November 29: ORD

Today is November 29th. It's the 333rd day of the year. 32 days remain. It's week 48 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 41 and the normal low is 27. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 41 and 28.

On the warm side, in 1998 the high was the record high of 68 with the record warmest low of 57 (our only 50s low). In 1991 the high was 60 with a low of 38. In 2006 the high was 60 with a low of 38. In 1997 the high was 49 with a low of 42 (our only 40s low), a seven degree spread. Another warm low was 39 in 2001. Over the last 32 years, 28 highs (88%) have been: 30s (15) and 40s (13). Three highs were in the warmer 60s. One high was in the cold 20s. There have been no highs in the 50s.

In looking back through the years to the first November at O'Hare in 1958, the following instances were notable: in 1977 the high was 33 with a low of 8, a cold day. In 1976 the high was 13 with a low of 1, a cold day. In 1975 the high was a warm 62 degrees with a low of 37, a warm day. In 1971 the high was 40 with a low of 33, a seven degree spread. In 1970 the low was a warm 39 degrees. In 1968 the high was 36 with a low of 31, a five degree spread. In 1964 the high was 18 with a low of 9, a cold day. In 1962 the high was a warm 59 degrees with a low of 25, a 34 degree spread. In 1960 the high was a cold 28 with a low of 21, a seven degree spread. Also in 1960, there was a rare 44 degree drop in temperature from the high of 63 on the 28th to a low of 19 on the 30th. In 1959 the high was 28 with a low of 7, a cold day. In 1958 the high was 22 with a low of 3, a cold day.

More recently, there were no large spreads. There were small spreads of three degrees in 1982 (40/37), five degrees in 2000 (37/32), six degrees in 2001 (45/39), six degrees in 2004 (38/32) and seven degrees in 1983 (31/24).

On the cold side, in 1989 the high was 29 (our only 20s high) with a low of 12. In 1995 the high was 33 with a low of 11. The record low of -2 was set way back in 1872. The record coolest high of 10 was set back in 1929. 26 of the last 32 lows (81%) were: 20s (16) and 30s (10). Four lows were in the cooler 10s (a.k.a. teens). Two lows were in the warmer: 40s (1) and 50s (1).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:29 and sunrise is at 7:00. Sunset is at 16:23 and twilight ends at 16:54. There's a total of 9 hours, 23 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 25 minutes between twilights. We are losing a minute or two of daylight per day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:30 and sunrise is at 7:01. The moon reached last quarter yesterday afternoon at 14:36 and is waning crescent. Illumination was 46% at midnight, will be 40% at noon and 34% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 12:30 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 1:12 tomorrow morning. Moonset is at 12:57 tomorrow afternoon. Moonlight time is 12 hours, 30 minutes which is 27 minutes longer than yesterday.

Pearl Harbor Day is in eight days. Bill of Rights Day is in 16 days. -Bernie-