June 19: ORD

Today is June 19th. It's the 170th day of the year. 195 days remain. It's week 25 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 80 and the normal low is 59. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 80 and 58.

On the hot side, in 1995 the high was 94 with the first of two 70s lows of 71. In 1988 the high was 93 with the second 70s low of 71. Another hot high was 92 in 1986. The record high of 102 was set in 1953. The record warmest low of 75 occurred back in 1931. 16 of the last 31 highs were 80s. Three highs were in the 90s. 12 highs were in the cooler: 60s (4) and 70s (8).

In looking back through the years to the first June at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1965 the high was 82 with a low of 48, a 34 degree spread. In 1962 the high was a cool 67. In 1961 the high was 84 with a low of 52, a 32 degree spread. In 1959 the high was 82 with a low of 50, a 32 degree spread.

More recently, both spreads were large: 31 degrees in 1997 (85/54) and 30 degrees in 1991 (87/57).

On the cool side, in 2004 the high was 64 with a low of 48. In 1980 the high was 69 with the record low of 43. Another cool low was 47 in 1985. Other cool highs were 67 in 1992 and 68 in 2003. The record coolest high of 56 occurred back in 1926. 26 of the last 31 lows (84%) have been: 50s (14) and 60s (12). Three lows were in the cooler 40s and two lows were in the warmer 70s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 4:42 and sunrise was at 5:17. Sunset is at 20:33 and twilight ends at 21:08. There's a total of 15 hours, 16 minutes of daylight today and 16 hours, 26 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 4:42 and sunrise is at 5:17. The moon is waxing gibbous and reached first quarter last night at 23:29. Illumination was 51% at midnight, will be 57% at noon and 62% at midnight tonight. Moonset was 34 minutes past midnight this morning. Moonrise is at 13:34. Moonset is at 1:01 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 51 minutes which is 46 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Father's Day is tomorrow and Independence Day is in 15 days. - Bernie -