November 23: ORD

Today is November 23rd. It's the 328th day of the year. 38 days remain. It's week 48 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 43 and the normal low is 29. The 30-year averages are 46 and 29.

On the warm side, in 1999 the high was 63 with a low of 40. In 2001 the high was 59 with a low of 44. In 1998 the high was 60 with a low of 40. In 2003 the high was 65 with a low of 30 (a 35 degree spread). In 1993 the high was 55 with a low of 39. Other warm highs were 60 in 1983 and 58 two years ago. The record high of 69 and record warmest low of 62 were set in 1931. 25 of the last 30 highs were in the 30s (9), 40s (10) and 50s (6). Four highs made it into the 60s. The 60s are the warm or bonus category for this time of the year. One high was a 20s high.

In looking back through the years to the first November at O'Hare in 1958, the following instances were notable. In 1977 the high was 38 with a low of 33 (a five degree spread). In 1974 the high was 61 with a low of 40, one of those nice 60s days. Another was in 1966 when the high was 62 with a low of 53.

More recently, the spread was two degrees in 1992 (39/37), three degrees in 1996 (37/34) and a big 31 degrees in 1983 (60/29).

On the cold side, in 1989 the high was 27 with a low of 10. In 1985 the high was 36 with a low of 13. In 1997 the high was 32 with a low of 20. In 1995 the high was 33 with a low of 20. Last year the high was 32 with a low of 22. In 1981 the high was 37 with a low of 17. Another cold low was 18 in 1982. The record low of -1 was set back in 1950. The record coldest high of 19 was set way back in 1893. 23 of the last 30 lows were 20s (9) and 30s (14). Four lows were 10s and three were 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:23 and sunrise is at 6:54. Sunset is at 16:25 and twilight ends at 16:56. There's a total of 9 hours, 31 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 33 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:24 and sunrise is at 6:55. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 18% at midnight, will be 14% at noon and 11% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 2:58. Moonset is at 13:59 and moonrise is at 4:02 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 11 hours, 1 minute today.

Thanksgiving is in four days. A sister of mine, Regina, will celebrate a birthday in three weeks and Bill of Rights day is in 22 days. -Bernie-