August 10: ORD

Today is August 10th. It's the 223rd day of the year. 143 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 82 and the normal low is 63. The 29-year averages are 82 and 64.

On the hot side, in 1992 the high was 91 with a low of 68. In 1995 the high was 89 with a low of 70. In 1983 the high was 91 with a low of 67. In 2005 the high was 90 with a low of 68. Another hot high was 89 in 2002. Other 70s lows were 74 two years ago, 73 in 1988 and 70 last year. The record high of 99 was set in 1944 and the record warmest low of 79 was set in 1938. 17 of the 29 highs have been 80s and six have been 70s.

On the cool side, in 1982 the high was 68 with the record low of 49. In 1994 the high was 67 with a low of 56. In 2004 the high was 67 with a low of 60. Other 50s lows were 57 in 1991 and 59 (1996, 2002). The record coolest high of 66 was set way back in 1882. 2002 was a dual day: the high of 89 and low of 59 were both notable, the spread was 30 degrees between the high & low, producing a mean of 74. 20 of the 29 lows have been 60s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:25 and sunrise is at 5:56. Sunset is at 20:00 and twilight ends at 20:31. Twilight tomorrow is at 5:26 and sunrise is at 5:57. There's a total of 14 hours, 4 minutes of daylight today and 15 hours, 6 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous and reached first quarter Friday at 15:20. Illumination was 63% at midnight, will be 68% at noon and 72% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 15:59 today and sets at 0:33 tomorrow. There's 8 hours, 1 minute of moonlight today.

In nine 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-