September 27: ORD

Today is September 27th. It's the 271st day of the year. 95 days remain. It's week 39 of the year.

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 70 and the normal low is 49. The 29-year averages are 71 and 50.

On the warm side, in 1986 the high was 86 with a low of 68. In 1987 the high was 89 with a low of 61. In 1998 the high was 86 with a low of 60. In 1979 the high was 83 with a low of 59. In 1988 the high was 81 with a low of 60. Other warm highs were 84 in 1990 and 81 in 1995. Another warm low was 58 in 1999. The record high of 91 and record warmest low of 71 were both set in 1971. 25 of the 29 highs have been in the 60s (11), 70s (7) and 80s (7). Just four highs have been in the 50s.

The largest spread of 37 degrees happened in 1990 as the high was 84 with a low of 47. The spread was 31 degrees in both 1985 (68/37) and 2004 (76/45). The spread was 30 degrees in 1983 as the high was 79 with a low of 49.

On the cool side, in 1984 the high was the near record coolest of 50 (the record is 49 set in 1942) with a low of 36. In 1991 the high was 58 with a low of 34. Other cool highs were 53 in 1993 and 58 in 1994. Other cool lows were 37 in both 1985 and 1989. The record coolest high of 49 was set in 1942. There have been no lows below 45 for 16 years running (since 34 in 1991). 21 of the last 29 lows have been 40s (13) and 50s (8).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:19 and sunrise is at 6:46. Sunset is at 18:41 and twilight ends at 19:09. Twilight begins tomorrow at 6:20 and sunrise is at 6:48. There's a total of 11 hours, 55 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 50 minutes between twilights. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 5% at midnight, will be 3% at noon and 1% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 4:55 this morning. Moonset is at 17:45 this afternoon and moonrise is at 6:04 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 12 hours, 50 minutes today. The autumnal equinox was five days ago at 10:44.

The following events are all 16 days away on October 13th: Columbus Day, my parents' 46th wedding anniversary and a brother-in-law, Buddy, will be turning 33. -Bernie-