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California, PA vs Chicago, IL weather comparison

California

PA

Chicago picks up around 14 more inches of snow each winter.

Chicago sees rain or snow on roughly 28 fewer days each year. Chicago enjoys about 20 more sunny days a year than California.

The year at a glance

Averages from 30 years of climate history, 1991-2020

Annual weather statistics for California, PA and Chicago, IL
CaliforniaMetricChicago
160 daysSunny daysclear or partly cloudy skies180 days
50 inPrecipitationper year39 in
160 daysWet daysrain or snow per year132 days
23 inSnowfallper year37 in
16 daysHot daysabove 90 °F16 days
117 daysFreezing nightsat or below 32 °F102 days
73%Humidityaverage relative71%
53 °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: 39 °FCalifornia, Feb: 42 °FCalifornia, Mar: 51 °FCalifornia, Apr: 64 °FCalifornia, May: 73 °FCalifornia, Jun: 81 °FCalifornia, Jul: 85 °FCalifornia, Aug: 84 °FCalifornia, Sep: 78 °FCalifornia, Oct: 66 °FCalifornia, Nov: 54 °FCalifornia, Dec: 43 °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: 21 °FCalifornia, Feb: 22 °FCalifornia, Mar: 29 °FCalifornia, Apr: 39 °FCalifornia, May: 50 °FCalifornia, Jun: 59 °FCalifornia, Jul: 63 °FCalifornia, Aug: 62 °FCalifornia, Sep: 55 °FCalifornia, Oct: 43 °FCalifornia, Nov: 33 °FCalifornia, Dec: 26 °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 high394251647381858478665443
Chicago high323646576878838175624937
California low212229395059636255433326
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: 3.7 inCalifornia, Feb: 3.4 inCalifornia, Mar: 4.5 inCalifornia, Apr: 4.5 inCalifornia, May: 5.1 inCalifornia, Jun: 5.4 inCalifornia, Jul: 5.3 inCalifornia, Aug: 4.0 inCalifornia, Sep: 4.0 inCalifornia, Oct: 3.5 inCalifornia, Nov: 3.5 inCalifornia, Dec: 3.6 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
California3.73.44.54.55.15.45.34.04.03.53.53.6
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: 8 daysCalifornia, Feb: 9 daysCalifornia, Mar: 12 daysCalifornia, Apr: 13 daysCalifornia, May: 14 daysCalifornia, Jun: 15 daysCalifornia, Jul: 17 daysCalifornia, Aug: 18 daysCalifornia, Sep: 18 daysCalifornia, Oct: 17 daysCalifornia, Nov: 12 daysCalifornia, Dec: 8 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
California891213141517181817128
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).