Spanish Weather Vocabulary: Talk About the Weather Vocabulary in Spanish Like a Pro

Weather talk is one of those universal conversation starters that works in any language. If you're learning Spanish, knowing how to talk about the weather gives you an easy way to break the ice with native speakers, whether you're traveling through Spain, chatting with friends in Mexico, or just trying to understand the forecast on a Spanish news channel. The good news? Spanish weather vocabulary is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of a few key verbs and expressions. Let's dive into everything you need to describe the weather like a native speaker.🌨️

How to say the word weather in Spanish: "Tiempo" vs "Clima"

Before we get into specific weather words, you should know that Spanish has two main words for weather: tiempo and clima.

You'll hear "tiempo " way more often in everyday conversation. When someone asks "¿Qué tiempo hace? " they're asking "What's the weather like?" This is your go-to word for daily weather conditions.

"Clima " refers more to climate in general, like when you're talking about a region's typical weather patterns over time. You might say "El clima de España es mediterráneo " (Spain's climate is Mediterranean), but you wouldn't use clima to ask about today's weather.

Essential verbs and expressions to describe the weather in Spanish

Here's where Spanish gets a bit different from English. Instead of saying "it is cold" or "it is hot," Spanish uses the verb "hacer " (To make/do) for most weather expressions. This trips up a lot of learners at first, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly.

The most common expressions with hacer are:

Notice how "hace" stays the same for all of these? That makes things easier once you memorize the pattern.

For precipitation, Spanish uses specific verbs that conjugate in the third person singular:

You can also use "está lloviendo" or "está nevando" for the present progressive tense, which works pretty much like "it is raining" in English.

Weather adjectives you'll use in small talks

Common weather words

When you want to describe the weather using adjectives, you'll typically use the verb "estar " (To be). These adjectives are super useful for adding detail to your weather descriptions:

So you might say "Está nublado hoy" (It's cloudy today) or "El día está soleado" (The day is sunny).

Weather expressions of temperature

Temperature gets its own special treatment. You can say:

When talking about specific temperature numbers, use "La temperatura es de..." followed by the degrees. Most Spanish-speaking countries use Celsius, so keep that in mind.

Weather nouns: The conditions themselves

Common Spanish weather words in noun form

Knowing the nouns for different weather conditions helps you understand forecasts and news reports. Here are the essential ones:

Spanish vocabulary of extreme weather in noun form

For more extreme weather, you'll want these:

These nouns come in handy when you're reading a forecast or describing past weather events. "Hubo una tormenta anoche" (There was a storm last night) sounds way more natural than trying to describe it with just verbs.

Beyond basic: Advanced Spanish weather expressions

Once you've got the basics down, you can expand into more specific weather terminology. Meteorologists and weather reports use these terms:

Weather vocabulary in Spanish by season

Each season brings its own typical weather patterns, and knowing how to describe them helps you sound more natural. Let's break it down by season.

In spring (la primavera ), you might say:

Summer (el verano ) weather descriptions:

Fall or autumn (el otoño ) brings:

Winter (el invierno ) vocabulary:

Regional differences matter here. Winter in Buenos Aires looks nothing like winter in Madrid, and summer in Mexico City is totally different from summer in the Caribbean.

Asking questions about the weather

You can't just talk about weather, you need to know how to ask about it too. Here are the most common weather questions:

For the forecast, ask "¿Cuál es el pronóstico del tiempo? " (What's the weather forecast?) or more casually "¿Qué dice el pronóstico? " (What does the forecast say?)

If you're asking about weather in a specific place, like "How is the weather in Norway?", you'd say "¿Qué tiempo hace en Noruega? " The formula is simple: ¿Qué tiempo hace en + place name?

Guide to real conversations in the Spanish-speaking country

Let's look at how this vocabulary works in actual conversations. Here's a typical exchange:

Person A: "¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?" (What's the weather like today?)
Person B: "Hace sol pero hace un poco de frío." (It's sunny but a bit cold.)
Person A: "¿Cuál es la temperatura?" (What's the temperature?)
Person B: "Está a unos 15 grados." (It's about 15 degrees.)

Or maybe you're planning an outing:

"¿Vamos a la playa mañana?" (Should we go to the beach tomorrow?)
"Depende del tiempo. ¿Qué dice el pronóstico?" (Depends on the weather. What does the forecast say?)
"Dice que va a hacer calor y estar soleado." (It says it's going to be hot and sunny.)
"Perfecto, vamos entonces." (Perfect, let's go then.)

These natural dialogues show how weather vocabulary flows in real-life scenarios, which is exactly what you need for small talk.

Regional variations of weather expressions in Spanish

Spanish varies quite a bit across different countries, and weather vocabulary has some regional differences.

In Spain, you might hear "hace bueno " for nice weather, while in Latin America "hace buen tiempo " is more common.

Some regions have unique weather phenomena with their own names. "El Niño " and "La Niña " are weather patterns that affect many Spanish-speaking countries. In Argentina, "el viento zonda " is a specific hot, dry wind. Spain has "la gota fría ," a weather phenomenon that brings heavy rain.

These regional terms add authenticity when you're speaking with people from specific areas, but the core vocabulary we've covered works everywhere Spanish is spoken.

Tips for learning Spanish weather vocabulary

The best way to internalize this vocabulary is to use it daily.

The verb conjugations for weather verbs are pretty simple since most of them only appear in third person singular (llueve, nieva, hace), so you don't have to memorize a ton of forms.

Anyway, if you want to practice this Spanish weather vocabulary with real content, Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up words instantly while watching Spanish shows or reading news articles. You can save weather terms you encounter and review them with spaced repetition. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

Learn Spanish with Migaku

Weather talk matters for language learning, but why?

Talking about the weather might seem trivial, but it serves a real purpose in language acquisition. Weather conversations are low-stakes practice opportunities. Nobody expects profound insights when discussing if it's raining, so the pressure is off. Weather vocabulary appears constantly in daily life, which means tons of exposure and practice opportunities. You'll see it in apps, hear it on TV, and use it in casual conversations.

Al mal tiempo, buena cara. (To bad weather, a good face!)