July 10: ORD

Today is July 10th. It's the 192nd day of the year. 174 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 83 and the normal low is 63. The 29-year averages are 85 and 63.

On the hot side, in 1989 the high was a near-record 101 (record is 102, set in 1936) with the only 70s low of 73. In 1984 the high was 99 with a low of 66. In 1987 the high was 92 with a low of 69. In 2001 the high was 93 with a low of 68. In 1993 the high was 90 with a low of 68. Last year the high was 89 with a low of 69. Other hot highs include 91 (1980, 1981, 2005), 90 (1979) and 87 (1983, 1995). Other warm lows include 69 in 2002 and 68 in 1982. The record warmest low of 80 was set in 1936 (same year as the record high). 28 of the past 29 highs have been in the 70s (8), 80s (12) and 90s (8).

On the cool side, in 1996 the high was 75 with the co-record low of 50. In 1997 the high was 78 with the other co-record low of 50. In 1999 the high was 74 with a low of 54. Other cool highs include 73 two years ago and 74 in 1994. Other cool lows include 56 in both 1981 and 1986. The record coolest high of 62 was set in 1917. 21 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 60s.

Note: 1981 was kind of a dual temperature day: both the high of 91 and low of 56 (a 35-degree difference) were noteworthy for hottest and coolest.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:53 and sunrise is at 5:27. Sunset is at 20:30 and twilight ends at 21:04. There's a total of 15 hours, 3 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 11 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous with 51% visible at midnight and 56% visible at noon. Moonrise is at 13:59 and moonset is at 0:21 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 1 minute today. The moon just passed first quarter which occurred yesterday at 23:35.

My mother is celebrating her 67th birthday today and my niece, Katy, will celebrate her 14th in eight days. Happy birthday to both of you! -Bernie-