August 4: ORD

Today is August 4th. It's the 217th day of the year. 149 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 83 and the normal low is 64. The 29-year averages are 83 and 65.

On the hot side, in 1988 the high was 97 with the record warmest low of 78. In 2005 the high was 88 with a low of 76. In 2002 the high was 89 with a low of 74. In 1989 the high was 89 with a low of 71. Other hot highs include 89 (1981, two years ago) and 87 (1979,2001). The other 70s low was 74 in 1982. The record high of 100 was set in 1947. From 1990 to 2000 (11 years inclusive) there were no highs above 85 degrees. The last 90s high was in 1988. 18 of the 29 highs so far have been in the 80s along with eight highs in the 70s.

On the cool side, in 1992 the high was 72 with a record low of 53 (the record low was also 53 in 1894). In 1993 the high was 73 with a low of 54. In 1985 the high was 72 with a low of 56. Another cool high was 72 in 1998. Another cool low was 54 in 2000. The record coolest high of 62 was set in 1915. 18 of the 29 lows so far have been 60s. There have been about equal amounts of lows in the 50s (6) and 70s (5).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:18 and sunrise is at 5:50. Sunset is at 20:08 and twilight ends at 20:40. There's a total of 14 hours, 18 minutes of daylight today and 15 hours, 22 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent and will reach first quarter this coming Friday at 15:20. Illumination was 10% at midnight and 13% at noon. Moonrise is at 9:32 and moonset is at 21:39. There's 12 hours, 7 minutes of moonlight today.

In 15 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-