January 22: ORD

Today is January 22nd. It's the 22nd day of the year. 344 days remain. It's week 4 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 33 and 18.

On the warm side, in 2002 the high was 55 with a low of 32. Three years earlier, in 1999, the high was 46 (our most recent 40s high) with a low of 38 (O'Hare's warmest low of the date). A decade earlier, in 1989, the high was 50 with a low of 30. In 1996 the high was 43 with a low of 31. In 1990 the high was 42 with a low of 31. In 1981 the high was 47 with a low of 24. In 1992 the high was 41 with a low of 30. Five years later, in 1997, the high was 46 with a low of 25. The other warm lows were 33 in 2010, 32 in 1983, 31 in 1998 and 28 in 1993. The record high of 59 and record warmest low of 51 were set on the same warm day way back in 1909, at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 22 of the past 33 highs (67%) were in the: 20s (11) and 30s (11). O'Hare had consecutive 20s & 30s highs as follows: seven years from 1982 through 1988 and six years from 2005 through 2010. Last year's high of 17 broke the most recent streak. On the warm side, eight highs (24%) were in the: 40s (6) and 50s (2). O'Hare's warmest high of the date was 58 in 1967. O'Hare also had a high of 55 three years earlier in 1964. On the cold side, three highs (9%) were in the 10s (a.k.a. teens). O'Hare's coldest high of the date was 8 in 1959.

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 21 with a cold low of -6, a cold day. In 1977 the high was 25 with a cold low of -1, a cold day. In 1974 the high was 36 with a warm low of 34, a two degree spread. In 1973 the high was 42 with a warm low of 34, a warm day. In 1972 low was a warm 29 degrees. In 1970 the high was 19 with a low of -12, a cold day. In 1969 the high was 46 with a low of 37, a warm day. In 1968 the low was a warm 29 degrees. In 1967 the high was 58 with a low of 36, a warm day. The warmth of 1967 was pre-blizzard warmth as Winter would soon come back in dramatic fashion. The high of 58 was just a degree short of the record high of 59. In 1965 the high was 42 with a low of 34, a warm day. In 1964 the high was 55 with a low of 37, a warm day. In 1963 the high was 19 with a low of -6, a cold day. In 1961 the high was 10 with a low of -7, a cold day. In 1959 the high was 8 with a low of -5, a cold day.

More recently, we had small spreads of two degrees in 1998 (33/31), two degrees two years ago, in 2010 (35/33), three degrees in 1983 (35/32), four degrees in 1988 (29/25), six degrees in 1995 (22/16) and six degrees in 2007 (31/25).

On the cold side, in 2003 the high was 14 with a low of 3. Last year, in 2011, the high was 17 with a low of 5. In 2004 the high was 19 with a low of 3. In 1991 the high was 26 with a low of -3. The other cold low was 4 in 1984. The record low of -17 was most recently set back in 1936 (also way back in 1883) and the record coldest high of -4 was set way back in 1883. These records were set at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 16 of the last 33 lows (48%) were in the: 20s (7) and 30s (9). On the cold side, 17 lows (52%) were in the: negative single digits (1), single digits (7) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (9). O'Hare's coldest reading of the date is -12 in 1970.

There were two instances of back-to-back years in which temperatures were just about as opposite as they can be. The first instance was a back-to-back-to-back situation: In 1990 the high was 42 with a low of 31, overall 12.5 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 1991 the high was 26 with a low of -3, overall 12.5 degrees BELOW normal. Then in 1992 the high was 41 with a low of 30, overall 11.5 degrees ABOVE normal. In the second instance, in 2002 the high was 55 with a low of 32, overall 19.5 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 2003 the high was 14 with a low of 3, overall 15.5 degrees BELOW normal.

Today is a major day in O'Hare's snow history. In 2005, 6.2 inches fell. This was the third day of a four day, 12.7 inch period of snow. Along with the 9.8 inches that fell earlier on January 4-6, this comprised 22.5 inches or 81% of the month's total of 27.8 inches.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:45 and sunrise is at 7:16. Sunset is at 16:54 and twilight ends at 17:25. There's a total of 9 hours, 38 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 40 minutes between twilights. We gained a minute of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:45 and sunrise is at 7:15. The moon is waning crescent and will be new tomorrow at 1:39. Illumination was 1% at midnight, will be 0% at noon and 0% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 6:32 this morning. Moonset is at 16:36 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 7:09 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 4 minutes which is 24 minutes longer 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 ten days. Groundhog Day is in 11 days.