April 19: ORD

Today is April 19th. It's the 109th day of the year. 256 days remain. It's week 16 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 59 and the normal low is 39. I've calculated the 32-year averages at 64 and 42.

On the warm side, in 1985 the high was the record high of 86 with the record warmest low of 65. The former record warmest low of 62 occurred in 1948. Two decades later, in 2005, the high was 81 with a low of 60. In 1992 the high was 71 with a low of 61. In 1987 the high was 78 with a low of 50. In 2006 the high was 74 with a low of 52. In 1996 the high was 73 with a low of 51. Other warm highs were 79 in 2003, 73 in 2004 and 72 in 1980. 29 of the last 32 highs (91%) were in the: 50s (13), 60s (8) and 70s (8). On the warmer side, two highs were in the 80s. On the cold side, one high was in the 40s.

In looking back through the years to the first April at O'Hare in 1959, the following instances were notable: In 1977 the high was 72 with a low of 62, a warm day. In 1975 the high was 48 with a low of 41, a seven degree spread. 1973 the high was 69 with a warm low of 58, a warm day. In 1971 the high was a warm 73 with a low of 43, a 30 degree spread. In 1966 the high was 70 with a warm low of 54, a warm day. In 1964 the high was 45 with a low of 41, a four degree spread. In 1963 the high was a warm 72 degrees. In 1961 the high was 60 with a low of 30, a 30 degree spread. In 1959 the high was a cold 41 with a low of 35, a six degree spread.

More recently, we had large spreads of 38 degrees in 2003 (79/41), 35 degrees in 2001 (68/33) and 31 degrees in 1979 (68/37).

On the cold side, in 1983 the high was 44 with the record low of 22. Five years later, in 1988, the high was 52 with a low of 28. The record coldest high of 34 occurred back in 1904. 24 of the last 32 lows (75%) were in the: 30s (8) and 40s (16). Two lows were in the cold 20s. Six lows were in the warmer: 50s (3) and 60s (3).

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 5:37 and sunrise is at 6:07. Sunset is at 19:39 and twilight ends at 20:09. There's a total of 13 hours, 32 minutes of daylight today and 14 hours, 32 minutes between twilights. We gained two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 5:36 and sunrise is at 6:05. The moon is was full two nights ago as the full Pink (a.k.a. Sprouting Grass, Egg or Fish) moon at 21:44. "Pink" moon refers to the wild ground phlox. The moon is now waning gibbous. Illumination was 98% at midnight, will be 96% at noon and 93% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 6:45 this morning. Moonrise is at 22:08 tonight. Moonset is at 7:34 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 8 hours, 37 minutes which is 32 minutes shorter than yesterday.

The warm part of Spring (Warm Spring) began six days ago. Warm Spring runs for 52 days, through June 3. High temperatures in this period are usually in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Warmer 80s and 90s occur infrequently. Good Friday and Earth Day are in four days. -Bernie-