We are now halfway through spring and so far, it’s the wettest spring in 43 years for the Chicago area.
Tuesday’s 2.43 inches of rainfall at O’Hare International Airport made it the second-wettest day in April in over 50 years — behind the 3.54 inches that fell April 18, 2013. The record was set at 3.83 inches on April 18, 1975, according to the National Weather Service.
The only other year we had more rain through the first half of meteorological spring (March, April, May) than this year was in 1983, and that year still holds our wettest spring on record with 17.51 inches of rain. 2013 and 1975 also make up the top 6 in that list, but so do 2019 and 2020.
The first half of spring in both 2019 & 2020 only had around 4 inches of rain, but the back half of the season dropped around 13 inches of rain; the top 2 amounts for that timeframe.
The 2.43 inches that fell Tuesday also marked the sixth rainiest April day on record for Chicago, according to NWS.
We still have plenty more rain to get through this season, including strong-to-severe thunderstorms on the forecast for the Chicago-area Wednesday night. At this rate, it’s looking likely that 2026 be in the top 5 wettest springs for Chicago.
Illinois is also leading the nation in severe storms so far this year, and it’s not even close.
