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Shaded-relief atlas plate of Chicago, Illinois: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
ILLINOIS · COOK COUNTY

Chicago

2,721,308 people, 590 ft above sea level in Cook County.

590 ftElevation, city center
2,721,308People, 2024 estimate
228 sq miLand area
Partly cloudy 55°
Partly cloudy now Dew point 53° · Calm · high 76°
City of Chicago River Interstate 5 miles
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The Chicago plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Chicago

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 3:00 AM CDT
RIGHT NOW Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (KORD) · 3:51 AM
Partly cloudy
55° Partly cloudy Feels like 55° · high of 76° near 2 PM
WindCalmno gusts
Humidity93%falling to 46% this afternoon
Pressure30.03 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
Clouds
UV index5 by 12 PMmoderate
Dew point 53° · Dry65° by Thursday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Mostly cloudy
Tomorrow, about 8 AMin about 27 hours · 80% chance · rain
LIKELY AMOUNT0.5–1.2 inmost likely 0.7; 1 in 10 over 1.9
LAST RAINSept. 210.06 in · 8 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Cook County
NWS Chicago and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 4:37 AM
SUN & MOON
↑ 6:45 AM6:36 PM ↓
11 h 51 m of daylight, 3 minutes less than yesterday
Waning gibbous, 91% lit. The Harvest Moon was full Saturday.
AIR & POLLEN
51
MODERATEAir quality index · fine particles
No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
TUESDAY, SEPT. 29
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30
THURSDAY, OCT. 1
FRIDAY, OCT. 2
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
rain
TEMPERATURE °F
57°
75°
65°
68°
67°
71°
CHANCE OF RAIN
92% · 1.92 in Friday overnight 50%
WIND, MPH
0
2
6
8
7
8
10
10
10
10
11
12
12
11
10
9
9
8
8
8
9
10
10
11
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Comfortable: dew points 52 to 65°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 70° / 52°
TUE Sept. 29 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
76° 64°
0% rain — SSW 6 B
WED Sept. 30 Showers likely Showers likely
70° 65°
80% rain 0.5–1.2″ SSW 11 B
THU Oct. 1 Showers likely Showers likely
73° 59°
80% rain 1.6–2.7″ NNW 8 C
FRI Oct. 2 Chance of showers; cooler Chance of showers; cooler
65° 53°
40% rain — NNE 12 B
SAT Oct. 3 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
64° 51°
10% rain — ENE 7 B
SUN Oct. 4 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
66° 50°
0% rain — NNW 8 C
MON Oct. 5 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
63° 49°
0% rain — ENE 8 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
Map of a 72-hour back-trajectory: the air now over Chicago was over the Great Lakes three days ago.
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Chicago at 5,000 feet was over the Great Lakes three days ago, about 650 miles back along its path. It has stayed over land the whole way. Traced hour by hour through GFS analyses of the 850 hPa wind.

THIS WEEK IN 1974 Oct. 2, 1974

The coldest this week has been

28° on Oct. 2, 1974, the coldest reading for this week of the year since 1871. Next is 29° in 1942.

29°
28°
19421974
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Chicago Area threaded record since 1871.
MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Chicago on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Naperville IL · 25 MI 25 miles west Aurora IL · 32 MI 32 miles west Milwaukee WI · 86 MI 86 miles north Madison WI · 124 MI 124 miles northwest Fort Wayne IN · 142 MI 142 miles east Indianapolis IN · 164 MI 164 miles southeast
FORECASTCITY
Atlas plate of Chicago, Illinois. Explore the plate
ILLINOIS · COOK

Chicago

2,721,308 people, 590 ft above sea level in Cook County.

590 ftElevation
2,721,308People
228 sq miLand
Partly cloudy 55°
Partly cloudyDew point 53°
1

Today in Chicago

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now partly cloudy night 57° 0%
7a fog 55° 0%
10a partly cloudy day 64° 0%
1p partly cloudy day 73° 0%
4p partly cloudy day 75° 1%
7p mostly cloudy night 70° 1%
Mostly cloudy
NEXT RAINTomorrow about 8 AM · 80%
→
Tue0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
64
76
B
Wed80%
Showers likely Showers likely
65
70
B
Thu80%
Showers likely Showers likely
59
73
C
Fri40%
Chance of showers; cooler Chance of showers; cooler
53
65
B
Sat10%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
51
64
B
Sun0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
50
66
C
Mon0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
49
63
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 1974 · OCT. 2, 1974

28°, the coldest this week of the year has been since 1871.