July 16: ORD

Today is July 16th. It's the 198th day of the year. 168 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 84 and the normal low is 63. The 29-year averages are 86 and 65.

On the hot side, in 1988 the high was the near record high of 99 (the record is 100, set way back in 1887) with a low of 70. Two years ago the high was 94 with a low of 74. In 1995 the high was 93 with a low of 74. In 1982 the high was 90 with a low of 75. In 1986 the high was 93 with a low of 72. In 1997 the high was 94 with a low of 70. In 1999 the high was 92 with a low of 71. in 1983 the high was 91 with a low of 71. Other 90s highs include 93 in 2005 and 91 in both 1980 and 1991. Another 70s low was 72 in 1998. The record warmest low of 80 was set way back in 1878. 26 of the past 29 highs were 80s (15) and 90s (11).

On the cool side, in 1979 the high was 74 with a low of 55. In 1987 the high was 80 with a low of 52. In 1985 the high was 76 with a low of 57. The other 70s high was 75 in 1992. The other 50s lows were 57 in 1984 and 59 in both 1989 and 2003. The record coolest high of 62 was set in 1912 and the record low of 49 occurred in 1945. 14 of the 29 lows so far have been 60s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:58 and sunrise is at 5:31. Sunset is at 20:27 and twilight ends at 21:00. There's a total of 14 hours, 56 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 2 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous with 96% visible at midnight, 98% visible at noon and 99% visible at midnight tonight. The moon has just set at 3:33 this morning. Moonrise is at 19:45 and moonset is at 4:33 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 7 hours, 48 minutes today. The moon will reach full (the full Buck moon) on Friday at 2:59.

My niece will celebrate her 14th in two days. Happy birthday Katy! Parent's Day is in 11 days. -Bernie-