January 8: ORD

Today is January 8th. It's the 8th day of the year. 358 days remain. It's week 2 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 29 and 15.

On the warm side, in 2008 the high was 56 with a low of 37. Five years prior, in 2003, the high was 54 with a low of 37. Those lows of 37 were O'Hare's warmest lows of the date. In 1992 the high was 44 with a low of 35. In 2006 the high was 45 with a low of 32. In 1990 the high was 47 with a low of 28. A decade later, in 2000, the high was 45 with a low of 29. Another warm low was 32 in 1998. The record high of 63 was set in 1965 at Midway and the record warmest low of 45 was set way back in 1876, at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. 20 of the past 33 highs (61%) were in the: 20s (13) and 30s (7). On the warm side, seven highs (21%) were in the: 40s (5) and 50s (2). O'Hare's warmest high was 60 in 1965. On the cold side, six highs (18%) were in the: single digits (2) and 10s (a.k.a. teens) (4). O'Hare's coldest highs were 0 in 1970 and 4 in 1976.

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 35 with a cold low of 2, a 33 degree spread. In 1977 the high was 19 with a low of 1, a cold day. In 1976 the high was 4 with a low of -9, a cold day. In 1975 the high was 43 with a low of 35, a warm day. In 1974 the high was 21 with a cold low of 2, a cold day. In 1972 the high was a warm 43 degrees. In 1971 the high was 26 with a cold low of -1, a cold day. In 1970 the high was 0 with a low of -4, a four degree spread and cold day. 1970 was also the year of the record coldest high, also 0. In 1968 the high was 15 with a low of -6, a cold day. In 1966 the high was 20 with a cold low of 1, a cold day. In 1965 the high was a warm 60 with a low of 17, a 43 degree spread and warm day. A high in the 60s is a rarity in January. This day, in 1965, was the day of the record high of 63 at Midway. In 1963 the high was 43 with a low of 30, a warm day. In 1962 the high was 17 with a low of -1, a cold day.

More recently, we had a small spreads of three degrees in 1998 (35/32), three degrees in 2005 (27/24) and seven degrees in 1987 (32/25). There were no large spreads of 30 degrees or more.

On the cold side, in 1979 the high was 6 with a low of -10, O'Hare's coldest low. The record low of -11 was most recently set in 1942 at the University of Chicago. It was also -11 in 1875, also at a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. In 1994 the high was 9 with a low of -6. In 1986 the high was 17 with a low of -8. Two years later, in 1988, the high was 19 with a low of -3. In 1982 the high was 20 with a low of -3. In 1995 the high was 19 with a low of 4. In 1981 the high was 20 with a low of 5. A year earlier, in 1980, the high was 17 with a low of 8. The other cold low was 3 in 1996. The record coldest high of 0 was set in 1970 at Midway. 23 of the last 33 lows (70%) were in the: single digits (8), 10s (a.k.a. teens) (7) and 20s (8). Five lows (15%) were in the cold: negative 10s (a.k.a. negative teens) (1) and negative single digits (4). Prior to 1979, O'Hare's coldest reading was -9 in 1976. Five lows (15%) were in the warm 30s. Through Winter 2010-11, this is the average eleventh coldest day of the year.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:50 and sunrise is at 7:22 (the latest sunrise of the year). Sunset is at 16:38 and twilight ends at 17:10. There's a total of 9 hours, 16 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 20 minutes between twilights. We gained a minute of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:50 and sunrise is at 7:22 (the latest sunrise of the year). The moon is waxing gibbous, heading towards the full Wolf (a.k.a. Old) moon tomorrow at 0:15. Illumination was 99% at midnight, will be 100% at noon and 100% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 6:40 this morning. Moonrise was at 16:22 this afternoon. Moonset is at 7:21 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 42 minutes which is 15 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. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is in eight days.