🌦️ Weather - El tiempo

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Beginner Spanish · Weather and making plans

Talking About the Weather in Spanish

Weather Spanish becomes much easier when you learn a few complete patterns instead of translating every English sentence word by word. Start with hacer, estar, and hay, then use them to describe today and talk about simple plans.

Your next small win: ask about the weather, describe heat, cold, sun, rain, clouds, and wind, then make a simple weather prediction.

Start with common weather

Core Weather Vocabulary

Learn a compact set first. You will use these words inside complete weather expressions in the next sections.

sol
Sun
lluvia
Rain
nieve
Snow
viento
Wind
tormenta
Storm
nublado
Cloudy

Name three weather words

Say “sun, rain, and wind” in Spanish.

Seasons and extra weather words
primavera
Spring
verano
Summer
otoño
Fall / autumn
invierno
Winter
temperatura
Temperature
buen tiempo
Good weather
mal tiempo
Bad weather

Learn the three main patterns

Hacer, Estar, and Hay

Spanish uses different patterns for different types of weather. Learning the whole expression is more useful than trying to translate “it is” directly.

Use hacer for several general conditions

Hace calor.
It is hot.
Hace frío.
It is cold.
Hace sol.
It is sunny.
Hace viento.
It is windy.

Use estar for some conditions and weather happening now

Está nublado.
It is cloudy.
Está lloviendo.
It is raining.
Está nevando.
It is snowing.

Use hay for something present in the weather

Hay mucho viento.
There is a lot of wind.
Hay una tormenta.
There is a storm.

Key idea: there is no single Spanish equivalent of English “it is” that works for every weather expression. Learn phrases such as hace frío, está lloviendo, and hay mucho viento as complete patterns.

Use three different patterns

Say that it is cold, it is raining, and there is a lot of wind.

Ask and answer about today's weather

What Is the Weather Like?

Use ¿Qué tiempo hace? for a general weather question and ¿Qué temperatura hace? when asking specifically about temperature.

¿Qué tiempo hace?
What is the weather like?
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
What is the weather like today?
¿Qué temperatura hace?
What is the temperature?

Checking today's weather

A
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
What is the weather like today?
B
Hace sol, pero hay mucho viento.
It is sunny, but there is a lot of wind.
Hoy hace mucho calor.
It is very hot today.
Está lloviendo bastante fuerte.
It is raining quite hard.
Hay mucho viento cerca de la playa.
There is a lot of wind near the beach.

Answer a weather question

Someone asks what the weather is like. Say that it is sunny but windy.

Look ahead

Weather Predictions and Plans

Use ir a + infinitive for a simple prediction or expectation about what is going to happen.

Va a llover.
It is going to rain.
Creo que va a llover esta tarde.
I think it is going to rain this afternoon.
Voy a llevar un paraguas.
I am going to take an umbrella.

Making plans for the afternoon

A
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
What is the weather like today?
B
Ahora hace sol, pero creo que va a llover esta tarde.
It is sunny now, but I think it is going to rain this afternoon.

Weather in winter

A
¿Qué tiempo hace en las montañas en invierno?
What is the weather like in the mountains in winter?
B
Hace bastante frío y nieva con frecuencia.
It is quite cold and it snows frequently.

Weather plus a plan

Say that it is raining hard, so you are going to take an umbrella.

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Weather

Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on hacer, estar, hay, weather questions, and simple predictions.

Audio uses your device's Spanish text-to-speech voice. Listen to each weather phrase, then practice giving a short weather update and making a simple plan.