December 2: ORD

Today is December 2nd. It's the 336th day of the year. 29 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 39 and the normal low is 26. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 41 and 26.

On the warm side, in 1982 the high was the record high of 71 with the record warmest low of 58. In 1998 the high was 61 with a low of 49. The next year, 1999, the high was 58 with a low of 41. Five years before, in 1994, the high was 54 with a low of 38. Other warm highs were 57 in 1995 and 52 in 2001 (our most recent 50s high). Over the last 32 years, 24 highs (75%) have been: 30s (14) and 40s (10). Six highs were in the warmer: 50s (4), 60s (1) and 70s (1). Two highs were in the cold 20s.

In looking back through the years to the first December at O'Hare in 1958, the following instances were notable: in 1976 the high was 21 with a low of 2, a cold day. Ten of the first 13 days of December 1976 had single-digit lows. The other three days were in the 10s. In 1973 the high was a warm 64 with a low of 36, a warm day. Also in 1973, the high on the 3rd was 62. In 1972 the high was 49 with a low of 16, a 33 degree spread. In 1970 the high was a warm 56 with a low of 35, a warm day. In 1968 the high was 41 with a low of 35, a six degree spread. In 1967 the high was 38 with a low of 34, a four degree spread. In 1966 the high was 16 with a low of 2, a cold day. In 1963 the low was a cold 10 degrees. In 1962 the high was a warm 64 with a low of 25, a 39 degree spread, a warm day. In 1961 the high was a warm 54 degrees.

More recently, there was a large spread of 32 degrees in 1995 (57/25). There were small spreads of five degrees in 1987 (33/28), seven degrees in 1986 (42/35), seven degrees in 1997 (40/33) and seven degrees in 1991 (34/27).

On the cold side, in 1985 the high was 22 with a low of 7 (our only 0s low). Two decades later, in 2005, the high was 24 with a low of 13. Other cold lows were 11 in 1980, 12 in 1979 and 12 in 2006. The record low of -1 and record coldest high of 14 were set on the same day back in 1942. The record low of -1 first occurred in 1893. 17 of the last 32 lows (53%) were 20s. Seven lows (22%) were in the cold: 0s (1) and 10s (6). Eight lows (25%) were in the warmer: 30s (5), 40s (2) and 50s (1).

A note about yesterday: the day tied 1988 as the 2nd coldest December 1st of the past 33 years (only 1983 was colder) and the high temperature of 26 was just a degree above the coldest high of 25 (in 1983), making it the runner-up coldest high temperature of the past 33 years. No doubt, it was a cold December 1 yesterday.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:32 and sunrise is at 7:03. Sunset is at 16:22 and twilight ends at 16:53. There's a total of 9 hours, 19 minutes of daylight today and 10 hours, 21 minutes between twilights. We are losing a minute or two of daylight per day. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:33 and sunrise is at 7:05. The moon is waning crescent. Illumination was 15% at midnight, will be 11% at noon and 8% at midnight tonight. Moonrise is at 3:38 this morning. Moonset is at 14:00 this afternoon. Moonrise is at 4:52 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 10 hours, 22 minutes which is 40 minutes shorter than yesterday.

Pearl Harbor Day is in five days. Bill of Rights Day is in 13 days. -Bernie-