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Chicago, IL vs San Rafael, CA weather comparison

Chicago

IL

Chicago picks up around 37 more inches of snow each winter.

San Rafael has around 99 fewer freezing nights a year. San Rafael sees rain or snow on roughly 76 fewer days each year.

The year at a glance

Averages from 30 years of climate history, 1991-2020

Annual weather statistics for Chicago, IL and San Rafael, CA
ChicagoMetricSan Rafael
180 daysSunny daysclear or partly cloudy skies250 days
39 inPrecipitationper year23 in
132 daysWet daysrain or snow per year56 days
37 inSnowfallper year0 in
16 daysHot daysabove 90 °F22 days
102 daysFreezing nightsat or below 32 °F3 days
71%Humidityaverage relative76%
52 °FAverage temperatureyear round59 °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.

ChicagoSan Rafael

Daily highs

406080JanMarMayJulSepNovChicago, 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 °FSan Rafael, Jan: 57 °FSan Rafael, Feb: 61 °FSan Rafael, Mar: 65 °FSan Rafael, Apr: 68 °FSan Rafael, May: 73 °FSan Rafael, Jun: 78 °FSan Rafael, Jul: 81 °FSan Rafael, Aug: 82 °FSan Rafael, Sep: 81 °FSan Rafael, Oct: 75 °FSan Rafael, Nov: 64 °FSan Rafael, Dec: 57 °F

Daily lows

204060JanMarMayJulSepNovChicago, 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 °FSan Rafael, Jan: 42 °FSan Rafael, Feb: 44 °FSan Rafael, Mar: 45 °FSan Rafael, Apr: 47 °FSan Rafael, May: 50 °FSan Rafael, Jun: 53 °FSan Rafael, Jul: 54 °FSan Rafael, Aug: 55 °FSan Rafael, Sep: 54 °FSan Rafael, Oct: 51 °FSan Rafael, Nov: 46 °FSan Rafael, Dec: 42 °F
View monthly temperatures as a table
Monthly temperatures (°F)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Chicago high323646576878838175624937
San Rafael high576165687378818281756457
Chicago low202331415161676760473625
San Rafael low424445475053545554514642

Monthly precipitation

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

ChicagoSan Rafael
0.02.04.0JanMarMayJulSepNovChicago, 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 inSan Rafael, Jan: 4.5 inSan Rafael, Feb: 4.7 inSan Rafael, Mar: 3.4 inSan Rafael, Apr: 1.5 inSan Rafael, May: 0.8 inSan Rafael, Jun: 0.2 inSan Rafael, Jul: 0.0 inSan Rafael, Aug: 0.0 inSan Rafael, Sep: 0.1 inSan Rafael, Oct: 1.0 inSan Rafael, Nov: 2.2 inSan Rafael, Dec: 4.4 in
View monthly precipitation as a table
Monthly precipitation (inches)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Chicago2.42.12.84.54.44.03.63.83.03.32.82.4
San Rafael4.54.73.41.50.80.20.00.00.11.02.24.4

Monthly sunny days

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

ChicagoSan Rafael
0102030JanMarMayJulSepNovChicago, 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 daysSan Rafael, Jan: 13 daysSan Rafael, Feb: 13 daysSan Rafael, Mar: 16 daysSan Rafael, Apr: 20 daysSan Rafael, May: 23 daysSan Rafael, Jun: 26 daysSan Rafael, Jul: 28 daysSan Rafael, Aug: 28 daysSan Rafael, Sep: 27 daysSan Rafael, Oct: 24 daysSan Rafael, Nov: 18 daysSan Rafael, Dec: 15 days
View monthly sunny days as a table
Monthly sunny days (days)
CityJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Chicago101114131516202020161411
San Rafael131316202326282827241815

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).