November 8: ORD

Today is November 8th. It's the 312th day of the year. 53 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. Before this, the official site was on the south side of Chicago at Midway International Airport (MDW), beginning on Wednesday, July 1, 1942. Before that, the official site was at various locations in Chicago going back to Monday, October 16, 1871. Observations taken from October 15, 1870 to October 8, 1871 were lost in the Great Chicago Fire.

According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the normal high is 52 and the normal low is 36. I've calculated the 33-year averages at 53 and 35.

On the warm side, two years ago, in 2009, the high was 70 with a low of 45. In 1983 the high was 64 with a low of 48. In 2002 the high was 63 with a low of 48. The other warm highs were 71 in 1999, 67 last year in 2010, 66 in 1981, 64 in 1984 and 64 five years ago in 2006. Those 70s highs were the only 70s in O'Hare's history for the date. The other warm low was 48 in 1994. The record high of 73 was set in 1931, a time when the official readings were taken adjacent to Lake Michigan. The record warmest low of 57 occurred in 1977 at Midway. 28 of the past 33 highs (85%) were in the: 40s (10), 50s (8) and 60s (10). 13 consecutive highs, from 1978 through 1990, were in the 40s, 50s & 60s. Two highs (6%) were in the warm 70s. Three highs (9%) were in the cold 30s. There were two more highs in the 30s prior to 1978.

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 63 with a warm low of 56, a seven degree spread, warm day and year of the record warmest low of 57. In 1976 the high was 37 with a low of 16, a cold day. In 1975 the high was 65 with a low of 51, a warm day. In 1973 the low was a cold 23 degrees. In 1972 the high was 43 with a low of 38, a five degree spread. In 1971 the high was 42 with a cold low of 20, a cold day. In 1968 the high was a cold 39 degrees. In 1967 the low was a cold 23 degrees. In 1964 the high was a warm 68 with a low of 36, a 32 degree spread. In 1962 the high was 43 with a low of 37, a six degree spread. In 1961 the high was a cold 38 degrees. In 1960 the high was 43 with a low of 37, a six degree spread.

More recently, there was a large spread of 33 degrees in 1999 (71/38). There were small spreads of five degrees three years ago, in 2008 (40/35) and seven degrees in 1998 (40/33).

On the cold side, in 1991 the high was 32 with the record low of 11. Four years later, in 1995, the high was also 32 with a low of 18. In 2003 the high was 33 with a low of 21 (our most recent 30s high and 20s low). In 1990 the high was 40 with a low of 22. The other cold highs of 40 degrees occurred in 1998 and three years ago in 2008. 17 of the last 33 lows (52%) were in the 30s. Seven lows (21%) were in the cold: 10s (2) and 20s (5). In 4 of the 6 years from 1990-1995, lows were no higher than 26 degrees. Prior to 1978, there was one other low in the 10s (aka teens). Nine lows (27%) were in the warm 40s.

There was an instance of back-to-back years in which temperatures were just about as opposite as they can be. In 2002 the high was 63 with a low of 48, overall 11.5 degrees ABOVE normal. Then in 2003 the high was 33 with a low of 21, overall 17 degrees BELOW normal.

The following astronomical data is provided by the United States Naval Observatory. In Crystal Lake, twilight begins at 6:05 and sunrise is at 6:35. Sunset is at 16:39 and twilight ends at 17:08. There's a total of 10 hours, 4 minutes of daylight today and 11 hours, 3 minutes between twilights. We lost two minutes of daylight from yesterday. Tomorrow twilight begins at 6:06 and sunrise is at 6:36. The moon is waxing gibbous. Illumination was 94% at midnight, will be 96% at noon and 98% at midnight tonight. Moonset is at 4:32 this morning. Moonrise is at 15:19 this afternoon. Moonset is at 5:31 tomorrow morning. Moonlight time is 13 hours, 13 minutes which is 33 minutes longer than yesterday.

Cool Fall began November 2 and runs for 29 days through November 30. High temperatures in this period are usually in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Highs in the 10s and 20s occur infrequently. Election Day is today. Veterans Day is in three days. Thanksgiving is in 16 days.