August 9: ORD

Today is August 9th. It's the 222nd day of the year. 144 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 84 and 64.

On the hot side, in 2001 the high was 95 with a low of 72. In 1980 the high was 90 with a low of 71. In 1992 the high was 93 with a low of 67. In 2005 the high was 95 with a low of 65. In 1979 the high was 91 with a low of 68. Other 90s highs were 93 in 1984 and 90 in 1985. Other 70s lows include 73 in 1988 and 72 (1983, last year). The record high of 97 was set in 1913 and the record warmest low of 77 was set in 1934. 14 highs have been 80s, seven 70s and seven 90s.

On the cool side, in 1994 the high was 66 with a low of 53. In 1982 the high was 74 with a low of 56. In 1999 the high was 77 with a low of 54. Other 70s highs were 74 in 1993, 77 in 2003, 78 in 1997 and 79 (1983, 1991). Other cool 50s lows were 55 in 1990 and 56 in 1985. The record low of 51 was set in 1972 and the record coolest high of 64 was set way back in 1884. 1985 was a dual day: the high of 90 and low of 56 were both notable, was a spread of 34 degrees between the high & low, and produced a mean of 73 (which is normal). 15 of the 29 lows have been 60s, nine were 50s and five were 70s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:24 and sunrise is at 5:55. Sunset is at 20:02 and twilight ends at 20:33. Twilight tomorrow is at 5:25 and sunrise is at 5:56. There's a total of 14 hours, 7 minutes of daylight today and 15 hours, 9 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous and reached first quarter yesterday at 15:20. Illumination was 54% at midnight, will be 59% at noon and 63% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 14:58 today and sets at 23:51. There's 8 hours, 53 minutes of moonlight today.

In ten 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-