June 2: ORD

Today is June 2nd. It's the 154th day of the year. 212 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 76 and the normal low is 53. The 29-year averages are 73 and 53.

On the hot side, in 1990 the high was 85 with a low of 64. Other 80s highs of note include 83 in both 1984 and 1991. Other warm lows include 65 last year, 64 in 1981 and 63 in 1987. The record high of 92 was set in 1944 and the record warmest low of 73 was set in 1943. 13 highs have been in the 70s, making it the largest category.

On the cool side, in 1986 the high was 60 with a low of 45. In 2001 the high was 56 with a low of 50. In 2003 the high was 68 with a record low (and only 30s low) of 38 (former record low was 43 in 1910). Another cool high was 58 in 1993. We had a low of 45 in 1994 and 46 in 2002. The record coolest high of 51 occurred in 1929. 17 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 50s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:45 and sunrise is at 5:19. Sunset is at 20:24 and twilight ends at 20:58. There's a total of 15 hours, 5 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 13 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 4% visible at midnight and 2% visible at noon. Moonrise is at 3:50 and moonset is at 19:40. Moonlight time is 15 hours, 50 minutes today. The moon will reach New tomorrow at 14:23.

My father turns 68 in nine days. Happy Birthday Dad! Flag day is in 12 days and Father's Day is in 13 days. - Bernie -