Climate averages 1991–2020
Chicago weather
in March.
A cold, moderately wet month: the 9th warmest and the 4th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
March is a cold month in Chicago: daytime highs average 6.0°C and nights cool to about -1.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 71 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes March a moderately wet month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 54 min on an average March day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cicero (9 km away). In March its highs average 7.2°C, 1.1°C warmer than Chicago, with 71 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Chicago ranks joint 466th of 498 for the warmest March highs and joint 229th of 498 for the driest March (rainfall, lowest first). The mean March high of those 498 cities is 14.9°C; Chicago is 8.9°C cooler than that mean.
From March to April, average highs rise by 6.2°C to 12.3°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 71 mm to 114 mm.
The annual picture
March in context
Monthly precipitation
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Chicago climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -0.7°C-7.4°C | -7.4°C | 62 | 9.1 | 9.510 h |
| February | 0.9°C-6.5°C | -6.5°C | 54 | 7.6 | 10.611 h |
| March, selected | 6.0°C-1.6°C | -1.6°C | 71 | 10.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 12.3°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 114 | 12.4 | 13.313 h |
| May | 18.7°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 110 | 12.4 | 14.515 h |
| June | 24.6°C17.2°C | 17.2°C | 102 | 12.1 | 15.215 h |
| July | 27.3°C20.2°C | 20.2°C | 92 | 11.5 | 14.915 h |
| August | 26.4°C19.7°C | 19.7°C | 95 | 10.9 | 13.914 h |
| September | 22.7°C15.8°C | 15.8°C | 75 | 8.8 | 12.513 h |
| October | 15.9°C9.2°C | 9.2°C | 85 | 9.5 | 11.111 h |
| November | 8.4°C2.4°C | 2.4°C | 72 | 9.0 | 9.910 h |
| December | 2.2°C-3.5°C | -3.5°C | 61 | 8.7 | 9.29 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
March in nearby cities
- Cicero in MarchUnited States · 9 kmHigh 7.2°C · Low -1.5°C · 71 mm rain
- Evanston in MarchUnited States · 22 kmHigh 4.8°C · Low -1.5°C · 66 mm rain
- Hammond in MarchUnited States · 32 kmHigh 6.6°C · Low -1.2°C · 77 mm rain
- Arlington Heights in MarchUnited States · 38 kmHigh 6.6°C · Low -1.8°C · 64 mm rain
- Gary in MarchUnited States · 38 kmHigh 6.3°C · Low -1.2°C · 77 mm rain
- Bolingbrook in MarchUnited States · 39 kmHigh 8.0°C · Low -1.5°C · 68 mm rain
- Schaumburg in MarchUnited States · 41 kmHigh 7.4°C · Low -2.0°C · 64 mm rain
- Naperville in MarchUnited States · 42 kmHigh 7.8°C · Low -1.6°C · 68 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Chicago) is explained once on the Chicago year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Cicero lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.