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Boulder, CO vs Chicago, IL weather comparison

Boulder

CO

Boulder picks up around 52 more inches of snow each winter.

Boulder enjoys about 84 more sunny days a year than Chicago. Chicago has around 40 fewer freezing nights a year.

The year at a glance

Averages from 30 years of climate history, 1991-2020

Annual weather statistics for Boulder, CO and Chicago, IL
BoulderMetricChicago
264 daysSunny daysclear or partly cloudy skies180 days
21 inPrecipitationper year39 in
101 daysWet daysrain or snow per year132 days
90 inSnowfallper year37 in
32 daysHot daysabove 90 °F16 days
142 daysFreezing nightsat or below 32 °F102 days
61%Humidityaverage relative71%
51 °FAverage temperatureyear round52 °F

Monthly temperatures

Average daily high and low for each month, in °F. The gap between the two lines is what an ordinary day feels like across the year.

BoulderChicago

Daily highs

406080JanMarMayJulSepNovBoulder, Jan: 46 °FBoulder, Feb: 48 °FBoulder, Mar: 56 °FBoulder, Apr: 62 °FBoulder, May: 71 °FBoulder, Jun: 82 °FBoulder, Jul: 88 °FBoulder, Aug: 86 °FBoulder, Sep: 78 °FBoulder, Oct: 65 °FBoulder, Nov: 54 °FBoulder, Dec: 46 °FChicago, Jan: 32 °FChicago, Feb: 36 °FChicago, Mar: 46 °FChicago, Apr: 57 °FChicago, May: 68 °FChicago, Jun: 78 °FChicago, Jul: 83 °FChicago, Aug: 81 °FChicago, Sep: 75 °FChicago, Oct: 62 °FChicago, Nov: 49 °FChicago, Dec: 37 °F

Daily lows

204060JanMarMayJulSepNovBoulder, Jan: 21 °FBoulder, Feb: 22 °FBoulder, Mar: 29 °FBoulder, Apr: 34 °FBoulder, May: 42 °FBoulder, Jun: 51 °FBoulder, Jul: 56 °FBoulder, Aug: 55 °FBoulder, Sep: 48 °FBoulder, Oct: 37 °FBoulder, Nov: 28 °FBoulder, Dec: 21 °FChicago, Jan: 20 °FChicago, Feb: 23 °FChicago, Mar: 31 °FChicago, Apr: 41 °FChicago, May: 51 °FChicago, Jun: 61 °FChicago, Jul: 67 °FChicago, Aug: 67 °FChicago, Sep: 60 °FChicago, Oct: 47 °FChicago, Nov: 36 °FChicago, Dec: 25 °F
View monthly temperatures as a table
Monthly temperatures (°F)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Boulder high464856627182888678655446
Chicago high323646576878838175624937
Boulder low212229344251565548372821
Chicago low202331415161676760473625

Monthly precipitation

Total rain plus melted snow for each month, in inches. Taller bars mean wetter months.

BoulderChicago
0.02.04.0JanMarMayJulSepNovBoulder, Jan: 0.8 inBoulder, Feb: 0.8 inBoulder, Mar: 1.6 inBoulder, Apr: 2.5 inBoulder, May: 3.3 inBoulder, Jun: 2.5 inBoulder, Jul: 2.4 inBoulder, Aug: 2.3 inBoulder, Sep: 1.7 inBoulder, Oct: 1.5 inBoulder, Nov: 1.0 inBoulder, Dec: 0.7 inChicago, Jan: 2.4 inChicago, Feb: 2.1 inChicago, Mar: 2.8 inChicago, Apr: 4.5 inChicago, May: 4.4 inChicago, Jun: 4.0 inChicago, Jul: 3.6 inChicago, Aug: 3.8 inChicago, Sep: 3.0 inChicago, Oct: 3.3 inChicago, Nov: 2.8 inChicago, Dec: 2.4 in
View monthly precipitation as a table
Monthly precipitation (inches)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Boulder0.80.81.62.53.32.52.42.31.71.51.00.7
Chicago2.42.12.84.54.44.03.63.83.03.32.82.4

Monthly sunny days

Days each month with clear or partly cloudy skies, so compare the same month between cities.

BoulderChicago
01020JanMarMayJulSepNovBoulder, Jan: 22 daysBoulder, Feb: 19 daysBoulder, Mar: 21 daysBoulder, Apr: 18 daysBoulder, May: 20 daysBoulder, Jun: 23 daysBoulder, Jul: 24 daysBoulder, Aug: 23 daysBoulder, Sep: 24 daysBoulder, Oct: 23 daysBoulder, Nov: 23 daysBoulder, Dec: 23 daysChicago, Jan: 10 daysChicago, Feb: 11 daysChicago, Mar: 14 daysChicago, Apr: 13 daysChicago, May: 15 daysChicago, Jun: 16 daysChicago, Jul: 20 daysChicago, Aug: 20 daysChicago, Sep: 20 daysChicago, Oct: 16 daysChicago, Nov: 14 daysChicago, Dec: 11 days
View monthly sunny days as a table
Monthly sunny days (days)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Boulder221921182023242324232323
Chicago101114131516202020161411

Keep comparing

Nearby cities and popular picks for each side of this matchup. Any two cities can be compared from the home page.

Boulder vs another city

See the full Boulder, CO climate profile

More Colorado cities

Chicago vs another city

See the full Chicago, IL climate profile

More Illinois cities

About this data

Every figure on this page is a 30 year average computed from daily climate history for 1991-2020, using each city's own coordinates. Wet days count days with measurable precipitation, calibrated against the wet day counts in NOAA's published climate normals. Sunny days count clear plus partly cloudy days, defined as average cloud cover of 63 percent or less and calibrated against NOAA's published sky cover tables. Snowfall figures are model estimates anchored to NOAA station measurements near each city.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5, ERA5-Land).