January 19: ORD

Today is January 19th. It's the 19th day of the year. 347 days remain. It's week 3 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. Observations have been official at O'Hare since Thursday, January 17, 1980. Before this, the official site was on the south side of Chicago at Midway International Airport (MDW), beginning on Wednesday, July 1, 1942. Before that, the official site was at various locations in Chicago going back to Monday, October 16, 1871. Observations taken from October 15, 1870 to October 8, 1871 were lost in the Great Chicago Fire.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 31 and the normal low is 16. I've calculated the 33-year averages at 29 and 13.

On the warm side, in 2006 the high was 55 (O'Hare's warmest of the date) with a low of 27. In 1989 the high was 49 with a low of 25. Two years later, in 1991, the high was 44 (O'Hare's most recent 40s high) with a low of 29. A decade earlier, in 1981, the high was 43 with a low of 28. Seven years later, in 1988, the high was 38 with a low of 33, a five degree spread. The other warm lows were 32 in 1995 and 28 in 1986. The record high of 57 was set back in 1933 and the record warmest low of 38 was set way back in 1880. Both records were set at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 23 of the past 33 highs (70%) were in the: 20s (11) and 30s (12). There were seven consecutive 20s & 30s highs from 1997 through 2003. On the warm side, four highs were in the: 40s (3) and 50s (1). On the cold side, six highs were in the: single digits (3) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (3). O'Hare had a high of 3 in 1970. This equals the record coldest high of 3 set in 1994. Of course, O'Hare was not the station of record in 1970 (Midway was).

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: in 1978 the high was 28 with a low of 21, a seven degree spread. In 1977 the high was 16 with a low of 1, a cold day. In 1974 the high was 36 with a warm low of 35, a one degree spread and warm day. In 1973 the high was 48 with a low of 26, a warm day. In 1971 the high was 19 with a low of 4, a cold day. In 1970 the high was 3 with a low of -11, cold day. In 1969 the high was 32 with a low of 26, a six degree spread. In 1968 the high was 36 with a warm low of 32, a four degree spread and warm day. In 1966 the high was 22 with a cold low of -7, a cold day. In 1965 the low was a cold 4 degrees. In 1964 the high was 45 with a low of 32, a warm day. In 1963 the high was 10 with a low of 3, a seven degree spread and cold day. In 1962 the high was 17 with a low of -2, a cold day.

More recently, we had a large spread of 38 degrees in 1992 as the high was 33 and the low was -5. The small spread was 4 degrees in 1995 (high of 36, low of 32).

On the cold side, in 1994 the high was the record coldest high of 3 with a low of -19. In 1985 the high was 10 with the record low of -23, a 33 degree spread. A year earlier, in 1984, the high was 8 with a low of -13. In 2008 the high was 6 with a low of -3. In 1996 the high was 13 with a low of 4. In 2004 the high was 18 (our most recent 10s or teens high) with a low of 3. The other cold lows were -5 in 1992, -1 in 1997 and 3 in 2003. 25 of the last 33 lows (76%) were in the: single digits (6), 10s (a.k.a. teens) (9) and 20s (10). Six lows were in the cold: negative 20s (1), negative 10s (a.k.a. negative teens) (2) and negative single digits (3). Before 1984, O'Hare's coldest low was -11 in 1970. Two lows were in the warm 30s. O'Hare's warmest low of the date is 35 in 1974. Through Winter 2010-11, this is the average third coldest day of the year.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:47 and sunrise is at 7:18. Sunset is at 16:51 and twilight ends at 17:21. There's a total of 9 hours, 33 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 34 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:46 and sunrise is at 7:17. The moon is waning crescent, having passed last quarter three days ago at 3:08. Illumination was 20% at midnight, will be 15% at noon and 11% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 3:55 this morning. Moonset is at 13:21 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 4:55 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 26 minutes which is 13 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Winter began December 1st and runs for 102 days through March 11th. High temperatures in this period are usually in the 20s and 30s. Highs in the 40s and 50s occur infrequently. National Freedom Day is in 13 days. Groundhog Day is in 14 days.