Kankakee, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Kankakee's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 41.7 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.7°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,058 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKankakee Metro Wastewater
- Station IDUSC00114603
- Location41.13°N 87.89°W
- Elevation600 ft (183 m)
- Population23,535
On October 14, the normal high in Kankakee is 66°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Kankakee.
- Jan 33° 16°
- Feb 37° 20°
- Mar 49° 29°
- Apr 61° 39°
- May 73° 51°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 85° 65°
- Aug 83° 63°
- Sep 78° 55°
- Oct 65° 43°
- Nov 50° 32°
- Dec 38° 22°
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 Kankakee each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.21 in), the least in February (1.94 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 | 33°F | 16°F | 24.4°F | 2.37 | 8.1 | 11 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 20°F | 28.2°F | 1.94 | 3.4 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 49°F | 29°F | 39.0°F | 2.49 | 3.0 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 3.87 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 51°F | 61.8°F | 5.15 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.5°F | 5.21 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 65°F | 74.8°F | 4.65 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 63°F | 73.1°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 55°F | 66.5°F | 3.56 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 43°F | 54.1°F | 3.40 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 32°F | 41.0°F | 2.82 | 0.6 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 22°F | 30.0°F | 2.35 | 5.3 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 41°F | 51.2°F | 41.66 | 20.7 | 113 | 21 | 129 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.2°C | 60 mm | 21 cm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.1°C | 49 mm | 9 cm |
| March | 9°C | −1°C | 3.9°C | 63 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 98 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.6°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | 0°C | 5.0°C | 72 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 3°C | −5°C | −1.1°C | 60 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00114603; 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 Kankakee?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00114603.
When is the last frost in Kankakee?
In Kankakee, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 12 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 191 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 12; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 188 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 211 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 6 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kankakee in zone 5b in ZIP code 60901. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Kankakee's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (17 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00114603; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get in Kankakee?
In a normal year in Kankakee, 21 days a year reach 90°F, 129 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 113 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 129a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 113a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00114603.
How sunny is Kankakee?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Kankakee, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and January the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 1.6 |
| February | 63% | 2.5 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 70% | 5.4 |
| June | 77% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 79% | 5.3 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 66% | 1.9 |
| December | 59% | 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 Kankakee need?
A normal year in Kankakee brings 5,983 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 997 cooling degree days, 10% more 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 3,373 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,258 | 0 |
| February | 1,029 | 0 |
| March | 808 | 2 |
| April | 448 | 7 |
| May | 172 | 72 |
| June | 23 | 216 |
| July | 2 | 306 |
| August | 5 | 256 |
| September | 76 | 121 |
| October | 355 | 18 |
| November | 721 | 1 |
| December | 1,086 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,983 | 997 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00114603. 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 Kankakee been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.5°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.2°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 52.7°F | +1.5°F | 36.85 | 7.9 |
| 2024 | 53.6°F | +2.4°F | 39.13 | 21.6 |
| 2025 | 51.5°F | +0.3°F | 34.75 | 29.4 |
Over 39 complete years from 1974 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.7°F per century (+0.26°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00114603; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Kankakee's climate compare?
Kankakee is warmer than 59 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 98. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.2°F is warmer than 46%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kankakee 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 Kankakee share this climate record?
13 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.
- Bourbonnais, IL18,083 people · 3 mi N
- Bradley, IL15,298 people · 3 mi NE
- Manteno, IL9,241 people · 8 mi N
- Limestone, IL1,524 people · 4 mi W
- Herscher, IL1,493 people · 13 mi SW
- St. Anne, IL1,130 people · 12 mi SE
- Chebanse, IL1,011 people · 9 mi S
- Aroma Park, IL653 people · 6 mi SE
- Sun River Terrace, IL450 people · 8 mi E
- Bonfield, IL342 people · 9 mi W
- Sammons Point, IL215 people · 7 mi S
- Irwin, IL67 people · 8 mi SW
- Union Hill, IL52 people · 14 mi W
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 Kankakee's climate
What is the coldest month in Kankakee?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Kankakee?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (8.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Kankakee?
June, with 5.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.94 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kankakee in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kankakee in zone 5b in ZIP code 60901. By the same method at Kankakee's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Kankakee?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kankakee in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Watseka, IL24 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Lowell, IN26 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Park Forest, IL27 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Dwight, IL27 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made