August 16: ORD

Today is August 16th. It's the 229th day of the year. 137 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 83 and 62.

On the hot side, in 1988 the high was the co-record high of 98 with a low of 73. In 1983 the high was the other co-record high of 98 with a low of 71. In 1995 the high was 94 with a low of 73. In 2003 the high was 92 with a low of 73. In 1987 the high was 91 with a low of 69. In 1997 the high was 90 with a low of 69. Other hot highs were 90 in 1984, 89 in 1991 and 88 in 1986. Other warm lows were 69 in 2002 and 67 in 1993. The record warmest low of 78 was set in 1913. 21 of the 29 highs so far have been 70s (9) and 80s (12).

On the cool side, in 1979 the high was 72 with the unofficial record low of 45 (at Midway the low was 49). In 1980 the high was 66 with a low of 58. In 1992 the high was 74 with a low of 50. In 2004 the high was 78 with a low of 48. In 1981 the high was 70 with a low of 58. The record coolest high of 65 was set in 1902. 15 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 5:32 and sunrise is at 6:02. Sunset is at 19:52 and twilight ends at 20:22. Twilight begins tomorrow at 5:33 and sunrise is at 6:03. There's a total of 13 hours, 50 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 50 minutes between twilights. The moon reaches full today (the full Sturgeon moon) at 16:16. Moon illumination was 100% at midnight, is 100% at noon and 100% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 5:39 and moonrise is at 19:49. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 50 minutes today.

In three 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. I'd also like to congratulate my sister Chris and her husband Steve who will be celebrating their sixth anniversary in four days. ***Bernie***