Chicago picks up around 37 more inches of snow each winter.
Santa Cruz has around 95 fewer freezing nights a year. Santa Cruz sees rain or snow on roughly 75 fewer days each year.
The year at a glance
Averages from 30 years of climate history, 1991-2020
| Chicago | Metric | Santa Cruz |
|---|---|---|
| 180 days | Sunny daysclear or partly cloudy skies | 267 days |
| 39 in | Precipitationper year | 27 in |
| 132 days | Wet daysrain or snow per year | 57 days |
| 37 in | Snowfallper year | 0 in |
| 16 days | Hot daysabove 90 °F | 9 days |
| 102 days | Freezing nightsat or below 32 °F | 7 days |
| 71% | Humidityaverage relative | 78% |
| 52 °F | Average temperatureyear round | 59 °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.
Daily highs
Daily lows
View monthly temperatures as a table
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago high | 32 | 36 | 46 | 57 | 68 | 78 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 49 | 37 |
| Santa Cruz high | 63 | 64 | 67 | 70 | 72 | 75 | 75 | 77 | 77 | 74 | 67 | 62 |
| Chicago low | 20 | 23 | 31 | 41 | 51 | 61 | 67 | 67 | 60 | 47 | 36 | 25 |
| Santa Cruz low | 41 | 42 | 44 | 46 | 49 | 51 | 54 | 54 | 53 | 49 | 44 | 41 |
Monthly precipitation
Total rain plus melted snow for each month, in inches. Taller bars mean wetter months.
View monthly precipitation as a table
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| Santa Cruz | 5.7 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 5.3 |
Monthly sunny days
Days each month with clear or partly cloudy skies, so compare the same month between cities.
View monthly sunny days as a table
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 10 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 11 |
| Santa Cruz | 16 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 20 | 17 |
Keep comparing
Nearby cities and popular picks for each side of this matchup. Any two cities can be compared from the home page.
Chicago vs another city
- Chicago vs Cicero, IL
- Chicago vs Stickney, IL
- Chicago vs Berwyn, IL
- Chicago vs Oak Park, IL
- Chicago vs Riverside, IL
- Chicago vs Forest Park, IL
- Chicago vs New York, NY
- Chicago vs Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago vs Houston, TX
- Chicago vs Phoenix, AZ
- Chicago vs Philadelphia, PA
- Chicago vs San Antonio, TX
Santa Cruz vs another city
- Santa Cruz vs Live Oak, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Pleasure Point, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Capitola, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Soquel, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Scotts Valley, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Ben Lomond, CA
- Santa Cruz vs New York, NY
- Santa Cruz vs Los Angeles, CA
- Santa Cruz vs Houston, TX
- Santa Cruz vs Phoenix, AZ
- Santa Cruz vs Philadelphia, PA
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).