September 9: ORD

Today is September 9th. It's the 253rd day of the year. 113 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 1983 the high was the record high of 95 with a low of 70. In 1991 the high was 94 with a low of 70. In 2002 the high was 90 with a low of 66. The other hot high of 87 occurred in 2005. The other warm low was 67 in 2000. The record warmest low of 75 was set in 1912. 24 of the 29 highs have been in the 70s (14) and 80s (10). The record high and record low were set within three years of each other (95 in 1983 and 43 in 1986), In 1982, there was a 34 degree difference between the high and low (high of 81, low of 47).

On the cool side, in 1986 the high was 73 with the record low of 43. In 1995 the high was 69 with a low of 48. The other cool high was 67 in 1992. The other cool lows were 45 in 1981, 47 in 1982 and 48 in 1979. The record coolest high of 56 was set way back in 1883. 22 of the 29 lows have been 50s (10) and 60s (12). The most recent 40s low was 48 in 1995.

Yesterday was just the third day since 1979 that the high was in the 60s.
The high of 67 tied the same high as in 1992. These two highs of 67 have been the coolest highs for the period of 1979-2008. The low of 52 produced a mean of 59.5 which proved to be the third coolest day overall from 1979-2008. The high occurred at ORD at 10:07, before the rain hit and the low occurred at 19:27. In Rockford the high of 63 occurred at 8:23 and the low of 50 occurred at 23:59. Some other cool highs from around the area were 63 in DeKalb, 65 in Aurora, 68 at Romeoville and West Chicago, 70 at Midway International and 71 at Northerly Island.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:59 and sunrise is at 6:27. Sunset is at 19:13 and twilight ends at 19:41. Twilight begins tomorrow at 6:00 and sunrise is at 6:29. There's a total of 12 hours, 46 minutes of daylight today and 13 hours, 42 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing gibbous, having reached first quarter last Sunday at 9:04. Illumination was 66% at midnight, will be 70% at noon and 74% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 16:18 and moonset is at 1:10 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 7 hours, 51 minutes today.

Patriot Day is in two days. My eldest sister, Mary Ann, and her husband William, will be celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary in four days. Another sister, Maria, and her husband Buddy will be celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary in five days. Both couples currently reside in Tampa, home of those amazing Rays. Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship day, is in eight 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-