July 30: ORD

Today is July 30th. It's the 212th day of the year. 154 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 83 and the normal low is 64. The 29-year averages are 83 and 63.

On the hot side, in 1999 the high was the near-record high of 101 (the record is 102, set way back in 1916) with a low of 78. The dew point was a humid 82 this day. Two years ago the high was 90 with a low of 77. In 1995 the high was 96 with a low of 70. In 1988 the high was 95 with a low of 70. In 2001 the high was 90 with a low of 70. In 2002 the high was 91 with a low of 69. In 1987 the high was 91 with a low of 68. The record high of 102, as mentioned above, occurred way back in 1916 and the record warmest low of 84 was established the same day. 26 of the 29 highs so far have been 70s (9), 80s (10) and 90s (7).

On the cool side, in 1992 the high was 65 with a low of 58. Another 60s high of 69 occurred in 1985. The high was 72 in 2004. The cool 50s lows were the record low of 50 in 1984 and 53 (1981, 2003). The record coolest high of 62 was set way back in 1895. 24 of the 29 lows have been in the 50s (10) and 60s (14).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:13 and sunrise is at 5:45. Sunset is at 20:14 and twilight ends at 20:46. There's a total of 14 hours, 29 minutes of sunlight and 15 hours, 33 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 7% visible at midnight and 4% visible at noon. Moonrise was at 3:15 and moonset is at 19:19. Moonlight time is 16 hours, 4 minutes today.

In 20 days, 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-