Chicago in December
In December, Chicago has 53.6 mm (2.11 in) of rain, a daily high of 2.6 °C (36.7 °F) and a daily low of -4.2 °C (24.4 °F), as 1991-2020 means; figures in brackets are converted.
Last updated : what the month is like; shorter source notes.
Best time to visit Chicago: December misses our rule: days are 13.4 °C under our 16 °C and nights are 12.2 °C under our 8 °C. Expect days that shorten by 11 min.
What December is like in Chicago
- Hundreds of red and white poinsettias fill the Garfield Park and Lincoln Park conservatories. The holiday flower shows run into early January. Source: Chicago Park District, checked .
- The warm smell of sugar-coated roasted nuts drifts over Daley Plaza at Christkindlmarket in December, next to gingerbread hearts. The market stays until Christmas Eve. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
- Candles glow in an evening procession through Andersonville at the St. Lucia Festival of Lights in mid-December. It honors the area's Swedish roots. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
- Fireworks burst over Lake Michigan from Navy Pier on New Year's Eve, right at the stroke of twelve. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
Key figures
Weather in December, 1991-2020 means
- Daily high
- 2.6 °C (36.7 °F)
- Daily low
- -4.2 °C (24.4 °F)
- Rain
- 53.6 mm (2.11 in) in the month
- Sunshine
- no data
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, NOAA. Checked .
Measured at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 28 km north-west of the city centre point.
How we define and convert these figures
Notes. Daily high and low: changed: source gives °F; converted to °C, rounded to 0.1. Rain: changed: source gives inches; converted to mm (x 25.4), rounded to 0.1. Sunshine: the NOAA U.S. monthly normals have no sunshine measure.
Daylight on 15 December 2026
- Sunrise
- 07:11 local time
- Sunset
- 16:20 local time
- Day length
- 9 h 09 min
Day length 1-31 December: 9 h 22 min to 9 h 11 min, -11 min.
Source: NOAA Solar Calculator equations, checked .
Month by month
Each month: daily high in °C, then rain in mm, 1991-2020 means.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, as above, checked .
This month against the year
| Measure | December | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Daily high | 2.6 °C | 3rd coldest |
| Daily low | -4.2 °C | 3rd coldest |
| Rain | 53.6 mm | 3rd driest |
| Sunshine | no data | no data |
| Day length | 9 h 09 min | shortest |
Equal values share a rank. How we rank months
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, as above, checked .
Day length: NOAA solar equations, checked .
Public holidays this month
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Friday | Christmas Day opm.gov |
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Friday | Christmas Day (Federal holiday, observed on the Friday before) opm.gov |
Typed from the official list and re-checked, .
Source: Official public holiday list (cms.illinois.gov), checked .
Same month in 20 cities
Chicago is the coolest of our 20 cities in December by mean daily high. How we rank cities
Closest high and low in December: Prague (2.0 °C apart), Vienna (2.6), Munich (2.8).
| City | Gap from Chicago, °C | High, °C | Low, °C | Rain, mm | Sunshine, hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (this page) | — | 2.6 | -4.2 | 53.6 | no data |
| Prague (closest) | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.2 | 28.1 | 43.8 |
| Vienna (closest) | 2.6 | 4.0 | -0.4 | 46.8 | 57.1 |
| Munich (closest) | 2.8 | 4.8 | -0.8 | 58.5 | 66.4 |
| Berlin | 3.0 | 4.4 | -0.1 | 44.2 | 41.3 |
| New York | 4.7 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 111.3 | no data |
| Amsterdam | 5.2 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 81.7 | 58.2 |
| Paris | 6.7 | 8.0 | 3.8 | 62.0 | 56.0 |
| London | 7.3 | 9.0 | 3.9 | 58.6 | no data |
| Madrid | 7.9 | 10.4 | 3.7 | 42.4 | no data |
| Tokyo | 8.7 | 12.0 | 3.8 | 57.9 | 174.4 |
| Hiroshima | 8.9 | 12.1 | 4.0 | 54.0 | 140.6 |
| Rome | 9.5 | 12.7 | 4.7 | no data | no data |
| Osaka | 9.6 | 12.3 | 5.3 | 55.5 | 152.1 |
| Barcelona | 11.6 | 14.7 | 6.9 | 37.7 | 104.5 |
| Seville | 12.9 | 16.8 | 7.4 | 77.2 | 185.9 |
| Los Angeles | 15.2 | 19.7 | 9.0 | 63.0 | no data |
| Hong Kong | 19.1 | 20.4 | 16.2 | 28.8 | 161.6 |
| Buenos Aires | 24.6 | 29.0 | 18.5 | 122.8 | 267.4 |
| Singapore | 28.2 | 30.5 | 24.3 | 331.9 | no data |
Sources (1991-2020): WMO climate normals and NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, checked , ; Hong Kong: our 1991-2020 mean of the Hong Kong Observatory daily climate series on DATA.GOV.HK; Singapore: our 1991-2020 mean of the National Environment Agency monthly climate series on data.gov.sg; both checked . Each city's page names its station. All sources in full on Methodology.
Hong Kong figures: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Observatory own the intellectual property rights in the data; attribution to them and DATA.GOV.HK. Licence: Terms and Conditions of Use of DATA.GOV.HK, version 1.2.
Singapore figures: Contains information from the National Environment Agency on data.gov.sg, made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence). The Agency does not endorse our means.
Sources
- Attribution: Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station files named in each record. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/wck8-er13. Accessed on the check date shown. Licence: No licence stated; citation requested. Checked .
- NOAA Solar Calculator equations, computed locally, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory (method); City by Month (computation). Attribution: Computed with the NOAA Solar Calculator method (no NOAA endorsement implied). Licence: Method, not data. Checked .
Official sources
Cite this page: City by Month. "Chicago in December: weather, daylight, holidays". https://citybymonth.com/cities/united-states/chicago/december/. Last updated 5 November 2026.