Elgin, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Elgin's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 39.9 inches of precipitation and 32 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.4°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,012 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElgin
- Station IDUSC00112736
- Location42.06°N 88.29°W
- Elevation763 ft (233 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population114,701
On October 22, the normal high in Elgin is 60°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 34%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Elgin.
- Jan 30° 14°
- Feb 34° 17°
- Mar 46° 26°
- Apr 59° 37°
- May 70° 48°
- Jun 80° 58°
- Jul 84° 63°
- Aug 82° 61°
- Sep 76° 53°
- Oct 63° 41°
- Nov 48° 30°
- Dec 36° 20°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Elgin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.12 in), the least in February (1.87 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 14°F | 22.1°F | 2.02 | 9.5 | 10 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 34°F | 17°F | 25.5°F | 1.87 | 8.0 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 46°F | 26°F | 36.2°F | 2.37 | 3.7 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 37°F | 47.9°F | 3.96 | 0.8 | 13 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 48°F | 59.3°F | 5.12 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 58°F | 69.2°F | 4.46 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 63°F | 73.7°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 82°F | 61°F | 71.8°F | 4.33 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 53°F | 64.3°F | 3.53 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 41°F | 51.8°F | 3.31 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 30°F | 38.8°F | 2.68 | 1.4 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 36°F | 20°F | 27.8°F | 2.22 | 8.7 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 39°F | 49.0°F | 39.85 | 32.1 | 124 | 15 | 139 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −10°C | −5.5°C | 51 mm | 24 cm |
| February | 1°C | −8°C | −3.6°C | 47 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 8°C | −3°C | 2.3°C | 60 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 15°C | 3°C | 8.8°C | 101 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 15.2°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 5°C | 11.0°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 9°C | −1°C | 3.8°C | 68 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 2°C | −7°C | −2.3°C | 56 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00112736; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Elgin?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00112736.
When is the last frost in Elgin?
In Elgin, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 3 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 261 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 174 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elgin in zone 5b across its 3 ZIP code areas (5b in 60123, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Elgin's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00112736; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
What hardiness zone is each Elgin ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Elgin's 3 ZIP code areas are all in zone 5b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Elgin?
In a normal year in Elgin, 15 days a year reach 90°F, 139 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 139a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1983) is 102°F, on July 8, 2012; the lowest is −25°F, on January 31, 2019.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 51.64 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 60.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00112736; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00112736. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Elgin?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Elgin, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (61%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 385th (with 30 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 1.7 |
| February | 67% | 2.6 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 69% | 2.8 |
| November | 66% | 1.9 |
| December | 61% | 1.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Elgin need?
A normal year in Elgin brings 6,592 heating degree days, 23% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 807 cooling degree days, 11% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,994 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,330 | 0 |
| February | 1,106 | 0 |
| March | 894 | 1 |
| April | 519 | 4 |
| May | 224 | 48 |
| June | 40 | 168 |
| July | 5 | 273 |
| August | 10 | 219 |
| September | 109 | 86 |
| October | 418 | 9 |
| November | 785 | 0 |
| December | 1,153 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,592 | 807 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00112736. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Elgin been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 52.7°F, 3.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.0°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.0°F | +2.0°F | 29.42 | 29.0 |
| 2023 | 51.2°F | +2.2°F | 37.92 | 18.4 |
| 2024 | 52.7°F | +3.7°F | 37.06 | 20.4 |
Over 36 complete years from 1978 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.1°F per century (+0.34°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00112736; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Elgin's climate compare?
Elgin is warmer than 17 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 70. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.0°F is warmer than 36%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Elgin is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Elgin share this climate record?
8 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Carpentersville, IL37,144 people · 4 mi N
- Algonquin, IL30,539 people · 7 mi N
- South Elgin, IL24,921 people · 5 mi S
- Pingree Grove, IL11,512 people · 8 mi W
- Gilberts, IL9,075 people · 5 mi NW
- West Dundee, IL7,906 people · 4 mi NW
- Sleepy Hollow, IL3,137 people · 2 mi NW
- East Dundee, IL3,116 people · 3 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Elgin's climate
What is the coldest month in Elgin?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Elgin?
Yes: 32 inches in a normal year, falling on 22 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Elgin?
May, with 5.12 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Elgin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Elgin in zone 5b across its 3 ZIP code areas (5b in 60123, the largest). By the same method at Elgin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Elgin?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Elgin in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Streamwood, IL6 miles from this station, 49.6°F a year
- Barrington, IL7 miles from this station, 48.0°F a year
- West Chicago, IL11 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Crystal Lake, IL15 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made