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California, MD vs Chicago, IL weather comparison

California

MD

Chicago picks up around 25 more inches of snow each winter.

California has around 41 fewer freezing nights a year. California enjoys about 32 more sunny days a year than Chicago.

The year at a glance

Averages from 30 years of climate history, 1991-2020

Annual weather statistics for California, MD and Chicago, IL
CaliforniaMetricChicago
212 daysSunny daysclear or partly cloudy skies180 days
46 inPrecipitationper year39 in
118 daysWet daysrain or snow per year132 days
13 inSnowfallper year37 in
29 daysHot daysabove 90 °F16 days
61 daysFreezing nightsat or below 32 °F102 days
72%Humidityaverage relative71%
59 °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.

CaliforniaChicago

Daily highs

406080JanMarMayJulSepNovCalifornia, Jan: 45 °FCalifornia, Feb: 48 °FCalifornia, Mar: 55 °FCalifornia, Apr: 66 °FCalifornia, May: 74 °FCalifornia, Jun: 84 °FCalifornia, Jul: 88 °FCalifornia, Aug: 86 °FCalifornia, Sep: 80 °FCalifornia, Oct: 69 °FCalifornia, Nov: 58 °FCalifornia, Dec: 50 °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

204060JanMarMayJulSepNovCalifornia, Jan: 30 °FCalifornia, Feb: 31 °FCalifornia, Mar: 37 °FCalifornia, Apr: 47 °FCalifornia, May: 58 °FCalifornia, Jun: 67 °FCalifornia, Jul: 72 °FCalifornia, Aug: 71 °FCalifornia, Sep: 64 °FCalifornia, Oct: 53 °FCalifornia, Nov: 42 °FCalifornia, Dec: 34 °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
California high454855667484888680695850
Chicago high323646576878838175624937
California low303137475867727164534234
Chicago low202331415161676760473625

Monthly precipitation

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

CaliforniaChicago
0.02.04.0JanMarMayJulSepNovCalifornia, Jan: 3.8 inCalifornia, Feb: 3.5 inCalifornia, Mar: 4.4 inCalifornia, Apr: 3.5 inCalifornia, May: 3.4 inCalifornia, Jun: 3.4 inCalifornia, Jul: 3.9 inCalifornia, Aug: 4.2 inCalifornia, Sep: 4.4 inCalifornia, Oct: 4.2 inCalifornia, Nov: 3.5 inCalifornia, Dec: 4.1 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
California3.83.54.43.53.43.43.94.24.44.23.54.1
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.

CaliforniaChicago
01020JanMarMayJulSepNovCalifornia, Jan: 17 daysCalifornia, Feb: 16 daysCalifornia, Mar: 17 daysCalifornia, Apr: 17 daysCalifornia, May: 17 daysCalifornia, Jun: 17 daysCalifornia, Jul: 19 daysCalifornia, Aug: 20 daysCalifornia, Sep: 18 daysCalifornia, Oct: 20 daysCalifornia, Nov: 18 daysCalifornia, Dec: 17 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
California171617171717192018201817
Chicago101114131516202020161411

Keep comparing

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

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).