April 14: ORD

Today is April 14th. It's the 104th day of the year. 261 days remain. It's week 15 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 57 and the normal low is 37. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 60 and 39.

On the warm side, in 2006 the high was 81 with the record tying warmest low of 63. The record warmest low of 63 was originally set way back in 1883. Three years before, in 2003, the high was the record high of 85 with a low of 48, a 37 degree spread. The former record high of 83 occurred back in 1941. Last year, in 2010, the high was 80 with a low of 46, a 34 degree spread. In 2002 the high was 77 with a low of 41, a 36 degree spread. In 1991 the high was 69 with a low of 48. Other warm highs were 76 in 2000 and 71 in 1994. 21 of the last 32 highs (66%) were in the: 50s (13) and 60s (8). On the warmer side, six highs (19%) were in the: 70s (3) and 80s (3). On the cold side, five highs (16%) were in the: 30s (1) and 40s (4).

In looking back through the years to the first April at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1976 the high was a warm 80 with a low of 47, a 33 degree spread and warm day. In 1969 the low was a warm 49 degrees. In 1967 the high was 74 with a low of 58, a warm day. In 1966 the high was 59 with a low of 27, a 32 degree spread. In 1963 the high was 59 with a low of 28, a 31 degree spread. In 1962 the high was a cold 45 degrees. In 1960 the high was 64 with a warm low of 54, a warm day.

More recently, we had large spreads of 39 degrees in 2004 (68/29), 36 degrees in 2000 (76/40) and 30 degrees in 2005 (63/33).

On the cold side, in 1980 the high was 35 with a low of 31, a four degree spread. In 1996 the high was 44 with a low of 33. Another cold high was 44 two years ago in 2009. The record low of 23 was set way back in 1907 and tied back in 1943. The record coldest high of 32 was set way back in 1893. 29 of the last 32 lows (91%) were in the: 30s (16) and 40s (13). Two lows were in the cold 20s. One low was in the warmer 60s. No lows have been in the 50s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:46 and sunrise is at 6:15. Sunset is at 19:33 and twilight ends at 20:03. There's a total of 13 hours, 18 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 17 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:44 and sunrise is at 6:13. The moon is waxing gibbous and will be full in three days as the full Pink (a.k.a. Sprouting Grass, Egg or Fish) moon at 21:44. Illumination was 79% at midnight, will be 84% at noon and 88% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 3:55 this morning. Moonrise is at 15:43 this afternoon. Moonset is at 4:25 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 12 hours, 12 minutes which is 43 minutes shorter than yesterday.

The warm part of Spring (Warm Spring) began today. 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. Palm Sunday is in three days. -Bernie-