Chicago, IL Snowfall B+

First snow Nov 17 · Last snow Apr 3 · 39.1 in/yr · Station: CHICAGO OHARE INTL AP

Avg First Snow

Nov 17

Median over 27 seasons 8d early

Avg Last Snow

Apr 3

Median over 27 seasons

Snow Season

138 days

SepJun

Avg Annual Snowfall

39.1 in

Rank #101 of 217 tracked

Latest season (2025–26): first measurable snowfall arrived 8 days earlier than the 30-year normal.

Average Monthly Snowfall (inches)

Sep

0.2

Oct

1.7

Nov

7.9

Dec

12.2

Jan

10.4

Feb

5.5

Mar

1.3

Apr

May

Jun

How Chicago Compares

Chicago snowfall vs Illinois and U.S. medians
Measure	Chicago	Illinois median	U.S. median
Avg annual snowfall	39.1 in	36.0 in	39.1 in
Avg first snowfall	Nov 17	Nov 24	Nov 16
Avg last snowfall	Apr 3	Mar 23	Apr 3
Snow season length	138 days	120 days	139 days

Medians are taken across tracked cities with regular snowfall (5 in Illinois, 201 nationally).

Nearby Tracked Cities

Ski Resorts in Illinois

No tracked resorts — browse all→

Data source: NOAA GHCN-Daily records for CHICAGO OHARE INTL AP (USW00094846), 27 km from the city center, accessed via the ACIS web service. Normals window: 1990–91 through 2019–20 snow seasons. Measurable snow = ≥ 0.1 in.