August 13: ORD

Today is August 13th. It's the 226th day of the year. 140 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 81 and 63.

On the hot side, in 1995 the high was 96 with the co-record warmest low of 77. In 1988 the high was 91 with the other co-record warmest low of 77. In 1985 the high was 88 with a low of 70. Another warm high was 88 in 1987. Another 70s low was 70 in 1994. The record high of 98 was set in 1944. There have been 17 highs in the 80s and nine highs in the 70s. There have been no 90s highs since 1995.

On the cool side, in 2004 the high was 71 with the co-record low of 51. In 1992 the only 60s high of 69 occurred with a low of 54. In 1982 the high was 77 with the other co-record low of 51. In 1986 the high was 76 with a low of 53. The record coolest high of 64 was set way back in 1883. 25 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 50s (10) and 60s (15).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:29 and sunrise is at 5:59. Sunset is at 19:56 and twilight ends at 20:27. Twilight tomorrow begins at 5:30 and sunrise is at 6:00. There's a total of 13 hours, 57 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 58 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous and heading towards the full Sturgeon moon which is coming up this Saturday at 16:16. Moon illumination was 87% at midnight, will be 90% at noon and 93% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 2:21, moonrise is at 18:22 and moonset is at 3:25 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 7 hours, 59 minutes today.

In six 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-