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Chicago’s Christmas weather: The warmest and coldest since 1871

Chicago Tribune
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Five-year-old Hazel Berger looks up while being carried by her father Joel Berger as they walk along

Five-year-old Hazel Berger looks up while being carried by her father Joel Berger as they walk along North Michigan Avenue on Dec. 29, 2019. Temperatures are expected to rise into the upper-50s to low-60 degrees. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

A cold spell with “near blizzard” conditions snarled air travel in Christmas in 2022.

This year, however, the high temperature was 59 degrees — the second warmest on record in Chicago for the date. Highs in the mid-50s also happened in 2021 and 2019.

None were as balmy, though, as the high of 64 degrees on Dec. 25, 1982 — the warmest Christmas recorded here since 1871. The following year, however, Chicago experienced the low temperature of minus 17 degrees — the city’s coldest Christmas. There are at least three instances in the past 150 years when opposing temperature extremes hit the area in back-to-back years.

[ Chicago weather: How our 2023-24 seasonal snowfall compares with previous years ]

Here’s a chronological look back at how the Chicago Tribune covered Christmas temperature highs (shown in red) and lows (shown in blue):

1877

50 degrees

"Yesterday was the most uneventful and unsensational of all Christmases that have been celebrated in Chicago since the city has had an existence and a name. The 25th of December of last year was furiously cold. That of the preceding year was sloppy and chilly. But this one was memorable for being a day of continuous rain, without a vestige anywhere of the snow and ice which generally characterize the season."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1877

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1877)

1891

52 degrees

"In yesterday's change of weather there was a drop of nearly 25 degrees in a few hours, and many who had gone out for a drive in fairly warm clothing felt well chilled before they could get home again."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1891

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1891)

1892

Minus 2 degrees

"It seemed a little like the weather of old-time yule-tides that came with cold blasts from the north. Drifts of snow, bursts of sunshine, and all the train of jollity that follows in the wake of a roaring winter storm."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1892

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1892)

1893

52 degrees

"There was nothing in the weather repertoire that was not used yesterday on Chicago except hail. There was fan weather, fur weather, umbrella and parasol weather, overcoat and seersucker weather. Any one dissatisfied with the weather needed only to wait a few minutes and it would change."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1893

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1893)

1895

56 degrees

"The unique sight of an endless stream of children carrying dolls wending their way along Michigan Avenue attracted the attention of the guests of the hotels along the way. So interested did the spectators become in the children that many were stopped and their dolls examined and commented on."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1895

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1895)

1903

Minus 3 degrees

"One death, numerous accidents, and delayed street car traffic have already resulted from the storm, which came unannounced and caught the city unawares."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1903

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1903)

1914

Minus 1 degree

"The mercury shot below the zero mark early this morning. Between 3 o'clock and 9 last night the mercury dropped fourteen degrees and stood at two above. By midnight it had reached zero, and was still going down."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1914

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1914)

1924

Minus 6 degrees

"Yesterday was the coldest Christmas day in fifty-two years in Chicago. The mercury dropped to 6 degrees below zero at 3:30 a.m. and hovered close to the zero mark throughout the day, despite the brilliant sunshine. ... Four deaths ascribed to the cold and 154 fire alarms were recorded during the day."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1924

Before Anthony Kiecal of Truck company No. 3 got through the battle with a fire on River Street yesterday he was garbed in a raiment of ice. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1924)

1935

Minus 2 degrees

"Christmas brought Chicago a freak cold snap and a snowstorm which surprised the weather forecaster almost as much as it did the public."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1935

Willis Herman, right, takes Lillian Bertrang and Delores Koller for a sleigh ride in Lincoln Park aboard a 75-year-old cutter on Dec. 25, 1935. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1935)

1936

56 degrees

"As Chicagoans awoke to find there was still no snow on the ground and that the gentle breeze outside was even balmier than those that blessed Christmas shoppers, a general exodus to the outdoors began. Golfers invaded all courses remaining open. The parks were filled with strolling couples, and brand new bicycles and velocipedes were taken straight from the Christmas tree to sidewalks."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1936

Mary Lou MacKay, 4 makes good use of her present, but brother, Charles, finds his new sled quite useless. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1936)

1940

50 degrees

"It won't be a white Christmas."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 25, 1940

1971

55 degrees

"Chicagoans who had visions of Christmas snowflakes yesterday were instead treated to drizzle, fog, and temperatures in the mid-forties."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1971

Chicago police officers from the Shakespeare Avenue District distribute Christmas gifts to kids on Dec. 24, 1971. (James Mayo/Chicago Tribune)

1980

Minus 8 degrees

"Although the cold snap was the worst of the young winter season, winds were relatively still, sparing those who had to travel Thursday the added bite of an arctic wind-chill combination."

