Climate in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois gets 38 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

Chicago averages 35 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 189 sunny days per year in Chicago. The US average is 205 sunny days.

Chicago gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 125 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

Weather Highlights

Summer High: the July high is around 84 degrees
Winter Low: the January low is 19
Rain: averages 38 inches of rain a year
Snow: averages 35 inches of snow a year

BESTPLACES COMFORT INDEX

The annual BestPlaces Comfort Index for Chicago is 7.0 (10=best), which means it is about average compared to other places in Illinois.

July is the hottest month for Chicago with an average high temperature of 83.9°, which ranks it as cooler than most places in Illinois. In Chicago, there are 4 comfortable months with high temperatures in the range of 70-85°. The most pleasant months of the year for Chicago are June, September and August.

In Chicago, there are 13.6 days annually when the high temperature is over 90°, which is cooler than most places in Illinois.

January has the coldest nighttime temperatures for Chicago with an average of 19.2°. This is warmer than most places in Illinois.

In Chicago, there are 103.9 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below freezing, which is warmer than most places in Illinois.

In Chicago, there are 4.0 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below zero°, which is warmer than most places in Illinois.

The humidity is usually comfortable in Chicago but some summer months can be sticky or muggy. July is the most humid month, though humidity is low for most of the year. The most humid months are July, August and June.

August is the wettest month in Chicago with 4.2 inches of rain, and the driest month is January with 2.0 inches. The wettest season is Autumn with 31% of yearly precipitation and 17% occurs in Spring, which is the driest season. The annual rainfall of 38.2 inches in Chicago means that it is drier than most places in Illinois.

May is the rainiest month in Chicago with 11.5 days of rain, and February is the driest month with only 8.4 rainy days. There are 124.8 rainy days annually in Chicago, which is one of the rainiest places in Illinois. The rainiest season is Summer when it rains 27% of the time and the driest is Spring with only a 24% chance of a rainy day.

An annual snowfall of 35.1 inches in Chicago means that it is one of the snowiest places in Illinois. January is the snowiest month in Chicago with 11.0 inches of snow, and 6 months of the year have significant snowfall.

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