June 22: ORD

Today is June 22nd. It's the 173rd day of the year. 192 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 81 and the normal low is 59. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 82 and 60.

On the hot side, in 1988 the high was the record high of 97 with a low of 66, a 31 degree spread. The other hot high was 93 in 1995. The record warmest low of 76 occurred back in 1923. 14 of the last 31 highs were 80s. Five highs were in the hot 90s. Twelve 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 1974 the high was 65 with a low of 52, a cool day. In 1972 the high was a cool 67 with a low of 49, a cool day. In 1969 the high was a cool 66 with a low of 59, a seven degree spread. In 1965 the high was 88 with a low of 52, a 36 degree spread. In 1963 the high was 77 with a cold low of 36, a 41 degree spread, a cool day. That low of 36 was colder than the official low.

More recently, there were three large spreads: 31 degrees in 1993 (87/56), 31 degrees in 2003 (85/54) and 30 degrees in 1994 (88/58). There was a small spread of seven degrees in 1991 (67/60).

On the cool side, in 1992 the high was 65 with a low of 41. A decade earlier, in 1982, the high was 69 with a low of 46. Other cool highs were 67 in 1991 and 69 in 2001. The record low of 40 was set way back in 1875. The record coolest high of 55 occurred way back in 1881. 29 of the last 31 (94%) lows were: 50s (12) and 60s (17). Two lows were in the cooler 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight began at 4:43 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, 25 minutes between twilights. Tomorrow twilight begins at 4:43 and sunrise is at 5:18. The moon is waxing gibbous. Illumination was 82% at midnight, will be 86% at noon and 89% at midnight tonight. Moonset was at 2:03 this morning. Moonrise is at 17:26 and moonset is at 2:42 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 8 hours, 37 minutes which is 47 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Independence Day is in 12 days. - Bernie -