— David Axelrod, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1980

The long, icy fingers of winter held the city in their grip despite the glistening sun Christmas morning. The temperature hit a record 8 below zero. (Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune)

1982

64 degrees

Highest Christmas high temperature since 1871

"While the warm weather lasted Saturday, sunshine sent a few hardy sailors onto Lake Michigan, prompting a dramatic rescue in which a wind surfer whose craft broke up after it was blown far from land was plucked from icy waters by a Fire Department helicopter."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1982

Jake Huppert, 11, makes the best of Christmas Day's balmy weather with a romp in Lincoln Park, where he scaled a statue of the park's namesake and tweaked its nose. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

1983

Minus 17 degrees

Lowest Christmas low temperature since 1871

"A year ago, the high Christmas Eve was 62. On Christmas Day, it was 64. ... The weekend's deadly cold -- the wind-chill factor dropped to 82 below -- convinced many to stay home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1983

(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1983)
An ice floe appears to be bearing down on Chicago at Lake Shore Drive and Oak Street as a record deep freeze of 25 degrees below zero on Dec. 24, 1983, gripped Chicago in an arctic embrace. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)
Ice covers a truck after firefighters fought a blaze in Downers Grove on Dec. 26, 1983. (John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune)

1984

Minus 3 degrees

"At the same time children throughout Chicago were diving into their presents, several hundred of the city's homeless waited patiently in the 3-below-zero weather."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1984

Jackie George finds the Christmas Eve snow and cold a little hard to face while she waits for a bus at Division and state Streets. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Despite an official high of only 19 degrees, a bright sun brought out the brave, from snow shovelers to joggers to sun worshippers. With the help of eggnog to dispel the chill, Judith Ann Jonassen works on her tan outside her home at 4144 N. Damen Ave. on Dec. 25, 1984. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

1985

Minus 11 degrees

"Pat Sammarco spent Christmas day serving the needs of others. She helped some sloths mate. ... The (Lincoln Park Zoo) is open every day of the year, and zookeeper Sammarco, along with her husband, Larry, who's in charge of the large mammals, and several dozen colleagues, drew the holiday shift this year. It wasn't so bad, though, the zookeepers agreed. Not when there were Christmas visitors to watch, intrepid souls willing to brave a wind-chill factor that hovered around 30 below all day."

— Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1985

A walk on a winter's day. A well-bundled pedestrian takes a decidedly brisk walk along an icy pier on Montrose Beach at sunset on Dec. 25, 1985. Christmas Day's temperatures ranged from 11 degrees below zero to a meager 1 degree above; the wind chill reached 42 below. (Michael Fryer/Chicago Tribune)

1990

Minus 1 degree

Rite of winter. With temperatures below freezing, a motorist in a lot in Merionette Park uses jumper cables to start his car on Dec. 24, 1990. (Walter Neal/Chicago Tribune)
Pat Gannor of Evergreen Park checks on his Christmas meal -- a barbecued turkey -- on Dec. 25, 1990. He said he cooked the meal outside because it tastes better that way. (Walter Neal/Chicago Tribune)

1994

52 degrees

"Christmas this year shattered another illusion -- namely that it's supposed to occur in winter. Instead, there were in-line skaters wearing shorts, volleyball players in the parks and temperatures above 50 degrees."

— Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1994

Debbie Scheitel of Park Ridge rides her son's new four-wheeler down Beloit Avenue in Forest Park on Dec. 25, 1994. In tow are her brother Larry Buckley Jr. guiding Adam Scheitel, 3, left, and Buckley's son, Larry; Mike Rausch and Elizabeth Buckley, both 12. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

2000

Minus 7 degrees

"Tradition merged with science during the rare Christmas eclipse, which was visible above Chicago from 9:45 a.m. until 12:49 p.m. Monday. Brighter than any star atop a tree, the half-hidden sun seemed to allude to other celestial lights, to ancient miracles and a heaven full of mysteries."

— Vanessa Gezari, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 2000

Doug Duncan, a University of Chicago astronomer, watches a reflection in a cardboard box held by his wife, Laura, as the moon casts a shadow across the face of the sun on Dec. 25, 2000. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Matthew Weintrob, 6, wears special eclipse-viewing glasses he got from his dad Dave, of Oak Park, on Dec. 25, 2000. Students, parents and those fascinated by the heavens gathered in the cold at Hatch Elementary School in Oak Park to safely view the rare Christmas morning partial solar eclipse under the guidance of University of Chicago astromer Douglas Duncan. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
The shadow of the moon falls across the face of the sun during the partial solar eclipse, as seen from Oak Park, on Dec. 25, 2000. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

2019

57 degrees

Now the third warmest Christmas high temperature since 1871

Sundar, of Mumbai, India, Sandeep and Bhuvana, of Chicago, put their feet in Lake Michigan near North Avenue Beach as temperatures reached the upper 50s on Christmas Day in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Chicago Tribune reporting and archives

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Kori Rumore

Kori Rumore

The Missouri School of Journalism graduate uses data and archival materials to report stories. Rumore curates the weekly "Vintage Chicago Tribune" newsletter and wrote "He Had It Coming: Four Murderous Women and the Reporter Who Immortalized Their Stories" with Tribune photo editor Marianne Mather, a fellow Des Plaines native.

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