May 9: ORD

Today is May 9th. It's the 129th day of the year. 236 days remain. It's week 19 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 67 and the normal low is 45. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 71 and 48.

On the warm side, in 1979 the high was a near-record 89 degrees with a low of 69. In 1993 the high was 87 with a low of 60. In 1987 the high was 85 with a low of 55, a 30 degree spread. In 2004 the high was 88 with a low of 52, a 36 degree spread. A year later in 2005, the high was 77 with a low of 62. Two years prior, in 2003, the high was 84 with a low of 54, a 30 degree spread. Three years ago the high was 77 with a low of 61. Other 80s highs were 81 in 1985 and 80 in 2001. The record high of 94 and record warmest low of 69 were set on the same day back in 1934. Although O'Hare had a low of 69 in 1979, at the time O'Hare was not the official station of record for Chicago. Midway had a low of 67 in 1979 and furthermore, O'Hare's low was also 67 in 1965. 12 highs were in the 70s. On the warmer side, seven highs were in the 80s. On the cooler side, 12 highs were in the: 50s (4) and 60s (8).

In looking back through the years to the first May at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the high was 51 with a low of 32, a cold day. In 1974 the high was a cold 49 with a low of 37, a cold day. In 1970 the high was 78 with a warm low of 61, a warm day. In 1966 the high was 44 with a low of 27, a cold day. 1966 was also the year of the record coolest high (42 at Midway). In 1965 the high was 82 with a low of 67, a warm day. In 1963 the high was a hot 86 with a low of 55, a 31 degree spread and hot day. In 1962 the high was a cold 52. In 1960 the high was a cold 41 with a low of 36, a five degree spread. That high of 41 was actually colder than the record coolest high, but keep in mind, O'Hare was not the official station of record for Chicago in 1960.

More recently, we had large spreads of 34 degrees in 1981 (72/38) and 30 degrees in 1982 (76/46).

On the cool side, in 1983 the high was 55 with the record low of 27. All of the coldest temperatures happened in four of the five years from 1980 to 1984. Besides that record low in 1983, lows were 35 in 1980, 38 in 1981 and 37 in 1984. The record coolest high of 42 was set in 1966. 23 of the last 31 lows were 40s (12) and 50s (11). Four lows were in the colder: 20s (1) and 30s (3). Four lows were in the warmer 60s.

Today is not a major day in Chicago's snow history. Stay tuned, for in two days we had what was our last snow event for the Spring.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 5:07 and sunrise was at 5:39. Sunset is at 20:01 and twilight ends at 20:33. There's a total of 14 hours, 22 minutes of daylight today and 15 hours, 26 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:06 and sunrise is at 5:38. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 22% at midnight, will be 19% at noon and 15% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 3:07 early this morning. Moonset is at 15:49. Moonrise is at 3:29 early tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 12 hours, 42 minutes which is 40 minutes longer than yesterday.

Mother's Day is today. - Bernie -