June 17: ORD

Today is June 17th. It's the 169th day of the year. 197 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 80 and the normal low is 58. The 29-year averages are 81 and 58.

On the hot side, in 1984 the high was 92 with the co-record warmest low of 77 (the low was also 77 in 1957). Two years ago the high was 92 with a low of 72. In 1994 the high was 93 with a low of 70. Last year the high was 91 with a low of 70. Other 90s include 94 in 1987, 91 in 1993 and 90 in 1995. The high was 89 in 1990 and 87 in 2001. The record high of 96 was set in 1957.

On the cool side, in 1999 the high was 66 with a low of 48. Other cool highs include 64 in 2000, 67 in 1986 and 69 in 1997. Other cool lows include the record low of 42, set in 1980 and a low of 45 in 1982. 22 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 50s (14) and 60s (8).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:42 and sunrise is at 5:16. Sunset is at 20:32 and twilight ends at 21:07. There's a total of 15 hours, 16 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 25 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous with 98% visible at midnight and 99% visible at noon. Moonset is at 3:57 and moonrise is at 20:14. Moonlight time is 7 hours, 43 minutes today. The moon will reach the full Strawberry stage tomorrow at 12:30.

Independence day is in 17 days. -Bernie-