Essex, Illinois Weather
Essex, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Essex, Cook County.
Full aviation weather for Essex is published on the Chicago Midway International Airport (KMDW) page, 14 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 6 airfields within reach of Essex have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Essex: Gary/Chicago International Airport (KGYY) 22 km · Lansing Municipal Airport (KIGQ) 26 km · Chicago O'Hare International Airport (KORD) 36 km · Hobart Sky Ranch Airport (K3HO) 36 km · Bult Field (KC56) 43 km
Conditions reported at KMDW describe the airfield itself. Weather 14 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Essex specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Essex.
About Essex, Illinois
Essex, a quiet corner of Cook County, breathes with the steady pulse of the American Midwest. It lies 2.2 miles south of Hyde Park, IL (from Hyde Park, IL: bearing 175°T), and is situated 6.8 miles south-south-east of Chicago. The land here, a gentle, expansive flatness, stretches towards horizons that seem to invite an endless sky. Fields, at their season's height, unfurl in swathes of verdant green or the burnished gold of ripening grain, their straight edges a testament to human endeavor meeting the land's inherent generosity. The air, especially in the lingering light of late afternoon, carries a faint, dry scent of sun-baked earth and distant, mown grass, a perfume of summer's easy dominion. Oak trees, sturdy and patient, punctuate the landscape, their branches reaching out like welcoming arms, offering dappled shade that shifts and dances with the breeze. The story of Essex is one of agricultural roots, a deep connection to the rich, dark soil that has sustained generations. This locality once thrived on the bounty of its farms, a legacy evident in the enduring spirit of its people and the well-tended fields that still surround it. While the agricultural economy has evolved, the character of Essex remains tied to that foundational industry, fostering a sense of groundedness and quiet resilience. The pace of life here is measured, unhurried, allowing for observation and appreciation of the small, significant details: the way the setting sun paints the western sky in hues of rose and lavender, or the contented hum of a tractor working its way across a distant field.
Live animated radar for Essex and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Essex, Cook County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41.762257°N, 87.590048°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 60619, 60649, 60435, 60935 |
| Area Code | 708, 630, 331 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Essex, Illinois Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Essex, Illinois, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Essex includes coordinates 41.762257°N, 87.590048°W, situated in Cook County. ZIP code 60619, 60649, 60435, 60935. Telephone area code: 708, 630, 331. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
