Illinois snow day predictor
Off season - the 10 towns ranked by how much snow they get · Waukegan averages 43 in a year, Joliet 17 in
Illinois towns, ranked
- Waukeganaverages 43 inches a year · regular snow
- Chicagoaverages 39 inches a year · regular snow
- Rockfordaverages 37 inches a year · regular snow
- Elginaverages 32 inches a year · moderate snow
- Auroraaverages 28 inches a year · moderate snow
- Peoriaaverages 26 inches a year · moderate snow
- Napervilleaverages 24 inches a year · moderate snow
- Springfieldaverages 22 inches a year · moderate snow
- Champaignaverages 21 inches a year · moderate snow
- Jolietaverages 17 inches a year · occasional snow
How snow days work in Illinois
There is no single Illinois snow day threshold, which is why this page scores each town separately. Waukegan averages 43 inches of snow a year against Joliet’s 17, and a district that plans for the first amount does not close for weather that would shut the second one down.
Each score compares what the National Weather Service is forecasting against that town’s own NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normal, then adds weight for ice, wind and dangerous cold. Every number on this page links through to the full factor breakdown, because the reasoning is the part worth checking.
Sources: National Weather Service forecasts, one per town. Snowfall normals from NOAA’s 1991-2020 US Climate Normals. County lines from the US Census Bureau.