How extreme does Kankakee's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Kankakee has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1973–present), from the Kankakee Wwtp station 3 km away. Updated through June 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Kankakee has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

107°F Aug 17, 1988

That is about 24°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Kankakee (typical high near 83°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 107°F Aug 17, 1988

2 104°F Aug 2, 1988

3 103°F Jul 25, 1987

❄️ Coldest night

-29°F Jan 20, 1985

About 45°F colder than a normal January night in Kankakee (typical low near 16°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -29°F Jan 20, 1985

2 -26°F Dec 24, 1983

3 -25°F Jan 10, 1982

🌧️ Most rain in one day

5.85 in Jun 17, 2012

More rain in a single day than Kankakee usually gets in the whole month of June (typical June total about 5.2 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 5.85 in Jun 17, 2012

2 5.35 in Jun 26, 1978

3 4.65 in Apr 19, 1975

⛄ Most snow in one day

13.0 in Jan 13, 1979

Close to a whole typical January's snow in one day (Kankakee averages about 8 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 13.0 in Jan 13, 1979

2 13.0 in Feb 16, 2021

3 12.0 in Jan 3, 1999

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Kankakee's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 107°F is about 24°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Kankakee's warmest days reach the mid-80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-10s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 107°F and as low as −29°F. A single day has delivered over 6 inches of rain or close to 13 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Kankakee Wwtp (NOAA GHCN station USC00114603), about 3 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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