July 29: ORD

Today is July 29th. It's the 211th day of the year. 155 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 Thursday, January 17, 1980.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 84 and the normal low is 64. The 29-year averages are 85 and 63.

On the hot side, in 1983 the high was 96 with a low of 72. Two years ago the high was 94 with a low of 74. In 1988 the high was 97 with a low of 70. Other 90s highs include 96 in 1999, 95 in 1995, 91 in 1987 and 90 in 2001. Other 70s lows include 73 in 1990 and 71 in 2002. The record high of 99 was set way back in 1913 and the record warmest low of 85 was set three years later in 1916. 14 of the 29 highs so far have been 80s. There have been eight highs in the 70s and seven in the 90s as well. In 1999 the dew point was a very high 82 degrees.

On the cool side, in 1981 the high was 74 with a low of 51. In 1984 the high was 79 with the record low of 50. Other cool highs were 73 in 1992 and 74 in 1997. The record coolest high of 63 was set way back in 1892. 16 of the 29 lows have been in the 60s. Eight lows have been in the 50s and five in the 70s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:12 and sunrise is at 5:44. Sunset is at 20:15 and twilight ends at 20:47. There's a total of 14 hours, 31 minutes of sunlight and 15 hours, 35 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 14% visible at midnight and 10% visible at noon. Moonrise was at 2:04 and moonset is at 18:28. Moonlight time is 16 hours, 24 minutes today.

In exactly three weeks, my tennis coach, Bob Finder, will be 76 years old. He is a testament that age has nothing to do with ability and performance. He is a master of the sport and is a shining example of the wealth of knowledge our elders can give us, provided we just take the time to listen. -Bernie-