June 30: ORD

Today is June 30th. It's the 182nd day of the year. 184 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 November 1978 and last year. Observations have been official at O'Hare since Thu. 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 82 and the normal low is 61. The 29-year averages are 81 and 60.

On the hot side, in 1996 the high was 94 with a low of 73. In 2005 the high was 91 with a low of 72. In 2002 the high was 93 with a low of 69. In 1990 the high was 91 with a low of 69. In 2001, the high was the only upper 80s high of 88 with a low of 68. The record high of 99 was set in 1953 and the record warmest low of 80 was set in 1931. 23 of the 29 highs so far have been in the 70s (9) and 80s (14).

On the cool side, in 1982 the high was 70 with a low of 47. In 1986 the high was 64 with a low of 59. In 1984 the high was 72 with a low of 52. In 1988 the high was 72 with a low of 52. The high was 69 in 1993. Other cool lows were 51 in 1979 and 52 in 2000. The record low of 45 was set in 1943. The record coolest high of 59 was set in 1902. 25 of the 29 lows so far have been 50s (15) and 60s (10).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:46 and sunrise is at 5:20. Sunset is at 20:34 and twilight ends at 21:08. There's a total of 15 hours, 14 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 22 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 12% visible at midnight and 8% visible at noon. Moonrise was at 2:24 and moonset is at 18:32. Moonrise will be at 3:17 tonight. Moonlight time is 16 hours, 8 minutes today. The moon will be new on Wednesday at 21:19.

Our nation's 232nd birthday (Independence Day) is in four days and my mother will celebrate her 67th birthday in ten days. Happy birthday mom! -Bernie-