Chicago hit 60 degrees on 28 of 31 October days, tying a record, and saw no snow at all

Chicago’s coldest afternoon in October 2026 still topped out at 57 degrees, the warmest coldest-high of any October in the city’s records. That one number explains how O’Hare reached 60 degrees or higher on 28 of the month’s 31 days, and why the daily snowfall table for the month reads zero from top to bottom.

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The monthly climate summary from the National Weather Service’s Chicago office puts the 28-day count level with the October record, which was previously set in 1963 and again in 1971. Rockford matched Chicago’s 28 but still sits one day short of its own October record.

Twenty-eight days at 60 or above

NWS Chicago’s October 2026 summary lists an average temperature of 60.8 degrees at O’Hare, 6.8 above normal, enough for a tie for sixth warmest October on record. The average high was 70.0 degrees, 7.3 above normal, and the average low was 51.6, 6.2 above normal. A daily record high of 88 came on Oct. 12, and the month’s chilliest daytime reading of 57 degrees never came close to threatening the 60-degree streak.

The 28-of-31 tally ties 1963 and 1971 for the most 60-degree October days at Chicago, according to the summary. Because the three misses were all near-misses, the margin of the record was thin: one more cool afternoon and the tie would have vanished.

Taken across the two months, O’Hare reached 60 degrees on 58 of the 61 days from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31: all 30 days in September and 28 of 31 in October. Tying sixth place among the warmest Octobers means five earlier Octobers ran warmer or equal, and the 60.8-degree average sits between September’s 70.1 and the cooler weather that ordinarily takes hold by November.

Time Out Chicago had reported on Oct. 13 that O’Hare broke a roughly two-decade-old record for the date on Oct. 12, with a published high of 87 degrees against 85 set in 2008. The NWS summary lists 88 for that day, and this article uses the Weather Service figure. Time Out’s story covered the same warm spell and noted a cold front and showers moving in the following night.

The overnight numbers carried as much of the anomaly as the afternoons. Chicago’s average low of 51.6 degrees ran 6.2 above normal, and Rockford logged a record-warm low of 65 on Oct. 13, a night temperature that many Octobers never reach in the afternoon. Rockford’s average high of 70.2 degrees, 7.9 above normal, was the largest daytime anomaly in either summary, which is why the city came within a single day of its own 60-degree record despite a lower overall average than Chicago.

Rockford’s near miss and an empty snow table

Rockford’s October was nearly as warm. It also reached 60 degrees on 28 days, but its record is 29, set in 1924, 1938, 1963 and 1971. The average temperature there was 57.7 degrees, 5.7 above normal and the ninth warmest October on record, with a coldest high of 56, the second-warmest in the record behind 1956’s 58. Rockford hit 88 on the 12th and set a record-warm low of 65 on the 13th.

Snow never entered either picture. The Chicago and Rockford daily tables show zero snowfall, and snow depth was zero all month at both sites. Precipitation was modest too: 2.61 inches at O’Hare, 0.82 below normal and most of it falling over two or three days, and 1.94 inches at Rockford, 0.69 below normal.

A warm run that started in September

October inherited its warmth from September. The Weather Service’s September 2026 summary shows O’Hare averaging 70.1 degrees, 3.8 above normal and tied for the tenth warmest September, with all 30 days reaching at least 60 degrees and a lowest daily high of 63. Record warm lows of 77 and 76 fell on the 3rd and 4th, and the 78 on the 2nd tied the warmest low on record. Rainfall ran 0.51 inch above normal that month, so the October dryness was a swing. Neither summary gives a November outlook, and neither says when the first flakes are due; the Weather Service pages read for this article record only what already happened.

The warmth was regional. In Omaha, local station WOWT reported that October averaged 62.3 degrees there, the fourth warmest October on record for the metro, and that the entire Midwest ran warmer than normal through the month.

El Niño and the winter question

A strong El Niño is in place this fall, and the Minnesota DNR’s state climatology write-up says El Niño winters in Minnesota have averaged 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than other winters, with Twin Cities snowfall about 24% lower. That is a Minnesota statistic and Chicago may behave differently, but the Climate Prediction Center outlook cited there calls for a mild winter in the state. The NWS Chicago summary itself makes no seasonal forecast, so the open question is whether the first measurable Chicago snow arrives in November or later. In the Minnesota data, El Niño winters averaged 43.1 inches of Twin Cities snow against 56.8 inches in non-El Niño winters since 1950-51, but the DNR itself notes that exceptions occur, including a Halloween blizzard in 1991 during a very strong event.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.