August 6: ORD

Today is August 6th. It's the 219th day of the year. 147 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 82 and 63.

On the hot side, in 1984 the high was 94 with a low of 71. In 2001 the high was 92 with a low of 70. Last year the high was 88 with a low of 74. In 1980 the high was 87 with a low of 72. In 1995 the high was 88 with a low of 71. in 1996 the high was 90 with a low of 69. Other hot highs were 93 in 1988 (with a diurnal of 35 degrees as the low was 58), 88 (1983, 2000), and 87 (1985, 1987, 1999). The other warm lows were 72 in 1998 and 69 two years ago. The record high of 101 was set in 1947 and the record warmest low of 82 was set back in 1918. There have been 16 highs in the 80s and nine highs in the 70s.

On the cool side, in 1994 the high was 72 with the record low of 48. In 1990 the high was 70 with a low of 54. In 1989 the high was 72 with a low of 53. Another cool high was 72 in 1986. Other cool lows were 54 (1997, 2004) and 55 in 1992. The record coolest high of 65 was set way back in 1893. 22 of the 29 lows have been in the 50s (9) and 60s (13). Six lows have been 70s. None of the 50s lows have been low 50s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:21 and sunrise is at 5:52. Sunset is at 20:06 and twilight ends at 20:37. There's a total of 14 hours, 14 minutes of daylight today and 15 hours, 16 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent and will reach first quarter this coming Friday at 15:20. Illumination was 26% at midnight and 30% at noon. Moonrise is at 11:45 and moonset is at 22:23. There's 10 hours, 38 minutes of moonlight today.

In 13 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-