by Brian Alcamo

Despite this post’s title, falling skies are fortunately not a real weather forecast. That being said, talking about the weather is something we all do so often. Be it part of your small-talk with a cashier, your small-talk with your neighbor, or your small-talk with an estranged relative, weather plays a crucial role in how we see and discuss the world around us. 

Weather shapes how we plan our days, weeks, months and years. It’s one of the first things we check on our phones to help us figure out how to spend our free time, and is a major factor in deciding when to take a much-needed quarantine walk. It’s also becoming a big source of discussion as climate change continues to accelerate, especially in the tropical Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America.

Missed our Instagram Live where we go over Describing the Weather in Spanish? No worries! Check it out on our IGTV with Isabel.

How to Talk About the Weather in Spanish

In Spanish, there are technically two words for weather: el clima and el tiempo. More formally, el clima means “climate,” but over time, its usage has shifted to include everyday weather. You may have learned to talk about the weather using the question “¿Que tiempo hace hoy?” Unfortunately, what the textbooks don’t tell you is that that sentence formation isn’t all that common among native Spanish speakers. So when would you use word el tiempo? Mostly in a longer phrase such as el pronóstico del tiempo or “weather forecast.”

More typically, you’re going to ask either ¿Cómo está el clima? (How’s the weather now?) or  ¿Cómo es el clima? (What’s the weather like in general?).

Here are some responses you may get to the question ¿Como está el clima?

• Está soleado / Está bonito (It’s sunny/It’s nice)

• Está haciendo (mucho) calor (It’s hot today)

• ¡Qué calor! ¡Qué solazo! (it’s so hot! The sun is too strong!)

• Está lloviendo / Va a llover (It’s raining/It’s going to rain)

• Está lloviznando (It’s drizzling)

• Está nublado (It’s overcast/cloudy)

  When someone asks you ¿Como es el clima? you can answer with one of these phrases:

• Es caliente. (It’s always hot)

• Es frío. (It’s always cold)

• Es templado (It’s always mild weather)

  Want to describe a weather phenomenon beyond the base terms like “sunny” and “rainy?” Here are a few words that can be used to describe what’s going on in the sky: 

• Escampar (V: rain that is diminishing in strength, rain that is scattering)

• Lloviznar (V: drizzling, lightly raining)

• Una tormenta (A storm)

• Relámpago (Lighting)

The Forecast (El Pronóstico)

Weather not only influences how we discuss the present moment. It also helps us plan our future activities. When you want to discuss what the weather will be like in the future, you typically use the future tense. For example: está lloviendo changes to va a llover in conversations. You will sometimes hear the simple future used on the news (lloverá) since it’s a touch more formal.

Knowing el pronóstico helps you figure out what to wear. Here are a few words that will be ever-important depending on what Mother Nature is bringing your way:

• Impermeable (o poncho) (Raincoat)

• Botas de lluvia (Rainboots)

• Lentes o gafas de sol (Sunglasses)

• Protector solar (Sunscreen)

• Paraguas (Umbrella)

• Gorro de invierno (Winter hat)

• Botas de nieve (Snow boots)

Bonus Points: Idiomatic Expressions(Expresiones Idiomáticas)

There are many idiomatic expressions that have to do with the weather. “It’s raining cats and dogs?” they have a saying for that. It’s “un palo de agua.” This term is used most frequently in the countries of South America. Another word that means the same thing is is aguacero. 

Used in a sentence, the phrase functions as follows: Cayó un palo de agua o Cayó un aguacero  (It was pouring rain)

• A brainstorm? More like: “lluvia de ideas”

  “Si así llueve, que no escampe” (If it rains like this, don’t let it slow.)

  This phrase refers to a time of good luck and good things coming to one’s life and the hope that this lucky time won’t end.

“No hay nada nuevo bajo el sol” (There's nothing new under the sun.)

It refers to the idea that everything has already been said or invented.

That’s It!

Learning to talk about the weather the right way is a key part of becoming fluent in Spanish. Being able to strike up a conversation about the weather is both a cliché and a necessity. The next time you’re asking about the weather in Spanish, make sure to abandon the textbook-style ¿Que tiempo hace? in favor of the more-native ¿Como está el clima? You’ll be sure to impress your conversation partner.

If you’re looking to read up on climate change news in Spanish, check out http://calentamientoglobal.org/.

Be sure to give this post a “heart,” share with your friends, and discuss your favorite type of weather down in the comments below! ¡Hasta pronto!

(Thumbnail photo by Wim van 't Einde on Unsplash)