Rainfall totals Chicago, IL
Through Oct 7, 2026, Chicago has received 36.08 inches of rain for the year, according to the official daily climate report. The normal year-to-date total is 30.68 inches. The normal figure is what the city would typically have seen by this point in the calendar. This reading comes from the station gauge at CHICAGO O HARE in the National Weather Service's daily climate report.
as of
Data from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, with records back to 1958. Across the record from 1958, 100 percent of days have a reading, with 100 percent in 2025.
Most recent rainfall
1.41 inches of rain fell on Oct 1, 2026, the latest measurable rainfall this year.
CHICAGO O HARE saw no measurable rain on Oct 7, 2026, according to the National Weather Service daily climate report.
Official rainfall report for Oct 7, 2026
| Measured | Normal | vs normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on Oct 7, 2026 | 0.00 inches | 0.11 inches | -0.11 inches |
| Last 48 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 72 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 7 days | 1.41 inches | ||
| Month to date | 1.41 inches | 0.78 inches | +0.63 inches (+81%) |
| Year to date | 36.08 inches | 30.68 inches | +5.40 inches (+18%) |
| Record for Oct 7 | 1.39 inches | 1930 |
Source: National Weather Service daily climate report for CHICAGO O HARE, issued the morning after Oct 7, 2026. The local National Weather Service office issues the daily climate report for the airport station the next morning, and that report is the official figure.
How much rain did Chicago get?
Days with measurable rain, 2026
| Date | Rainfall |
|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 1.41 inches |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 0.74 inches |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 1.21 inches |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 0.86 inches |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 0.71 inches |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 0.07 inches |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 0.06 inches |
| Aug 31, 2026 | 0.65 inches |
| Aug 30, 2026 | 0.14 inches |
| Aug 18, 2026 | 0.13 inches |
| Aug 16, 2026 | 0.12 inches |
| Aug 15, 2026 | 0.05 inches |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 0.23 inches |
| Aug 11, 2026 | 0.47 inches |
| Aug 9, 2026 | 1.34 inches |
| Aug 5, 2026 | 0.04 inches |
| Aug 1, 2026 | 1.85 inches |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 0.04 inches |
| Jul 27, 2026 | 1.76 inches |
| Jul 5, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Jul 4, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
| Jul 3, 2026 | 1.71 inches |
| Jul 2, 2026 | 1.64 inches |
| Jun 26, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Jun 24, 2026 | 0.89 inches |
| Jun 21, 2026 | 0.71 inches |
| Jun 17, 2026 | 0.68 inches |
| Jun 14, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
With 2.43 inches on Apr 14, 2026, this is the 49th wettest of the 8,538 measurable rain days in the Chicago O'Hare International Airport record, which begins in 1958. That is the most rain recorded at this station on April 14 since 1958.
Through Oct 3, 2026, the GHCN-Daily station record shows 36.08 inches of measurable rain so far this year, falling over a 96-day span. Station observations are from GHCN-Daily, with a 1-3 day lag and quality checks by NOAA.
Chicago rainfall by month, 2026
| Month | Rainfall | Normal | vs normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.53 inches | 1.99 inches | +0.54 inches (+27%) |
| February | 0.16 inches | 1.97 inches | -1.81 inches (-92%) |
| March | 4.54 inches | 2.45 inches | +2.09 inches (+85%) |
| April | 7.19 inches | 3.75 inches | +3.44 inches (+92%) |
| May | 1.17 inches | 4.49 inches | -3.32 inches (-74%) |
| June | 5.00 inches | 4.10 inches | +0.90 inches (+22%) |
| July | 5.36 inches | 3.71 inches | +1.65 inches (+44%) |
| August | 5.02 inches | 4.25 inches | +0.77 inches (+18%) |
| September | 3.70 inches | 3.19 inches | +0.51 inches (+16%) |
| October | 1.41 inches | 3.43 inches |
October is still in progress; figures run through Oct 3, 2026. Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
Rainfall days at each threshold in Chicago
| Year | 0.5+ in. | 1+ in. | 2+ in. | 3+ in. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019 | 32 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 33 | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 27 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Average | 22.7 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
A day counts when its rainfall total meets or passes the column amount, from Chicago O'Hare International Airport records in GHCN-Daily. Every complete year starting with 1958 counts toward the average, 67 years in total.
Past rainfall years in Chicago
All-time rainfall records
| Wettest day | 6.86 inches | Jul 23, 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Wettest year | 50.86 inches | 2008 |
| Driest year | 21.77 inches | 1962 |
| Average year | 36.28 inches | 67 complete years on record |
| Rain days a year | 126 | average, 0.01 inch or more |
| Record begins | 1958 | 24,792 daily readings |
Monthly rainfall normals
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | 1.99 | 1.97 | 2.45 | 3.75 | 4.49 | 4.10 | 3.71 | 4.25 | 3.19 | 3.43 | 2.42 | 2.11 | 37.86 |
Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
The daily climate report is issued by the local National Weather Service forecast office and delivered to this page by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.