It’s safe to say that all the forecasts of a frigid and snowy winter in Chicago were wrong. The predictions were so dire that the city’s streets and sanitation commissioner, Charles Williams, warned residents in November that Chicago could see more than 50 inches of snow this season.
Fast forward to the month of January and we are setting weather records, but they’re not the kind you might expect. During the month of January, O'Hare International Airport measured just half an inch of snow. That’s the fifth lowest January snow accumulation total since 1885. Combine that with the fact that last month was also the second cloudiest January on record, and it’s safe to say this hasn’t been a typical Midwest winter.
According to the National Weather Service, the city has received less than an inch of snow just eight times in the last 132 years. The last time we had a less snow was in January 1989 (0.4 inches). The least amount of snow ever recorded in the month of January occurred in 1928, when just 0.2 inches of the white stuff fell across the city. The five least snowy Januarys in Chicago were:
Lowest January Snowfall Totals
1928 – 0.2 inches
1900 – 0.3 inches
1934 – 0.3 inches
1989 – 0.4 inches
1949 and 2017 – 0.5 inches
Normally, Chicago receives 10.8 inches of snow in January, but some year’s we get much, much more than that in a single day (anybody remember snowpocalypse 2011?) The most January snow ever measured in Chicago was 42.5 inches in 1918. The five snowiest Januarys in Chicago were:
Highest January Snowfall Totals
1918 – 42.5 inches
1979 – 20.4 inches
2014 – 33.7 inches
1978 – 32.3 inches
1999 – 29.6 inches
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