How 'The Bear' Season 5 mirrors Chicago's record-breaking weather

A severe rainstorm serves as the backdrop to the fifth and final season of "The Bear."

Throwing a wrench in the restaurant's plans throughout the day, bursting pipes and even leading to a car crash in the premier episode, the rain serves as one of the main antagonists in the new season.

The release of the new batch of episodes almost perfectly coincides with an exceptionally rainy, stormy and destructive year for Chicago and Illinois as a whole.

Just days after a tornado killed two in Jefferson County, and just over a week after Illinois broke its annual tornado record, the intense drama appears to have picked a motif that most Illinois residents can connect to.

Here's a walkthrough of Chicago's historically stormy year.

Chicago sees wettest start to spring on record

The Windy City kicked off spring with record-breaking rainfall, according to CBS News.

Between March 1 and April 20, O'Hare International Airport received about 10.63 inches of rain, more than double the average rainfall of 4.66 inches during that period.

By May 1, the Chicago area had received well above the normal amount of rainfall for that point in the year, with 14.45 inches since Jan. 1 compared to the normal 10.31 inches, according to the NOAA.

That figure hit 20.56 inches by June 24 compared to the normal 17.99 inches.

Chicago breaks snowfall records before December

Chicago started the snowy season last year with a similarly strong punch, breaking snowfall records by the end of November, according to the NOAA.

After a massive snowstorm Thanksgiving weekend, Chicago hit a record-breaking 10.4 inches of snowfall between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. This was leagues above the normal two inches during that period and the highest recorded 7.1 inches.

The Windy City wrapped up February with a still slightly above-normal snowfall, with 32.3 inches compared to the typical 31.6 inches.

Illinois becomes No. 1 tornado, hail, wind state

By mid-April, Illinois was leading the country in tornado, hail and wind reports, according to AccuWeather.

It reached 100 tornado reports between Jan. 1 and April 19, more than twice as many as the runner-up, Mississippi, which reported 43.

There were meanwhile 147 hail reports in Illinois, compared to 143 reports in the neighboring runner-up Iowa.

High wind reports, which include automated wind gust records, topped out at 245 at the time in Illinois, with Alabama in second place at 209.

As of June 25, Illinois remains the state with the most tornado reports, reaching 200 preliminary tornado reports by June 23.

Illinois breaks all-time tornado record

The Windy City's home state likewise broke all previous annual tornado records by mid-June following a swath of severe storms June 17.

The number of finalized tornado reports surpassed 2025's record of 147, while preliminary reports reached 164, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill.