May 30: ORD

Today is May 30th. It's the 151st day of the year. 215 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 is 75 and the normal low is 52. The 29-year averages are 77 and 55.

On the warm side, two years ago the high was 89 degrees with a low of 67. In 1991 the high was 88 with a low of 66. In 1994 the high was 90 with a low of 64. In 1987 the high was 85 with a low of 68. Last year the high was 87 with a low of 66. In 1980 the high was 86 with a low of 66. Other warm highs include 91 in 1988, 87 in 1998, 85 in 1989 and 84 in 1999. The record high of 93 was set in 1942 and tied in 1953. The record warmest low of 72 was set in 1921. 13 of the past 29 highs have been in the and 80s.

On the cool side, 1983 saw the only 50s high of 55 with a low of 45. The high in 1996 was 65 with a low of 36. In 1990 the high was 65 with a low of 42. The other cool high was 65 in 1981. The low was 39 degrees in 1984 ('84 and '96 had the only lows in the 30s). The record coolest high was set way back in 1889 at 42 degrees. The record low of 35 was set way, way back in 1873. 20 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 40s (9), 60s (11).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:47 and sunrise is at 5:20. Sunset is at 20:22 and twilight ends at 20:56. There's a total of 15 hours, 2 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 9 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 28% visible at midnight and 23% visible at noon. Moonrise was at 2:18 and moonset is at 15:39. Moonrise is at 2:43 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 21 minutes today. The moon reached the last quarter last Tuesday at 21:57.

My father turns 68 in 12 days. Happy Birthday Dad! Flag day is in 15 days and Father's Day is in 16 days. - Bernie -