July 1: ORD

Today is July 1st. It's the 183rd day of the year. 183 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 82 and 59.

On the hot side, in 2002 the high was 93 with a low of 75. In 1991 the high was 97 with a low of 67. Another low of 67 happened in 1994. Other hot highs include 91 in 1992, 90 in 1980, 90 in 1997, 90 two years ago, 89 in 1989 and 87 in 1994. The record high of 103 was set in 1956 and the record warmest low of 78 was set in 1931. 22 of the 29 highs so far have been in the 70s (11) and 80s (11).

On the cool side, in 1982 the high was 76 with the record low of 46. In 1986 the high was 66 with a low of 58. In 1981 the high was 70. Cool lows were 49 in 1984, 50 in 2001, 51 in 1979 and 52 in 1985. The record coolest high of 61 was set in 1924. 26 of the 29 lows so far have been 50s (13) and 60s (13).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:46 and sunrise is at 5:21. Sunset is at 20:33 and twilight ends at 21:08. There's a total of 15 hours, 12 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 22 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 5% visible at midnight and 3% visible at noon. Moonrise was at 3:17 and moonset is at 19:43. Moonrise will be at 4:24 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 16 hours, 26 minutes today. The moon will be new on Wednesday at 21:19.

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