December 29: ORD

Today is December 29th. It's the 364th day of the year. Two days remain. It's week 52 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 31 and the normal low is 16. The 30-year averages are 34 and 21.

On the warm side, in 1984 the high was the record high of 63 with a low of 28, a 35 degree spread. Two years ago the high was 50 with a low of 40. In 1992 the high was 44 with a low of 39, a five degree spread. In 2003 the high was 47 with a low of 30. In 1979 the high was 52 with a low of 22, a thirty degree spread. A couple of decades later, in 1999, the high was 45 with a low of 26. Other warm lows were 32 in 1989, 32 in 2005, 31 in 1994 and 30 in 1991. The record warmest low of 42 was set way back in 1884. 13 of the last 30 highs were 30s. On the warmer side, six highs were 40s, two highs were 50s and one high was in the 60s. On the colder side, four highs were 20s, three highs were 10s and one high was in the single digits.

In looking back through the years to the first December at O'Hare in 1958, the following instances were notable. In 1976 the high was 7 with a low of -7, a cold day. In 1974 the high was 38 with a low of 34, a four degree spread. In 1969 the high was 30 with a low of 27, a three degree spread. In 1963 the high was 8 with a low of -8, another cold day. In 1962 the high was 34 with a low of 2, a 32 degree spread.

More recently, we had a small spread of four degrees in 1986 (33/29), five degrees in 1991 (35/30), five degrees in 2005 (37/32), six degrees in 1989 (38/32), seven degrees in 1980 (36/29), seven degrees in 1982 (24/17) and seven degrees in 1994 (38/31).

On the cold side, in 1983 the high was the record coldest high of 2 with a low of -8. A couple of years earlier, in 1981, the high was 18 with a low of -1. Four years later, in 1985, the high was 18 with a low of 7. In 2001 the high was 19 with a low of 8. In 1988 the high was 20 with a low of 7. Other cold lows were 7 in 1998 and 8 in 1993. The record low of -15 was set way back in 1880. 18 of the last 30 lows were 20s (12) and 30s (6). On the colder side, four lows were 10s, five lows were single digits and two lows were in the negative single digits. On the warmer side, one low was in the 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:50 and sunrise is at 7:22. Sunset is at 16:30 and twilight ends at 17:01. There's a total of 9 hours, 8 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 11 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:50 and sunrise is at 7:22. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 3% at midnight, will be 4% at noon and 7% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 8:54 and moonset is at 18:38. Moonrise is at 9:21 tomorrow. Moonlight time is 9 hours, 44 minutes today.

Today is a major snow day in O'Hare's history. Back in 1978, 2.3 inches fell. This was day two of a four day, 16.8 inch storm.

New Year's Eve is in two days and New Year's Day is in three days. Martin Luther King, Jr. day is in three weeks and my brother will be celebrating a birthday in three weeks, five days. -Bernie-