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Climate · Chicago

Chicago in January

Cold and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Chicago is cold: highs near 35°F, lows near 22°F. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 30 minutes from the first week to the last.January in Chicago is cold: highs near 2°C, lows near -6°C. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 30 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
35°F2°Caverage
Low
22°F-6°Caverage
Wet days
3a week · 38% of days
Daylight
9h 30mon average

Is January a good time to visit Chicago?

January sits outside Chicago's best months, which run in two parts: June, or September. Expect cold days and rain or snow on about three days a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How January sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 35°F in January, against 35°F to 84°F through the year.Highs near 2°C in January, against 2°C to 29°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

38% of days in January, against 32% to 43% through the year.

Cloud cover

63% cover in January, against 36% to 63% through the year.

Daylight

9h 30m in January, against 9h 11m to 15h 10m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with January shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. December41°5°low 29°low -2°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. January35°2°low 22°low -6°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  3. February36°2°low 21°low -6°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.

Where Chicago sits, in January

America/Chicago
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
7:16 AMsets 4:43 PM
Above the sea
175 mlow-lying
Latitude
41.9°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Dubuque259 km west

The land around Chicago, shaded by its typical high in January, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in United States in January

high · low · wet days
See January on the planning mapThe whole year in Chicago

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Chicago. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.