September 8: ORD

Today is September 8th. It's the 252nd day of the year. 114 days remain. It's week 37 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 76 and the normal low is 56. The 29-year averages are 79 and 59.

On the hot side, in 1985 the high was 94 with a low of 67. In 1991 the high was 88 with a low of 67. Other hot highs were 92 in 2002 and 90 in 1983. The other warm low was 67 in 2000. The record high of 96 was set in 1960 and the record warmest low of 76 was set in 1922. 24 of the 29 highs have been in the 70s (11) and 80s (13). In 2002 the difference between the high and low was 32 degrees (92/60) and 30 degrees in 1986 (73/43).

For yesterday, September 7, I reported that for the past ten years there have been no highs below 74 degrees (since 1998). In 1997 the high was 72 and two years before that it was 68 degrees. According to the Weather Channel, the high was expected to be right at 74. The high did reach 74 at 14:09, so the streak continues. The high at Rockford was also 74 degrees, occurring at 15:07. The high was also 74 at Midway and DuPage airports. It was slightly warmer on the lakefront (76 degrees).

Now back to September 8th. On the cool side, in 1986 the high was 73 with the record low of 43. In 1979 the high was 66 with a low of 51. The other cool high was 65 in 1995. The other cool lows were 47 in 1982, 50 in 1981 and 52 in 1983. The record coolest high of 54 was set way back in 1883. 27 of the 29 lows have been 50s (11) and 60s (16). 1983 was a dual day: high of 90 with a low of 52, a 38 degree difference. By dual day, I mean that both the high and low were notable, but putting the high and low together, the mean is near normal.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:58 and sunrise is at 6:26. Sunset is at 19:14 and twilight ends at 19:43. Twilight begins tomorrow at 5:59 and sunrise is at 6:27. There's a total of 12 hours, 48 minutes of daylight today and 13 hours, 45 minutes between twilights. The moon reached first quarter yesterday at 9:04. Illumination was 56% at midnight, will be 61% at noon and 66% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 15:35 and moonset is at 0:09 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 8 hours, 25 minutes today.

Patriot Day is in three days. My eldest sister, Mary Ann, and her husband William, will be celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary in five days. Another sister, Maria, and her husband Buddy will be celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary in six days. Both couples currently reside in Tampa, home of those amazing Rays. Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship day, is in nine days. This is a newer holiday, having been enacted by Congress just four years ago. The website "www.patriotism.org" says that Constitution Day is "a birthday for our country and it serves as a means for American citizens to express their pride in their citizenship. Constitution Day also designates a time to honor the Constitution of America and learn more about the famous piece of legislation." -Bernie-