November 30: ORD

Today is November 30th. It's the 334th day of the year. 31 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 40 and the normal low is 26. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 42 and 28.

On the warm side, in 1998 the high was 65 (our most recent 60s high) with a low of 39. In 1982 the high was 56 with a low of 40. In 2003 the high was 54 (our most recent 50s high) with a low of 38. In 2001 the high was 48 with a low of 41 (our most recent 40s low), a seven degree spread. Another warm high was 61 in 1991. The record high of 66 was set in 1962. The record warmest low of 51 occurred back in 1913. Over the last 32 years, 23 highs (72%) have been: 30s (9) and 40s (14). Five highs were in the warmer: 50s (3) and 60s (2). Four highs were in the cold 20s.

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 21 with a low of 6, a cold day. In 1975 the high was a warm 62 with a low of 20, an incredible 42 degree spread . In 1974 the high was 39 with a low of 34, a five degree spread. In 1973 the high was a warm 54 degrees. In 1970 the high was 56 with a low of 38, a warm day. In 1964 the high was 20 with a low of 6, a cold day. In 1962 the high was a warm 64 with a low of 26, a 38 degree spread. In 1962, it was the first of three consecutive 60 degree highs. On December 1st the high was 64 and 64 again on December 2nd. In 1960 the high was a cold 27. In 1958 the high was 21 with a low of 1, a cold day.

More recently, there was a large spread of 36 degrees in 1991 (61/25). There were small spreads of four degrees in 2000 (36/32), five degrees in 1979 (29/24), six degrees two years ago (39/33), seven degrees in 1987 (40/33), seven degrees in 1992 (37/30) and seven degrees in 2005 (27/20).

On the cold side, in 1978 the high was 26 with a low of 11. In 1983 the high was 24 with a low of 18. Another cold high was 27 in 2005, our most recent 20s high. The record low of -1 was set back in 1947. The record coldest high of 14 occurred way back in 1896. 25 of the last 32 lows (78%) were: 20s (10) and 30s (15). Five lows were in the cold 10s (a.k.a. teens). The most recent 10s low was 17 in 2002. Two lows were in the warmer 40s.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:30 and sunrise is at 7:01. Sunset is at 16:22 and twilight ends at 16:54. There's a total of 9 hours, 21 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 24 minutes between twilights. We are losing a minute or two of daylight per day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:31 and sunrise is at 7:02. The moon reached last quarter two days ago 14:36 and is waning crescent. Illumination was 34% at midnight, will be 29% at noon and 24% at midnight tonight. Moonrise was at 1:12 this morning. Moonset is at 12:57 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 2:25 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 11 hours, 45 minutes which is 45 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Pearl Harbor Day is in seven days. Bill of Rights Day is in 15 days. -Bernie-