October 2: ORD

Today is October 2nd. It's the 276th day of the year. 90 days remain. It's week 40 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 69 and the normal low is 48. The 29-year averages are 69 and 46.

On the warm side, in 1991 the high was 80 with a low of 59. In 2005 the high was 84 with a low of 54. Two years ago the high was 77 with a low of 61. In 1983 the high was 88 with a low of 49. In 2000 the high was 81 with a low of 56. Other warm highs were 81 in 1982 and 80 in 2001. Other warm lows were 60 in both 1986 and 2002. The record high and record warmest low were set in 1971: 91 and 69 respectively. The tally of highs for October 2nd over the last 29 years is a smorgasbord: seven in the 50s, nine in the 60s, seven in the 70s and six in the 80s.

The large spreads were 39 degrees in 1983 (88/49), 37 degrees in 1997 (79/42), 34 degrees in 1990 (73/39), 32 degrees in 1982 (81/49), 32 degrees in 2001 (80/48), 31 degrees in 1984 (68/37), 30 degrees in 1992 (78/48) and 30 degrees in 2005 (84/54). In 1986 the high was 67 with a low of 60. The spread of 7 degrees was the smallest for 10/2 since 1979.

On the cool side, in 1981 the high was 52 with a low of 32. In 2003 the high was 53 with a low of 31. in 1993 the high was 55 with a low of 33. In 1987 the high was 58 with a low of 33. In 1999 the high was 55 with a low of 36. In 2004 the high was 58 with a low of 37. Another cool high was 57 in 1998. Other cool lows were 34 in 1985, 37 in 1984 and 39 in 1990. The record low of 28 was set in 1974 and the record coolest high of 48 was set way back in 1888. 26 of the 29 lows have been in the 30s (9), 40s (10) and 50s (7). Three lows have been in the 60s, the last one occurred two years ago at 61 degrees.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:24 and sunrise is at 6:52. Sunset is at 18:32 and twilight ends at 19:00. Twilight begins tomorrow at 6:25 and sunrise is at 6:53. There's a total of 11 hours, 40 minutes of daylight today and 12 hours, 36 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 9% at midnight, will be 12% at noon and 15% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 10:30 this morning and moonset is at 19:48 tonight. Moonrise is at 11:33 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 18 minutes today.

The following events are all 11 days away on October 13th: Columbus Day, my parents' 46th wedding anniversary and a brother-in-law, Buddy, will be turning 33. -Bernie-