United States · 41.88°N 87.63°W · 30-year monthly averages, judged against the Warm preset (highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F, dry or showers)
The best time to visit Chicago is May and September, with highs of 21–24 °C70–75 °F and nights of 9–13 °C48–55 °F, and rainfall of about 88 mm3.5 in a month.
Rain is spread across the year, 40–104 mm1.6–4.1 in a month. June is the wettest month and February the driest. July is the hottest month (highs of 29 °C84 °F) and January the coldest (0 °C32 °F); nights are below freezing from December to March.
The figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 41.88, -87.63. This is a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like. Every month is then judged against it: temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Warm holiday: May and September.
Open Chicago on the interactive map ↗ the same verdicts for any place on Earth, in any month
Reading the chart. Gold means good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour shows the reason it does not. The temperature bar can be too cold or too hot; the rain bar can be too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar means that half fits but the other half does not. A gold month name means both halves fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the month's average daily high (the afternoon), judged against the preset's band (highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F for Warm). Rain is judged by each month's class within Chicago's own year, not by raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and at least 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month that the preset does not allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season: 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate where the wettest month has at least three times the rain of the driest. Every monsoon month is also a rainy-season month; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | High | Low | Season | Warm verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 481.9 | 031 | -916 | dry | too cold |
| February | 401.6 | 236 | -620 | dry | too cold |
| March | 642.5 | 846 | -129 | showers | too cold |
| April | 963.8 | 1457 | 438 | showers | too cold |
| May | 883.5 | 2169 | 948 | showers | good |
| June | 1044.1 | 2679 | 1558 | rainy | too rainy |
| July | 963.8 | 2983 | 1864 | showers | too hot |
| August | 1044.1 | 2882 | 1763 | rainy | too hot |
| September | 883.5 | 2474 | 1355 | showers | good |
| October | 722.8 | 1864 | 744 | showers | too cold |
| November | 803.1 | 1049 | 134 | showers | too cold |
| December | 642.5 | 337 | -523 | showers | too cold |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | highs 19–28 °C66–82 °F, dry or showers | May and September |
| Tropical | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, any rain except monsoon | July to August |
| Beach | highs 28–38 °C82–100 °F, dry or showers | July |
| Cool | highs 3–19 °C37–66 °F, any rain except monsoon | October to December and March to April |
| Snow | highs below 3 °C37 °F, any rain | January to February |
Not a clear one. Rain is spread across the year, 40–104 mm1.6–4.1 in a month. June is the wettest month and February the driest.
July is the hottest month (highs of 29 °C84 °F) and January the coldest (0 °C32 °F); nights are below freezing from December to March. Annual rainfall is about 944 mm37 in.
The nearest destinations that fit the Warm preset in the months when Chicago does not:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how well it fits the weather you like, in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.