November 11: ORD

Today is November 11th. It's the 315th day of the year. 50 days remain. It's week 45 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 49 and the normal low is 34. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 46 and 32.

On the warm side, in 1982 the high was 61 with a low of 49. In 2003 the high was 56 with a low of 44. Four years later, in 2007, the high was 57 with a low of 42. The record high of 74 was last set in 1964 and originally in 1911. The record warmest low of 62 was set way back in 1882. 30 of the last 32 highs (94%) have been: 30s (8), 40s (10) and 50s (12). Two highs were in the warmer 60s. Besides 1982, the other 60s high was 60 in 2005.

In looking back through the years to the first November at O'Hare in 1958, the following instances were notable: in 1976 the high was 33 with a low of 19, a cold day. In 1972 the high was 45 with a low of 41, a four degree spread. In 1969 the high was 49 with a low of 43, a six degree spread. In 1967 the high was 59 with a warm low of 50, a warm day. In 1964 the high was 73 with a low of 57, a warm day and year of the record high. In 1961 the high was a warm 65 with a low of 33, a 32 degree spread. In 1958 the high was a warm 62.

More recently, there were no large spreads. There were small spreads of four degrees in 1985 (40/36), five degrees in 2002 (41/36), six degrees in 1991 (38/32) and seven degrees in 2006 (41/34).

On the cool side, in 1986 the high was 31 with a low of 20. In 1995 the high was 36 with a low of 17. A year later, in 1996, the high was 32 with a low of 22. A year after that, in 1997, the high was 33 with a low of 25. In 1979 the high was 40 with a low of 18. Other cold highs were 35 in 1984 and 36 a year earlier in 1983. The record low of 15 was set in 1950 and the record coldest high of 28 occurred way back in 1894. 25 of the last 32 lows (78%) were: 20s (10) and 30s (15). Two lows were in the cold 10s. Five lows were in the warmer 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:09 and sunrise is at 6:39. Sunset is at 16:35 and twilight ends at 17:05. There's a total of 9 hours, 56 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 56 minutes between twilights. We are losing two minutes of daylight a day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:10 and sunrise is at 6:40. The moon is waxing crescent. Illumination was 27% at midnight, will be 32% at noon and 36% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 11:39 this morning. Moonset is at 21:40 tonight. Moonrise is at 12:08 tomorrow afternoon. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 1 minute which is 27 minutes longer than yesterday.

Veteran's Day is today. Thanksgiving is in 14 days. -Bernie-