January 28: ORD

Today is January 28th. It's the 28th day of the year. 338 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 17. I've calculated the 33-year averages at 31 and 16.

On the warm side, in 2006 the high was 49 with a low of 36. In 1989 the high was 49 with a low of 34. In 2002 the high was 47 with a low of 34. Four years before, in 1998, the high was 40 with a low of 31. The other warm high was 44 in 2008. The other warm lows were 31 in 1999 and 29 in 1979. The record high of 60 was originally set way back in 1876 and also back in 1914, both at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. The record warmest low of 40 occurred in 1968 at Midway. 17 of the past 33 highs (52%) were in the 30s. O'Hare had seven consecutive 30s highs from 1990 through 1996. On the warm side, five highs (15%) were in the 40s. O'Hare's warmest and only 50s high of the date was 51 in 1970. On the cold side, 11 highs (33%) were in the: single digits (1), 10s (a.k.a. teens) (5) and 20s (5). O'Hare's coldest and only sub-zero high of the date was -4 in 1966.

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 14 with a low of 2, a cold day. In 1977 the high was 20 with a cold low of -11, a 31 degree spread, year of the record low of -13 (at Midway) and a cold day. In 1976 the high was 39 with a cold low of 3, a 36 degree spread. In 1975 the low was a warm 30 degrees. In 1974 the high was 34 with a low of 27, a seven degree spread. In 1972 the high was 10 with a low of -8, a cold day. In 1971 the high was 11 with a low of -3, a cold day. In 1970 the high was 51 with a low of 35, a warm day. In 1969 the low was a warm 31 degrees. In 1968 the high was 45 with a low of 38, a seven degree spread, a warm day and year of the record warmest low of 40 (at Midway). In 1966 the high was -4 with a low of -14, a cold day and year of the record coldest high of -3 (at Midway). In 1965 the high was 26 with a cold low of -6, a 32 degree spread and cold day. In 1964 the low was a cold 1 degree. In 1963 the high was 8 with a low of -14, a cold day. In 1962 the high was 26 with a low of 20, a six degree spread. In 1961 the high was 21 with a cold low of 0, a cold day. In 1960 the high was 34 with a warm low of 29, a five degree spread.

More recently, there were small spreads of three degrees in: 1979 (32/29) and 1999 (34/31). The spread was six degrees in 1992 (33/27).

On the cold side, in 1997 the high was 9 with a low of -5. In 1980 the high was 11 with a low of 0. In 2004 the high was 11 with a low of 2. In 1986 the high was 18 with a low of 1. The prior year, 1985, the high was 20 with a low of 2. Two years ago, in 2010, the high was 17 with a low of 6. The other cold low was 2 in 2005. The other cold high was 18 three years ago in 2009. The record low of -13 was originally set in 1963 and tied in 1977, both at Midway. The record coldest high of -3 occurred in 1966 at Midway. 27 of the last 33 lows (82%) were in the: single digits (11), 10s (a.k.a. teens) (7) and 20s (9). One low was in the cold negative single digits. O'Hare's coldest readings of the date were -14 in 1963, -14 in 1966 and -11 in 1977. Five lows were in the warm 30s. O'Hare's warmest low of the date was 38 in 1968.

There was an instance of back-to-back years in which temperatures were just about as opposite as they can be. In 1997 the high was 9 with a low of -5, overall 22 degrees BELOW normal. Then in 1998 the high was 40 with a low of 31, overall 11.5 degrees ABOVE normal.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:41 and sunrise is at 7:11. Sunset is at 17:02 and twilight ends at 17:32. There's a total of 9 hours, 51 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 51 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:40 and sunrise is at 7:10. The moon is waxing crescent and will reach first quarter in two days at 22:10. Illumination was 24% at midnight, will be 28% at noon and 32% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 9:26 this morning. Moonset is at 22:58 tonight. Moonrise is at 9:53 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 32 minutes which is 34 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 four days. Groundhog Day is in five days.