weather in spanish against a red background with weather icons

88 Spanish Weather Vocabulary Words and Expressions You Need to Know

Over the past two years of my time abroad in Spain, there have been countless moments when bringing up the weather has saved me from otherwise uncomfortable silences with Spaniards.

Luckily, the weather in Madrid is sporadic enough (and extreme enough) to always be a relevant topic when I find myself grasping at straws to make small talk.

In this blog post, you’ll learn 88 weather expressions in Spanish so you can say more than just “it’s hot” and “it’s cold.”

Contents

How to Ask About the Weather in Spanish

Like English, there are multiple ways to ask about the weather in Spanish. Here are a few you’ll hear and use all the time:

Spanish Weather Words

SpanishEnglish
El tiempoWeather
El climaClimate, weather
LloverTo rain
NevarTo snow
TronarTo thunder
ChispearTo drizzle
LloviznarTo drizzle
La granizadaHailstorm
El bochornoSultry or muggy weather
La tormentaStorm
La racha/ráfagaGust (of wind)
El solSun
La lunaMoon
La nubeCloud
El vientoWind
La nieveSnow
El hieloIce
La nieblaFog
El granizoHail
El pronósticoForecast
GradosDegrees
La brisaBreeze

Spanish Weather Expressions with Hacer

SpanishEnglish
Hace buen tiempoThe weather is good
Hace un día despejadoIt’s a clear day
Hace mal tiempoThe weather is bad
Hace un día tormentosoIt’s a stormy day
Hace fríoIt’s cold
Hace calorIt’s hot
Hace frescoIt’s brisk/chilly
Hace solIt’s sunny
Hace un día soleadoIt’s a sunny day
Hace vientoIt’s windy
Hace aireIt’s breezy
Hace un calor tremendoIt’s scorching hot
Hace muchísimo frío / calorIt’s very, very cold/hot
Aquí siempre hace mucho frío / calor en esta épocaIt’s always very cold/hot here at this time of the year
Hace un día horribleIt’s a horrible day (weather wise)
Hace un día muy bueno / maloIt's a very good/bad day
No hace nada de frío / calorIt’s not cold/hot at all
Hace un frío que pelaIt’s freezing cold

Spanish Weather Expressions with Haber

SpanishEnglish
Hay nubesIt's cloudy
Hay lloviznasIt's sprinkling
Hay lluvias torrencialesIt's pouring
Hay granizoIt's hailing
Hay humedadIt's humid
Hay nieblaIt's foggy
Hay neblinaIt's misty
Hay tormentaIt's stormy
Hay relámpagosIt’s lightning
Hay un huracánThere’s a hurricane
Hay un tornadoThere’s a tornado
Hay un terremotoThere’s an earthquake
Hay una inundaciónThere’s a flood
Hay solThe sun is shining
Hay lunaThe moon is out

Spanish Weather Expressions with Estar

SpanishEnglish
Está nubladoIt's cloudy
Está lloviznandoIt's drizzling
Está lloviendo muy fuerteIt's raining very strong
Está granizandoIt's hailing
Está bochornosoIt’s muggy
Está húmedoIt’s humid
Estamos a... grados bajo ceroWe are at...degrees below zero
Estamos a... gradosWe're at...degrees
Está lloviendo a cántarosIt’s raining cats and dogs

Other Spanish Weather Expressions

SpanishEnglish
¿Tienes frío / calor?Are you cold/hot?
Estoy sudadoI'm sweaty
¡Estoy sudando como un pollo!I’m sweating like a chicken! (Think: I’m sweating like a pig!)
Me estoy asandoI’m roasting
Estoy cocidoI’m boiling (hot)
Estoy congeladoI’m freezing cold
Estoy heladoI'm freezing cold
¡Qué frío / calor tengo!I am so cold/hot!
Me muero de calor / fríoI’m dying of heat/cold
Soy muy friolero/ friolentoI’m a wimp when it comes to the cold
¡Ay qué calor!It’s so hot!
¡Qué frío / calor hace!It’s really cold/hot!
Por mucho que quiera ser, en julio poco ha de lloverAs much as it wants to rain, in July it will do so very little
Julio caliente, quema al más valienteJuly heats and burns even the bravest
En agosto, sandía y melón buen refresco sonIn August, watermelon and melon are good refreshment.
La primavera, la sangre alteraSpring is in the air
Agosto fríe el rostroAugust fries your face
Hasta el 40 de mayo, no te quites el sayoDon’t take your sweater off until May 40th

May 40th is a silly way of saying June 9th.

This extremely madrileño (from Madrid) phrase refers to the fact that Madrid weather can be a bit fickle so you shouldn’t assume there will be no rain or cold just because the summer weather seems to have arrived.

Sayo is an old-fashioned Spanish word meaning “smock” or “tunic” but would refer to a sweater in modern times.

Using El Tiempo vs. El Clima to Talk About Weather in Spanish

In Spanish, the word tiempo is extremely versatile. Depending on the context, it can be used to mean any one of the following:

  • Time
  • Weather
  • A moment
  • An era
  • A half (in a sports event entretiempo or medio tiempo is “half-time”)
  • Cycle (think wash cycle for clothing)
  • Tempo or movement (music)
  • Tense (grammar)

Note that the Spanish word clima is preceded by the masculine article el despite its feminine a ending. Many words break the gender rule like this in Spanish and must be memorized.

In English, “climate” isn’t used to talk about current weather conditions. But in Spanish, el clima can be used interchangeably with el tiempo in small talk.

However, it’s also used to talk about climate like in English.

 

Thanks to all these Spanish weather expressions, you’ll finally have a linguistic umbrella to bring to every Spanish conversation.

You’ll be prepared, rain or shine!

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