May 2: ORD

Today is May 2nd. It's the 123rd day of the year. 243 days remain.
The following data is based upon observations collected by the National Weather Service, Chicago, at O'Hare International Airport (ORD) between 1979 and 2007.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high for today is 66 and the normal low is 42. The 29-year averages are 64 and 42.

On the warm side, in 2001 we had our lone 80s high at 81 degrees and the record warmest low (and lone 60s low) of 65 degrees. In 1992 the high was 76 with a low of 50. The mid 70s highs were 76 in 1982, 75 in 1980, 75 in 1988, 73 in 1979 and 73 in 1999. The other 50s lows were 52 in 1993, 52 in 2006 and 51 in 1998. The record high of 91 was set in 1959. There were no highs in the upper 70s.

On the cold side, we had our only sub-50 degree high for the date at 44 degrees in 2005 with a low of 35. In 2004 we had a high of 51 and the only lower 30s low of 32. The only other 50s high was 50 in 1989. The record coldest high of 37 was set in 1940 and the record low of 27 was set way back in 1875.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:16 and sunrise is at 5:47. Sunset is at 19:54 and twilight ends at 20:25. There's a total of 14 hours, 7 minutes of sunlight and 15 hours, 9 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 15% visible at midnight and 11% visible at noon. The moon will be new at 7:18 on May 5th. Mother's Day is in 9 days and Memorial Day is in 24 days. One of my sisters, Maria, will be celebrating her 29th birthday in two weeks. I wish her happy birthday!

- Bernie Ziegler