June 22: ORD

Today is June 22nd. It's the 174th day of the year. 192 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 81 and the normal low is 59. The 29-year averages are 81 and 60.

On the hot side, in 1988 the high was the record high of 97 with a low of 66. In 1995 the high was 93 with a low of 69. In 1989 the high was 91 with a low of 68. In 2002 the high was 92 with a low of 67. Other warm highs were 92 in 1983, 88 (in 1994 & 1997) and 87 in 1993. The other upper 60s low was 69 in 1986. The record warmest low is 76 in 1923. 20 of the past 29 highs have been in the 70s (8) and 80s (12).

On the cool side, in 1992 the high was 65 with the near record low of 41 (the record is 40, set way back in 1875). In 1982 the high was 69 with a low of 46. Other cool highs were 67 in 1991 and 69 in 2001. The record coolest high is 55, set way back in 1881. 27 of the 29 lows have been in the 50s (11) and 60s (16).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:43 and sunrise is at 5:17. Sunset is at 20:34 and twilight ends at 21:08. There's a total of 15 hours, 17 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 25 minutes between twilights. In terms of the length of sunlight, today is our longest day of the year. The moon is waning gibbous with 89% visible at midnight and 85% visible at noon. Moonset is at 8:53 and moonrise is at 23:16. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 37 minutes today. The full Strawberry moon was Wednesday at 12:30. The Summer Solstice was Friday at 18:59.

Independence day is in 12 days and my mother will celebrate her birthday in 18 days. -Bernie-