August 14: ORD

Today is August 14th. It's the 227th day of the year. 139 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 62.

On the hot side, in 1995 the high was 95 with the record warmest low of 79. In 1988 the high was 92 with a low of 75. In 1983 the high was 90 with a low of 68. Other warm lows include 68 in 1980 and 67 (1986, 1996, 2003). 24 of the 29 highs so far have been in the 70s (12) and 80s (12). There have been no highs in the upper 80s from 1979-2007 and no 90s highs since 1995. The record high is still 99, set in 1944.

On the cool side, in 2004 the high was 70 with a low of 50. In 1979 the high was 70 with a low of 53. In 1992 the only 60s high of 67 occurred with a low of 56. Other cool lows were 51 in 1984 and 52 in 1990. 27 of the 29 lows so far have been in the 50s (12) and 60s (15). The record low of 48 was set in 1964 and the record coolest high of 65 was set way back in 1885.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:30 and sunrise is at 6:00. Sunset is at 19:55 and twilight ends at 20:25. Twilight tomorrow begins at 5:31 and sunrise is at 6:01. There's a total of 13 hours, 55 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 55 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 93% at midnight, is 95% at noon and 97% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 3:25, moonrise is at 18:56 and moonset is at 4:31 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 8 hours, 29 minutes today.

In five 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-