Here’s a look back at the warmest, coldest, wettest and snowiest Christmas holidays in Chicago, going back to 1872. Data is from the National Weather Service and was measured at the city’s official recording site, which has been O’Hare International Airport since Jan. 17, 1980. For almost a century prior to that, sites around downtown Chicago, the University of Chicago and Midway International Airport were used to gather definitive weather data.
As for 2024, meteorologists expected the day to be the opposite of a winter wonderland: dreary, cloudy and damp.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: It’s not the holiday season without …
Warmest
Chicago experienced its warmest Christmas on Dec. 25, 1982, when it was 64 degrees. The following year, however, Chicago experienced the low temperature of minus 17 degrees — the city’s coldest Christmas. There are at least three instances in the past 150 years when opposing temperature extremes hit the area in back-to-back years.
In 2024, the high was 39 degrees. In 2023, the high was 59 degrees — the second warmest on record in Chicago for the date. Highs in the mid-50s also happened in 2021 and 2019.
Coldest
Chicago experienced its lowest low Christmas temperature on Dec. 25, 1983, when it was Minus 17 degrees.
In 2024, the low was 32 degrees.
Wettest
Rain accumulating in a half-inch or more has occurred twice since 1872, according to the National Weather Service.
During both years, rain became snow and about five inches was recorded in each instance. The Tribune reported in 1909, “Every street in the Loop district was a mass of slush that made crossing perilous.” Then in 1950, “cab companies reported a big business, being unable to handle all the calls as citizens left their automobiles at home and sought other transportation for holiday gatherings.”
But at least a little bit of rain tends to fall on Christmas — precipitation of less than a half-inch has fallen 95 of the 154 years on record.
Snowiest
Since 1872, snowfall of more than an inch has been recorded just 16 times on Christmas.
A record snowfall of 5.1 inches fell on Dec. 25, 1950.
Timeline: How the Tribune covered Christmas temperature highs and lows
50 degrees (1877)
“Yesterday was the most uneventful and unsensational of all Christmases that have been celebrated in Chicago since the city has had an existence and a name. The 25th of December of last year was furiously cold. That of the preceding year was sloppy and chilly. But this one was memorable for being a day of continuous rain, without a vestige anywhere of the snow and ice which generally characterize the season.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1877
52 degrees (1891)
“In yesterday’s change of weather there was a drop of nearly 25 degrees in a few hours, and many who had gone out for a drive in fairly warm clothing felt well chilled before they could get home again.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1891
Minus 2 degrees (1892)
“It seemed a little like the weather of old-time yule-tides that came with cold blasts from the north. Drifts of snow, bursts of sunshine, and all the train of jollity that follows in the wake of a roaring winter storm.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1892
52 degrees (1893)
“There was nothing in the weather repertoire that was not used yesterday on Chicago except hail. There was fan weather, fur weather, umbrella and parasol weather, overcoat and seersucker weather. Any one dissatisfied with the weather needed only to wait a few minutes and it would change.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1893
56 degrees (1895)
“The unique sight of an endless stream of children carrying dolls wending their way along Michigan Avenue attracted the attention of the guests of the hotels along the way. So interested did the spectators become in the children that many were stopped and their dolls examined and commented on.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1895
Minus 3 degrees (1903)
“One death, numerous accidents, and delayed street car traffic have already resulted from the storm, which came unannounced and caught the city unawares.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1903
Minus 1 degree (1914)
“The mercury shot below the zero mark early this morning. Between 3 o’clock and 9 last night the mercury dropped fourteen degrees and stood at two above. By midnight it had reached zero, and was still going down.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1914
Minus 6 degrees (1924)
“Yesterday was the coldest Christmas day in fifty-two years in Chicago. The mercury dropped to 6 degrees below zero at 3:30 a.m. and hovered close to the zero mark throughout the day, despite the brilliant sunshine. … Four deaths ascribed to the cold and 154 fire alarms were recorded during the day.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1924
Minus 2 degrees (1935)
“Christmas brought Chicago a freak cold snap and a snowstorm which surprised the weather forecaster almost as much as it did the public.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1935
56 degrees (1936)
“As Chicagoans awoke to find there was still no snow on the ground and that the gentle breeze outside was even balmier than those that blessed Christmas shoppers, a general exodus to the outdoors began. Golfers invaded all courses remaining open. The parks were filled with strolling couples, and brand new bicycles and velocipedes were taken straight from the Christmas tree to sidewalks.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1936
50 degrees (1940)
“It won’t be a white Christmas.” — Tribune, Dec. 25, 1940
55 degrees (1971)
“Chicagoans who had visions of Christmas snowflakes yesterday were instead treated to drizzle, fog, and temperatures in the mid-forties.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1971
Minus 8 degrees (1980)
“Although the cold snap was the worst of the young winter season, winds were relatively still, sparing those who had to travel Thursday the added bite of an arctic wind-chill combination.” — David Axelrod, Tribune, Dec. 26, 1980
64 degrees (1982)
Highest Christmas high temperature since 1871
“While the warm weather lasted Saturday, sunshine sent a few hardy sailors onto Lake Michigan, prompting a dramatic rescue in which a wind surfer whose craft broke up after it was blown far from land was plucked from icy waters by a Fire Department helicopter.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1982
Minus 17 degrees (1983)
Lowest Christmas low temperature since 1871
“A year ago, the high Christmas Eve was 62. On Christmas Day, it was 64. … The weekend’s deadly cold — the wind-chill factor dropped to 82 below — convinced many to stay home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1983
Minus 3 degrees (1984)
“At the same time children throughout Chicago were diving into their presents, several hundred of the city’s homeless waited patiently in the 3-below-zero weather.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1984
Minus 11 degrees (1985)
“Pat Sammarco spent Christmas day serving the needs of others. She helped some sloths mate. … The (Lincoln Park Zoo) is open every day of the year, and zookeeper Sammarco, along with her husband, Larry, who’s in charge of the large mammals, and several dozen colleagues, drew the holiday shift this year. It wasn’t so bad, though, the zookeepers agreed. Not when there were Christmas visitors to watch, intrepid souls willing to brave a wind-chill factor that hovered around 30 below all day.” — Howard Witt, Tribune, Dec. 26, 1985
Minus 1 degree (1990)
52 degrees (1994)
“Christmas this year shattered another illusion — namely that it’s supposed to occur in winter. Instead, there were in-line skaters wearing shorts, volleyball players in the parks and temperatures above 50 degrees.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1994
Minus 7 degrees (2000)
“Tradition merged with science during the rare Christmas eclipse, which was visible above Chicago from 9:45 a.m. until 12:49 p.m. Monday. Brighter than any star atop a tree, the half-hidden sun seemed to allude to other celestial lights, to ancient miracles and a heaven full of mysteries.” — Vanessa Gezari, Tribune, Dec. 26, 2000
Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Chicago Tribune reporting and archives
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