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Climate · Chicago

Chicago in May

Mild and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Chicago is mild: highs near 67°F, lows near 51°F. Rain falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 54 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Chicago is mild: highs near 19°C, lows near 11°C. Rain falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 54 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
67°F19°Caverage
Low
51°F11°Caverage
Wet days
3a week · 43% of days
Daylight
14h 32mon average

Is May a good time to visit Chicago?

A good month, just outside Chicago's best months, which run in two parts: June, or September.

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 May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 67°F in May, against 35°F to 84°F through the year.Highs near 19°C in May, against 2°C to 29°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

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

Cloud cover

56% cover in May, against 36% to 63% through the year.

Daylight

14h 32m in May, against 9h 11m to 15h 10m through the year.

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

Either side

  1. April55°13°low 40°low 4°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. May67°19°low 51°low 11°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  3. June78°26°low 64°low 18°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Chicago sits, in May

America/Chicago
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:31 AMsets 8:02 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 May, 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 May

high · low · wet days
See May 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.