree spread. In 1976 the high was 77 with a low of 53, the former record high and warm day. In 1975 the high was 35 with a low of 20, a cold day. In 1969 the high was a cold 32 with a low of 22, a cold day. In 1968 the high was 74 with a low of 47, a warm day. In 1967 the high was a warm 65 degrees. In 1966 the high was a cold 38 degrees. In 1965 the high was 28 with a low of 3, a cold day. That low of 3 was colder than the record low (see below). In 1964 the high was 25 with a low of 18, a seven degree spread and a cold day. In 1961 the high was 72 with a low of 47, a warm day. In 1960 the high was 34 with a low of 11, another cold day. In 1959 the high was a cold 38 with a low of 34, a four degree spread.

More recently, we had small spreads of seven degrees in 1982 (34/27) and seven degrees in 1987 (49/42). There were large spreads of 34 degrees in 1985 (65/31), 32 degrees in 2000 (68/36) and 30 degrees in 1986 (63/33).

On the cold side, in 1996 the high was the record coldest high of 23 with a low of 15. The record coldest high of 23 also occurred back in 1937. Five years later, in 2001, the high was 33 with a low of 16. In 1979 the high was 33 with a low of 16. Other cold highs were 34 in 1982 and 38 in 2002. The record low of 7 was set way back in 1873. 16 of the last 32 lows (50%) were in the 30s. 11 lows (34%) were in the cold: 10s (a.k.a. teens) (3) and 20s (8). Five lows were in the warmer: 40s (2), 50s (1) and 60s (2).

Today is a major day in Chicago's snow history. At O'Hare in 1965, this was the seventh of seven days in which a total of 10.2 inches fell. Today 0.7 inches fell. In 1970 at O'Hare, this was the third of five days in which 11.8 inches fell. Today 4.8 inches fell. At Midway in 1970, 8.9 inches fell. This was the second of two days in which a total of 14.3 inches fell.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:19 and sunrise is at 6:47. Sunset is at 19:12 and twilight ends at 19:40. There's a total of 12 hours, 25 minutes of daylight today and 13 hours, 21 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:17 and sunrise is at 6:45. The moon reaches last quarter this morning at 7:07. Illumination was 53% at midnight, will be 48% at noon and 43% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 2:24 this morning. Moonset is at 11:45 this morning. Moonrise is at 3:06 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 21 minutes which is nine minutes longer than yesterday.

April Fool's Day is six days. The warm part of Spring (Warm Spring) begins in 18 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-