Chicago in October
In October, Chicago has 87.1 mm (3.43 in) of rain, a daily high of 17.1 °C (62.8 °F) and a daily low of 7.4 °C (45.3 °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: October is a near miss for our rule: nights are 0.6 °C under our 8 °C. Expect days that shorten by 1 h 20 min.
What October is like in Chicago
- Huge puppets and floats parade down Columbus Drive after dark at Arts in the Dark, the city's Halloween parade, in late October. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
- Apple pie and cider fill Lincoln Square at Apple Fest in early October, as the neighborhood marks the fall harvest. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
- In October, leaves turn color around the winding lagoons and native plants of Humboldt Park. Source: Choose Chicago (official tourism site), checked .
Key figures
Weather in October, 1991-2020 means
- Daily high
- 17.1 °C (62.8 °F)
- Daily low
- 7.4 °C (45.3 °F)
- Rain
- 87.1 mm (3.43 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 October 2026
- Sunrise
- 07:03 local time
- Sunset
- 18:09 local time
- Day length
- 11 h 06 min
Day length 1-31 October: 11 h 44 min to 10 h 24 min, -1 h 20 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 | October | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Daily high | 17.1 °C | 6th warmest |
| Daily low | 7.4 °C | 6th warmest |
| Rain | 87.1 mm | 6th wettest |
| Sunshine | no data | no data |
| Day length | 11 h 06 min | 5th 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 |
|---|---|
| Monday | Columbus Day opm.gov |
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Monday | Columbus Day 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 warmer than 7 of our 20 cities in October by mean daily high. How we rank cities
Closest high and low in October: Amsterdam (1.4 °C apart), Vienna (1.5), Paris (1.6).
| City | Gap from Chicago, °C | High, °C | Low, °C | Rain, mm | Sunshine, hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (this page) | — | 17.1 | 7.4 | 87.1 | no data |
| Amsterdam (closest) | 1.4 | 14.7 | 7.7 | 86.7 | 116.9 |
| Vienna (closest) | 1.5 | 14.3 | 7.3 | 46.9 | 129.9 |
| Paris (closest) | 1.6 | 16.5 | 9.9 | 55.2 | 118.0 |
| London | 1.7 | 15.9 | 9.5 | 66.9 | no data |
| Munich | 1.8 | 14.5 | 6.5 | 66.9 | 123.3 |
| Berlin | 2.0 | 14.0 | 6.6 | 43.9 | 115.0 |
| New York | 2.2 | 18.1 | 10.8 | 111.3 | no data |
| Prague | 2.4 | 13.9 | 5.8 | 36.0 | 108.0 |
| Madrid | 3.3 | 20.0 | 11.1 | 64.2 | no data |
| Rome | 5.1 | 22.2 | 12.4 | no data | no data |
| Buenos Aires | 5.8 | 22.6 | 13.4 | 122.9 | 205.4 |
| Tokyo | 6.2 | 22.0 | 14.8 | 234.8 | 129.4 |
| Barcelona | 6.6 | 22.7 | 15.0 | 83.5 | 162.7 |
| Hiroshima | 7.1 | 23.7 | 14.9 | 109.2 | 178.6 |
| Osaka | 7.6 | 23.7 | 16.0 | 136.0 | 166.1 |
| Seville | 8.1 | 26.0 | 14.7 | 75.4 | 244.4 |
| Los Angeles | 8.5 | 25.9 | 15.5 | 14.7 | no data |
| Hong Kong | 13.8 | 28.1 | 23.9 | 120.3 | 197.8 |
| Singapore | 16.2 | 31.8 | 25.0 | 168.3 | 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 October: weather, daylight, holidays". https://citybymonth.com/cities/united-states/chicago/october/. Last updated 5 November 2026.