For only the third time in more than 150 years, a measurable snowfall was observed on Halloween. It was also the city’s first snowfall of the 2023-24 season.
At 0.9 inches, it was the second largest snowfall on record for Oct. 31. The largest happened just four years earlier.
On Oct. 31, 2019, 3.4 inches of snow was measured at O’Hare International Airport, the city’s official recording station. It was the second-heaviest October snowfall since Oct. 19, 1989. It was also one of the coldest the city has experienced. The high temperature of 35 degrees was the third coldest since 1871. And the low temperature of 24 degrees missed the record by a single degree.
On average, Chicago experiences its first fall snow on Nov. 17. In 2019, the first snow arrived on Nov. 9.
An overnight low of 32 degrees can occur in Chicago between late September and late November.
Here’s a look back at the warmest, coldest, wettest and snowiest Halloweens in Chicago, going back to 1871. Data is from the National Weather Service’s Chicago office and was measured at the city’s official recording site, which has been O’Hare International Airport since Jan. 17, 1980. For almost a century prior to that, sites around downtown Chicago, the University of Chicago and Midway International Airport were used to gather definitive weather data.
Warmest
People hit the beach on Oct. 31, 1950, when the temperature topped out at 84 degrees — the warmest Halloween on record in Chicago. It is still the only Oct. 31 to exceed 80 degrees.
The normal high temperature on Halloween is 56 degrees.
The high was 38 degrees in 2023.
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Coldest
In 1873, the records were set for the coldest Oct. 31 daytime temperature — 31 degrees — and the lowest low temperature — 23 degrees.
The normal low temperature on Halloween is 39 degrees.
The low was 30 degrees in 2023.
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Wettest
Trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31, 1994, might remember it was a rainy one — 2.26 inches of precipitation fell at O’Hare airport that day.
Rain accumulating in 1 inch or more of precipitation has only occurred four times since 1871, according to the National Weather Service.
In 150 years of records, precipitation in any amount has fallen in 77 of those years.
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Snowiest
Since 1871, snow has been recorded falling just eight times on Halloween — and only three of those were in measurable amounts.
Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Tribune archives and reporting
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