Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

Dangerous, prolonged heat is ongoing in the Mid-South to Mid-Mississippi Valley and heat expands into the Northeast for a brief period today. Widely scattered instances of flash flooding due to heavy rains are forecast from northeast Kansas to much of Indiana. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across parts of New England, northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Read More >

New Year's Day Weather for Northern Illinois: Statistics for Chicago and Rockford

Chicago:
The following statistics comprises 146 years of data. However snowfall data started in 1885 so it comprises 133 years. Data collection began at the University of Chicago, then at Midway, and currently at O'Hare which is now the official station for Chicago.

Graph of high temperatures in Chicago on New Years Day

Frequency distribution of high temperatures for Chicago. This dataset shows that the most frequent range of high temperatures on New Year’s Day is in between 30 and 39 degrees. The normal high for New Year’s Day at Chicago is 32 degrees, which falls in the most frequent range. The highest temperature recorded on New Year’s Day is 65 degrees set in 1876. The coldest high temperature on New Year’s Day was in 2018, when the high only reached 1 degree!

Low Temperatures on New Years Day at Chicago

Frequency distribution of low temperatures for Chicago. This dataset shows that the most frequent range of low temperatures on New Year’s Day is in between 20 and 29 degrees. The normal low temperature on New Year’s Day in Chicago is 17 degrees. The lowest temperature recorded on New Year’s Day is -10 degrees which occurred in 1969. The highest low temperature for New Year’s Day was 43 degrees in 1897 and 1950. In 2018, the low temperature was -9 degrees, which ties for the 2nd coldest low temperature for New Years Day.

Precipitation on New Years Day at Chicago

Frequency distribution of precipitation for Chicago. This dataset shows that the most frequent amount of precipitation recorded on New Year’s Day is 0.00”, which accounts for 43% of the days in the dataset. The next most frequent range is a Trace. The highest amount of precipitation on New Year’s Day occurred in 1948 when 1.33” of precipitation fell. This is the only instance where over an inch of precipitation fell on New Year’s Day. In 2018, no precipitation fell.

Frequency distribution of snowfall for Chicago. This dataset shows that the most frequent amount of snowfall recorded on New Year’s Day is 0.0”, which accounts for 59% of the days in the dataset. The next most frequent range is a Trace. The highest amount of snowfall recorded on New Year’s Day occurred in 1918 when 5.0” of snow fell. In 2018, no snow fell.

ADDITIONAL NEW YEARS DAY CLIMATE DATA ( * MEANS LAST OCCURRENCE)

MAX TEMP WARMEST	MIN TEMP WARMEST	PCPN WETTEST	SNOW MOST
65 1876	43 1950 *	1.33 1948	5.0 1918
57 1897	41 1892	1.25 1891	4.6 1978
55 1892	40 1876	0.94 1965	4.4 1948
54 1891 *	37 1916	0.70 1941	4.3 1985
52 1916	36 1941 *	0.68 1916	3.1 1984
49 2004 *	35 2000 *	0.61 1985
48 2000 *	34 1972 *	0.57 1892
46 1941 *	33 1997 *	0.48 1890
45 2006	32 1996 *	0.47 1918
44 2012 *	31 1992 *	0.44 1876

MAX TEMP COLDEST	MIN TEMP COLDEST	PCPN DRIEST	SNOW LEAST
1 2018	-10 1969	0.00 2018 *	0.0 2018 *
5 1969	-9 2018 *	T 2016 *	T 2016 *
7 1928	-6 1887	0.01 1997 *	0.1 1967 *
8 1988 *	-5 1924 *	0.02 1995 *	0.2 1995
12 1924	-3 1945 *	0.03 2006 *	0.3 1959
13 1977	-2 1974	0.04 2012 *
14 1920	-1 1988	0.05 2008 *
15 1968 *	0 1978 *	0.06 1911
16 2010 *	1 1920	0.08 1979 *
17 1957 *	2 1935 *	0.09 1921

ACS on 12/22/2018

LOT RSS Feed

Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

New Years Day Climate Data for Chicago, IL