April 9: ORD

Today is April 9th. It's the 99th day of the year. 266 days remain. It's week 15 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. ORD has been the official site of record for Chicago since Thursday, January 17, 1980.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 55 and the normal low is 36. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 52 and 34.

On the warm side, in 1994 the high was 67 with a low of 48. Other warm highs were 68 in 1988, 68 in 2005 and 72 in 1987. The record high of 80 was set way back in 1887. The record warmest low of 58 was set back in 1922. 24 of the last 31 highs were: 40s (10) and 50s (14). On the warmer side, five highs were: 60s (4) and 70s (1). On the colder side, two highs were 30s.

In looking back through the years to the first April at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the high was 63 with a low of 29, a 34 degree spread. In 1976 the high was 60 with a low of 28, a 32 degree spread. In 1975 the high was a cold 39 with a low of 33, a six degree spread. In 1973 the high was a cold 41. In 1972 the high was 43 with a low of 24, a cold day. In 1969 the high was 71 with a low of 52, a warm day. In 1967 the high was 75 with a low of 49, a warm day. In 1964 the high was 56 with a low of 25, a 31 degree spread. In 1961 the high was a cool 37 with a low of 33, a four degree spread. In 1960 the high was 37 with a low of 25, a cold day. In 1959 the high was a cold 43.

More recently, we had small spreads of four degrees in 1998 (45/41) and seven degrees in 1980 (40/33). The large spreads were 45 degrees in 1987 (72/27), 33 degrees in 2005 (68/35) and 30 degrees in 1988 (68/38). Taking a closer look at 1987, the mean was 49.5 which is only 4.5 degrees above normal, but the high and low were significantly above and below normal.

On the cold side, in 1989 the high was 37 with the record low of 20. In 1997 the high was 38 with a low of 22. In 1985 the high was 42 with a low of 21. In 1979 the high was 40 with a low of 26. In 1982 the high was 40 with a low of 27. Other cold highs were 40 in 1980, 42 in 1995, 43 in 2003 and 43 three years ago. The record coldest high of 33 was set way back in 1874. 26 of the last 31 lows were: 20s (10) and 30s (16). Five lows were in the warmer 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 5:54 and sunrise was at 6:22. Sunset is at 19:28 and twilight ends at 19:57. There's a total of 13 hours, 6 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 3 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:52 and sunrise is at 6:21. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 24% at midnight, will be 20% at noon and 17% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 3:59 this morning. Moonset is at 14:59. Moonrise is at 4:21 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 11 hours which is 35 minutes longer than yesterday.

National Tax Freedom Day is today. Illinois Tax Freedom Day is in two days.
- Bernie -