June 23: ORD

Today is June 23rd. It's the 175th day of the year. 191 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 1997 and 2002 the highs were 92 and the lows were 72. In 1989 the high was 89 with a low of 69. In 1995 the high was 91 with a low of 67. Other hot highs include 93 (1983 & 2005), 88 (2003) and 87 (1987, 1993 and 1998). Another warm low was 69 in 1999. The record high of 97 was set in 1930 and the record warmest low of 79 was set in 1923. 22 of the past 29 highs have been 70s (9) and 80s (13).

On the cool side, in 1979 the high was the record coolest high of 59 with a low of 50. The other cool high was 67 last year. The record low of 44 was set in 1982. 26 of the 29 lows have been in the 50s (13) and 60s (13).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:43 and sunrise is at 5:18. Sunset is at 20:34 and twilight ends at 21:08. There's a total of 15 hours, 16 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 25 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning gibbous with 82% visible at midnight and 78% visible at noon. Moonset is at 9:59 and moonrise is at 23:39. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 20 minutes today. The last quarter moon is Thursday at 7:10.

Independence day is in 11 days and my mother will celebrate her 67th birthday in 17 days. Happy birthday mom! -Bernie-