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Dear Tom,

Has it ever snowed in Chicago in May?

Jeremy Ecklan,
Naperville

Dear Jeremy,
In the 134 years (1885-2018) of official snowfall records at Chicago, snow has fallen in 31 Mays, or 23 percent of them. That’s almost one May out of four. In addition, in 1910 there was even a trace of snow (flakes in the air, but no accumulation) on June 2nd. Measurable snow (0.1 inch or more) has fallen in nine of the months of May out of the 134 years. May, 1940, ranks as the snowiest: 1.6 inches on the 1st and 0.6 inches on the 2nd; in addition, a trace of snow fell on the 3rd, for a monthly total of 2.2 inches. May, 1907, registered 1.3 inches on the 3rd and traces on the 4th and 10th, the second snowiest May on record. At Midway Airport, with 90 years of records (1929-2018), 3.7 inches occurred in 1940 (3.2 inches on the 1st, 0.5 inches on the 2nd), but it was not the official station then.