May 16: ORD

Today is May 16th. It's the 137th day of the year. 229 days remain.

Unless noted, the following data is based upon observations collected by the National Weather Service, Chicago, at O'Hare International Airport (ORD) between 1979 and 2007. Observations have been official at O'Hare since Jan. 17, 1980.

Before this, Midway International Airport (MDW) was the official station of record from Wed. July 1, 1942 to Thu. Jan. 17, 1980. Before July 1, 1942, records were official at various locations in the city going all the way back to Mon. Oct. 16, 1871. Records before this (back to Sat. Oct. 15, 1870) were lost during the Great Chicago Fire which began on the evening of Sun. Oct. 8, 1871.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high for today is 70 and the normal low is 47.
The 29-year averages are 71 and 48.

On the warm side, in 2001 the high was 89 with a low of 64. In 1991 the high was 86 with a low of 63. In 1992 the high was 88 with a low of 58. In 1998, the high was 82 with a low of 62. Other mid 80s highs: 83 in 1982, 1987 and 1999. Other warm lows: 62 in 1986, 60 in 1990 and 59 in 1995. Both the record high and record warmest low were set in 1962: 94 and 69 degrees respectively.

On the cool side, no means were at least 12 degrees below normal, but there were five highs and four lows that were cooler than the normals. As for the highs, these are 57 in 1996, 60 in 1985, 60 in 2005, 61 in 1994 and 62 in 1980. The lows are the record low of 33 which was set in 1997 (former record was 34 in 1888), 35 in 1983, 36 in 1984 and 37 in 2004. The record coolest high of 44 was set way back in 1891.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:59 and sunrise is at 5:31. Sunset is at 20:09 and twilight ends at 20:42. There's a total of 14 hours, 38 minutes of sunlight and 15 hours, 43 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous with 87% visible at midnight, 90% visible at noon and 93% visible at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 3:28 and moonrise is at 17:13. The moon will set at 3:50 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 15 minutes today. The moon will reach full (the full Flower moon) on Monday, May 19 at 21:11.

Memorial Day is in ten days. One of my sisters, Maria, is celebrating her 29th birthday today. I wish her happy birthday!

- Bernie -