Chicago And Rockford Get Snowiest Start To Winter Since 1978

It’s early December, and if you live in the Rockford area or Chicago, you might be staring out your window with snow piled up, and shovels at the ready because you know that there will be more...maybe much more because we already have a lot.

As of Sunday, December 7th, both cities have already crushed last season’s snowfall totals. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Chicago’s official snow tally currently sits at 17.1 inches, just a little under the 17.6 inches the city received during the entire 2024-2025 season. Meanwhile, Rockford has already lapped last year, picking up the exact same 17.1 inches total recorded all of last winter.

For Chicago, this marks the fastest start to winter in decades. This is the first time the city has seen snowfall like this so early since 1978. With nine separate days of measurable snow between November 9th and December 7th, including four days with at least an inch, the season isn’t about to ease up.

While It's Chicago's Fastest Start To Winter Since 1978, Rockford Has Seen The Fastest Start In Over A Century

Rockford’s early-season snow is especially notable because, according to NWS’s historical data, this is the snowiest start to a season on record for the city, and records for Rockford date back all the way to 1905. Rockford’s “average” seasonal snowfall lands around 38.4 inches, and Mother Nature has already delivered nearly half of that well before winter has truly settled in.

Here's the thing: we haven’t even officially hit mid-winter yet, and already we’re nearly back to “annual total” snowfall territory. For longtime Chicago and Rockford residents, this feels familiar, the kind of winters we used to expect more often, decades ago. But for many younger people who grew up during milder winters, this might be a bit of a shock.

If the snow we've gotten so far is surprising, you probably weren't around during the winter of 78-79 when it was a powerhouse era for winter storms. The 70s were the snowiest decade on record for much of Illinois, and for Chicago, the winter of 1978-79 still stands as the heaviest on record with nearly 90 inches of snow falling from a brutal string of storms.

Here's a flashback to that winter: