July 31: ORD

Today is July 31st. It's the 213th day of the year. 153 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 85 and 65.

On the hot side, two years ago the high was the record high of 99 (tied 99 in 1945) with a low of 76. In 1995 the high was 95 with a low of 74. In 1999 the high was 89 with a low of 76. In 2001 the high was 94 with a low of 71. In 1980 the high was 89 with a low of 75. Other hot highs include 94 in 2002, 93 (1983, 1988), 92 in 1991, 91 last year and 89 (1986, 2005). The record warmest low of 79 was set in 1917. 14 of the 29 highs so far have been 80s, six have been 70s and eight have been 90s. Another warm 70s low was 73 in 1987.

On the cool side, in 1990 the high was 70 with the near-record low of 52 (the record is 51 degrees, set six years earlier in 1984). In 1985 the only 60s high of 69 occurred with a low of 62. In 1992 the high was 75 with a low of 58. In 1996 the high was 75 with a low of 58. Other 70s highs include 74 in 2000, 75 in 1989 and 79 in 1998. Other 50s lows include 51 in 1984, 56 (1981, 1997) and 59 in 1991. The record coolest high of 66 was set way back in 1912. All of the six highs in the 70s occurred between 1989 and 2000 (4 mid, 1 low, 1 upper). For ten straight years now (1998-2007) there have been no lows below 62 degrees. A closer look at 1991 shows that it was what I call a dual day. What this means is that both the high of 92 and low of 59 were notables. The spread (difference between high and low) was 33 degrees. This is exceptional.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:14 and sunrise is at 5:46. Sunset is at 20:13 and twilight ends at 20:45. Twilight begins at 5:15 tomorrow and sunrise is at 5:47. There's a total of 14 hours, 27 minutes of sunlight today and 15 hours, 31 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent with 2% visible at midnight and 1% visible at noon. The new moon is tomorrow at 5:13. Moonrise was at 4:33 and moonset is at 19:58. Moonlight time is 15 hours, 25 minutes today.

In 19 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-