July 4: ORD

Today is July 4th. It's the 186th day of the year. 180 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 62. The 29-year averages are 84 and 64.

On the hot side, in 1990 the high was 96 with a low of 77. In 1999 the high was 93 with a low of 79. In 2003 the high was 94 with a low of 73. In 1994 the high was 91 with a low of 74. In 1993 the high was 88 with a low of 75. In 2002 the high was 90 with a low of 69. In 2001 the high was 88 with a low of 68. In 2005 the high was 87 with a low of 67. Other hot highs were 91 in 1985, 88 in 1986 and 89 in 1988. Other warm lows were 70 in 2004 and 67 last year. The record high of 102 was set in 1911 and the record warmest low of 80 was set in 1921. 16 of the past 29 highs have been 80s.

On the cool side, in 1997 the high was 66 with a low of 56. In 1979 the high was 74 with a low of 54. The other cool high was 75 in 1998. Other cool lows were 51 in 1996 and 56 in 1988. The record low of 50 was set in 1972 and record coolest high of 62 was set in 1920. 16 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 4:48 and sunrise is at 5:23. Sunset is at 20:33 and twilight ends at 21:07. There's a total of 15 hours, 10 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 19 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent with 2% visible at midnight and 4% visible at noon. Moonrise is at 7:00 and moonset is at 22:03. Moonrise will be at 8:19 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 15 hours, 3 minutes today. The new moon was Wednesday night at 21:19.

Our nation's 232nd birthday (Independence Day) is today and my mother will celebrate her 67th birthday in six days. Happy birthday USA and mom! -Bernie-