October 29: ORD

Today is October 29th. It's the 303rd day of the year. 63 days remain. It's week 44 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 56 and the normal low is 38. The 29-year averages are 58 and 39.

On the warm side, in 2004 the high was 76 with the record warmest low of 61. The record warmest low also occurred in 1900. In 1989 the high was 74 with a low of 54. In 1991 the high was 70 with a low of 55. In 1999 the high was the record high of 78 with a low of 45 (a 33 degree spread). The record high also occurred in 1901. Another warm high was 69 degrees in 1979. 19 of the 29 highs have been in the 50s (9) and 60s (10). Five highs have been in the 40s, four highs have been in the 70s and one high was in the 30s.

In looking back through the years to the first October at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable. In 1974 the spread was seven degrees (64/57). In 1973 the spread was five degrees (49/44). In 1960 the spread was also seven degrees (58/51). In 1962 the spread was nine degrees (50/41). In 1965 the spread was 33 degrees (55/22) and in 1963 the spread was 30 degrees (57/27).

More recently, the large spreads were 33 degrees in 2005 (61/28), 31 degrees in 1984 (61/30) and 30 degrees in 1990 (60/30). The small spreads were four degrees in 2002 (46/42), six degrees in 1992 (48/42) and nine degrees in 2003 (48/39).

On the cool side, in 1988 the high was 41 with a low of 25. In 1993 the high was 39 with a low of 30 (a nine degree spread). In 1980 the high was 47 with a low of 25. Another cool high was 46 in 2002. Other cool lows were 28 in 2005 and 29 in 1997. The record low and record coolest highs were both set on the same day back in 1925: 19 and 29 degrees respectively. 22 of the 29 lows have been 30s (11) and 40s (11). There have been four 20s lows, two 50s lows and one 60s low.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:54 and sunrise is at 7:23. Sunset is at 17:50 and twilight ends at 18:19. Twilight begins tomorrow at 6:55 and sunrise is at 7:25. There's a total of 10 hours, 27 minutes of daylight today and 11 hours, 25 minutes between twilights. The moon is waxing crescent and was new yesterday at 18:14. Illumination was 0% at midnight, will be 1% at noon and 2% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 8:17 this morning. Moonset is at 17:48 this afternoon. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 31 minutes today, but such a small amount is visible.

Halloween is in two days. Election day is in six days. Veteran's Day is in 13 days. My sister-in-law celebrates a birthday in 16 days. -Bernie-