Weather
Each year a few applicants, ask about the weather in Chicago. When you live in a place called "The Windy City," you learn to expect this. As a matter of fact, that label was given to Chicago many years ago because of its politicians and not its weather. In any case, for those who may be interested in this topic, we list below some comparative weather information for Chicago and several other US cities candidates are often considering. The source for this information is data from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as reported in the Rand McNally's Places Rated Almanac. Several years ago, Forbes Magazine ranked the major U.S. cities with the worst weather—both New York and Boston had worse rankings than Chicago!
Ave. Wind Speed (KmPH) | Relative Humidity (%) |
Annual Rainfall (cm) |
Annual Snowfall (cm) |
Clear Days |
Precip. Days |
Average Daily High, Low Temperatures (C) |
||||||
JAN. | MAR. | MAY | JULY | SEPT. | NOV. | |||||||
Boston | 20.3 | 67 | 108 | 105 | 99 | 128 | 2, -5 | 7, 0 | 19, 10 | 27, 18 | 22, 14 | 11, 4 |
Chicago | 16.8 | 67 | 85 | 100 | 94 | 123 | 0, -8 | 7, -2 | 21, 10 | 29, 18 | 24, 13 | 9, 1 |
Los Angeles | 11.9 | 71 | 30 | 0 | 143 | 35 | 18, 18 | 18, 9 | 20, 2 | 24, 17 | 24, 17 | 21, 11 |
New York | 15.2 | 65 | 100 | 73 | 107 | 121 | 4, -3 | 9, 1 | 22, 12 | 29, 20 | 25, 16 | 12, 5 |
San Francisco | 14.0 | 75 | 53 | 0 | 162 | 67 | 13, 5 | 16, 7 | 19, 10 | 22, 12 | 23, 13 | 17, 8 |
Washington DC | 15.0 | 64 | 98 | 40 | 101 | 111 | 7, -2 | 13, 2 | 25, 13 | 31, 21 | 27, 16 | 14, 4 |