The first days of 2024 and 2023 were an ideal start if you’ve resolved to take more steps or walk the dog more often. Maximum temperatures reached 45 degrees on both days, a stark contrast to 2022.

At this point, snow began to fall in Chicago, with just over 3 inches observed at O’Hare International Airport, the city’s official reporting location.

Ironically, the season’s first snowfall came just a few days earlier – on December 28, 2021 – making it the latest date of a first snowfall in Chicago’s history, dating back to 1885, and only the 26th time in the past 136 Years had to wait until the last month of the year for snow to fall on the ground.

Here’s a look at the warmest, coldest, wettest and snowiest New Year’s holidays in Chicago since 1872.

The data comes from the National Weather Service Chicago office and was measured at O’Hare, which has been the city’s official recording site since January 17, 1980. Previously, for nearly a century, locations around downtown Chicago, at the University of Chicago and Midway International Airport were used to collect definitive weather data.

Warmest

Chicago experienced its warmest January 1, 1876—“moody as May,” as the Chicago Tribune called it the next day—when the maximum temperature was reached 65 degrees. “Chicago cannot remember a time when New Year’s Day arrived under such auspicious auspices for a visit,” reads the story dated January 2, 1876. However, a late afternoon rainstorm with high winds sent some residents to the lakefront to raise flags “Some enthusiastic patriots who neglected to take down their stars and stripes before the storm came must look for them in the lake.” Michigan today.”

The normal high for New Year’s Day in Chicago is 32 degreesaccording to the National Weather Service, which also happens to be in the day’s most common high temperature range – the 30s.

The coldest maximum temperature on New Year’s Day occurred in 2018, when the maximum temperature was reached only 1 degree.

The peak was in 2024 45 degrees.

Coldest

Chicago experienced its lowest New Year’s Day temperature in 1969 at 5:15 a.m -10 degreeswas recorded in Midway, the city’s official weather recording site at the time. According to a report in the January 2, 1969 edition of the Tribune, 130 calls an hour were made to the mayor’s office to provide advice and information and to complain about inadequate heating.

The normal low temperature on New Year’s Day in Chicago is 17 degreesaccording to the National Weather Service.

The low point was in 2024 37 degrees.

Wettest

New Year’s Day has been mostly dry or resulted in just a hint of rain in 100 of the last 150 years.

Rain accumulation of more than 1 inch of precipitation occurred only twice since 1872, according to the National Weather Service. In 1948, there were rains that later turned into a blizzard and an ice storm 1.33 inches Rainfall in Chicago – the most rain recorded on January 1st.

In 2024 0.16 inchesRain fell.

Snowiest

Since 1872, only a few centimeters or more of snowfall has been recorded 12 times on January 1st.

No snow was observed in 2023, but just over 3 inches of snow was reported on New Year’s Day in 2022.

It was only the sixth time since 1872 that more than 3 inches of snow fell in Chicago on the first day of the year.

A record snowfall of 5 inches fell in 1918, delaying the arrival of much-needed coal trains in the city due to a coal shortage.

Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Tribune archives and reporting

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