January 26: ORD

Today is January 26th. It's the 26th day of the year. 340 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 30 and 12.

On the warm side, in 2002 the high was 53 with a low of 34, our most recent 30s low. In 1981 the high was 43 with a low of 35, O'Hare's warmest low of the date. Three years later, in 1984, the high was 41 with a low of 31. The other warm highs were 43 in: 1996, 2006 and 2007. The record high of 62 was set in 1944 at Midway. The record warmest low of 49 occurred back in 1916, at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 28 of the past 33 highs (85%) were in the: 20s (13), 30s (8) and 40s (7). On the warm side, one high was in the 50s. O'Hare's warmest high of the date was 57 in 1973. On the cold side, four highs were in the 10s (a.k.a. teens). O'Hare's coldest high of the date was 8 in 1972.

In looking back through the years to the first January at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: in 1977 the low was a cold 2 degrees. In 1976 the low was a cold 4 degrees. In 1974 the high was 44 with a low of 31, a warm day. In 1973 the high was 57 with a low of 29, a warm day. In 1972 the high was 8 with a low of 2, a six degree spread and cold day. In 1971 the high was 32 with a cold low of 2, a 30 degree spread. In 1970 the high was 35 with a warm low of 31, a four degree spread. In 1969 the high was 20 with a low of 5, a cold day. In 1968 the low was a warm 28 degrees. In 1967 the high was 30 with a warm low of 28, a two degree spread. 1967 was the first day of the Blizzard of '67 (see below). In 1963 the high was 10 with a low of -3, a cold day. In 1961 the high was 17 with a low of 1, a cold day.

More recently, there were small spreads of four degrees in 2004 (24/20) and six degrees in 1994 (26/20).

On the cold side, in 1982 the high was 13 with a low of -13, O'Hare's coldest temperature of the date. Three years later, in 1985, the high was 20 with a low of -6. Three years ago, in 2009, the high was 17 with a low of -1. In 1986 the high was 21 with a low of -3. Two years later, in 1988, the high was 19 with a low of 0. Fifteen years later, in 2003, the high was 19 with a low of 1, our most recent single digit low. In 1980 the high was 20 with a low of 1. In 1997 the high was 20 with a low of 0. The other cold low was 0 in 1979. The record low of -16 and record coldest high of -3 were set on the same cold day way back in 1897, at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 26 of the last 33 lows (79%) were in the: single digits (10), 10s (a.k.a. teens) (9) and 20s (7). Four lows were in the cold: negative 10s (a.k.a. negative teens) (1) and negative single digits (3). Three lows were in the warm 30s. Through Winter 2010-11, this is the average fifth coldest day of the year.

There were three instances of back-to-back years in which temperatures were just about as opposite as they can be. The first instance was an opposite and then back again. It began in 1980 with a high of 20 and low of 1, overall 13.5 degrees BELOW normal. Then in 1981 the high was 43 with a low of 35, overall 15 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 1982 the high was 13 with a low of -13, overall 24 degrees BELOW normal. In the second instance, in 1984 the high was 41 with a low of 31, overall 12 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 1985 the high was 20 with a low of -6, overall 17 degrees BELOW normal. In the third instance, in 2002 the high was 53 with a low of 34, overall 19.5 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 2003 the high was 19 with a low of 1, overall 14 degrees BELOW normal.

Today is a major day in O'Hare's snow history. In 1967, 13.4 inches fell. This was the first day of a two-day, 20.4 inch period of snow known as the Blizzard of '67. This paralyzed Chicago for a few days. Midway Airport reported 16.4 inches this day, part of a two-day total of 23 inches. This comprised 80% of Midway's snow for the month. Midway also recorded the most snow for any 24-hour period at 19.8 inches. 2012 is the 45 year anniversary of this storm, the worst in Chicago's history. According to Meteorologist Tom Skilling,"Its wind, snowfall and towering drifts would lead to the abandonment of 50,000 cars on area thoroughfares and the stranding of 800 CTA buses. The storm was responsible for 26 deaths and forced school closings for days beyond the storm itself. The storm started falling at Midway Airport, the city's official observation site at the time, at 5:02 am. It was to continue uninterrupted for nearly 29 hours, then in light bursts for an additional five hours. Wind gusts of 53 mph whipped the snow into drifts as high as 15 feet. The blizzard hit without warning in an era before weather satellites and today's incredibly complex computer models. It was in an era in which weather maps were plotted by hand...(making) it possible for a storm to spin up before forecasters were able to grasp (the storms' real intensity). Evening forecasts (on the 25th) had predicted a 50 percent chance of rain or snow and highs in the 30s, offering no clue of the meteorological behemoth about to cripple the area. The last thing on people's minds was a raging blizzard. After all, temperatures had hit 65 degrees with thunderstorms in the area only three days before."

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:42 and sunrise is at 7:13. Sunset is at 16:59 and twilight ends at 17:30. There's a total of 9 hours, 46 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 48 minutes between twilights. We gained a minute of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:42 and sunrise is at 7:12. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 9% at midnight, will be 13% at noon and 16% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 8:35 this morning. Moonset is at 20:58 tonight. Moonrise is at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 12 hours, 23 minutes which is 37 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 six days. Groundhog Day is in seven days.