Spanish Weather Expressions You'll Use Every Day
Weather is the ultimate small-talk topic in any language, and Spanish is no exception. The tricky part is that Spanish talks about weather differently than English — you won't be saying "it is hot" the way you think. Let's break down how weather expressions actually work.
Basic Weather Conditions — El Tiempo
The first thing to know is that Spanish uses the verb hacer (to do/make) for most weather expressions. Instead of "it is hot," you say hace calor — literally "it makes heat." Once you accept this pattern, the rest falls into place.
Not all weather uses hacer. Rain and snow use their own verbs: llover (to rain) and nevar (to snow). Cloudy and humid use estar: está nublado, está húmedo.
Temperature and Seasons — Temperatura y Estaciones
Talking about temperature and seasons gives you the vocabulary to describe weather across the whole year. Remember that most Spanish-speaking countries use Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
To say "it's 30 degrees," you'd say Estamos a treinta grados. And if you want to talk about personal feeling, you switch to tener: Tengo calor (I'm hot) or Tengo frío (I'm cold).
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Weather Idioms — Expresiones sobre el Tiempo
Just like English has "it's raining cats and dogs," Spanish has its own colorful weather expressions. These are the kind of phrases that make you sound like you actually live in a Spanish-speaking country.
Llueve a cántaros is the Spanish equivalent of "it's raining cats and dogs." A cántaro is a large clay pitcher, so the image is of water being dumped from above.
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Making Weather Small Talk
Now let's put it all together. Weather is the go-to topic when you're making conversation with a neighbor, a taxi driver, or someone at a bus stop. Here are the kinds of things people actually say.
A natural way to start a weather conversation is with an exclamation: ¡Qué frío! (How cold!), ¡Qué calor! (How hot!), or ¡Qué día más bonito! (What a beautiful day!). People respond to these instinctively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Spanish use "hace" for weather?
Spanish uses the verb hacer (to do/make) for many weather expressions because the idea is that the weather "makes" a condition. So hace frío literally means "it makes cold." It's just how Spanish expresses it — there's no direct English equivalent.
How do you say "it is raining" in Spanish?
You say "Está lloviendo" (it is raining) or simply "Llueve" (it rains). Both are correct. Llover is the verb for "to rain."
What is the difference between tiempo and clima?
El tiempo refers to the weather right now (and can also mean "time"). El clima means the general climate of a region. So Madrid has a dry clima, but today's tiempo might be rainy.
How do you ask about the weather forecast in Spanish?
You can ask "¿Qué dice el pronóstico?" (What does the forecast say?) or "¿Cómo va a estar el tiempo mañana?" (How is the weather going to be tomorrow?).