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…