October 29: ORD

Today is October 29th. It's the 302nd day of the year. 63 days remain. It's week 44 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 56 and the normal low is 38. I've calculated the 31-year averages at 58 and 39.

On the warm side, in 2004 the high was 76 with a very warm low of 61. The low was also 61 in 1900. In 1989 the high was 74 with a low of 54. A couple of years later, in 1991, the high was 70 with a low of 55. In 1999 the high was the record high of 78 with a low of 45. Another warm high was 69 in 1979. The record warmest low of 65 was set in 1946. Over the last 31 years, 21 highs (68%) have been: 50s (10) and 60s (11). Four highs were in the warmer 70s. Six highs were in the cooler: 30s (1) and 40s (5). The last highs in the 40s and 70s came in back to back years (48 in 2003 and 76 in 2004).

In looking back through the years to the first October at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: in 1974 the high was 64 with a warm low of 57, a seven degree spread and warm day. In 1973 the high was 49 with a low of 44, a five degree spread. In 1971 the high was a warm 72 degrees with a low of 45, a warm day. In 1966 the low was a cold 24 degrees. In 1965 the high was 55 with a cold low of 22 degrees, a 33 degree spread. In 1963 the high was 57 with a low of 27, a 30 degree spread. In 1961 the high was 70 with a low of 55, a warm day. In 1960 the high was 58 with a warm low of 51, a small seven degree spread.

More recently, there were large spreads of 33 degrees in 2005 (61/28), 31 degrees in 1984 (61/30) and 30 degrees in 1990 (60/30). There were small spreads of four degrees in 2002 (46/42) and six degrees in 1992 (48/42).

On the cool side, in 1988 the high was 41 with a low of 25. In 1993 the high was 39 with a low of 30. In 1980 the high was 47 with a low of 25. The record low of 19 and record coolest high of 29 were set on the same day back in 1925. 24 of the last 31 lows (77%) were: 30s (12) and 40s (12). Four lows were in the cooler 20s. Three lows were in the warmer: 50s (2) and 60s (1). The last lows in the 60s and 20s came in back to back years (61 in 2004 and 28 in 2005).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:54 and sunrise is at 7:23. Sunset is at 17:51 and twilight ends at 18:20. There's a total of 10 hours, 28 minutes of daylight today and 11 hours, 26 minutes between twilights. We are losing two or three minutes of daylight a day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:55 and sunrise is at 7:24. The moon is waning gibbous and will reach last quarter tomorrow at 7:46 in the morning. Illumination was 64% at midnight, will be 59% at noon and 53% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 13:26 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 23:30 tonight. Moonset is at 14:00 tomorrow afternoon. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 56 minutes which is 29 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Halloween is in two days. Election Day is in four days. Veteran's Day is in 13 days. -Bernie-