July 8: ORD

Today is July 8th. It's the 190th day of the year. 176 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 63. The 29-year averages are 86 and 64.

On the hot side, in 1981 the high was 94 with a low of 77. Last year the high was 94 with a low of 75. In 1988 the high was 97 with a low of 69. In 1990 the high was 95 with a low of 71. In 2002 the high was 93 with a low of 69. In 1987 the high was 90 with a low of 71. In 1985 the high was 90 with a low of 70. Other hot highs include 90 in both 1992 and 1993. The record high of 99 was set in 1955 and the record warmest low of 78 was set way back in 1881. 15 of the past 29 highs have been 80s.

On the cool side, in 1984 the high was 74 with a low of 48. In 2004 the high was 76 with the record low of 54. The low was 53 in 1983. The record low of 48 was set in 1984 and the record coolest high of 60 was set way back in 1883. 15 of the 29 lows have been in the 60s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 4:51 and sunrise is at 5:25. Sunset is at 20:31 and twilight ends at 21:05. There's a total of 15 hours, 6 minutes of sunlight and 16 hours, 14 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent with 31% visible at midnight and 36% visible at noon. Moonrise is at 11:50 and moonset is at 23:37. Moonlight time is 11 hours, 47 minutes today. The moon is approaching it's first quarter which will occur tomorrow at 23:35.

My mother will celebrate her 67th birthday in two days and my niece, Katy, will celebrate her 14th in 10 days. Happy birthday to both of you! -Bernie-