English Weather Vocabulary

Level: A1. The weather is the easiest small talk in any language, and English loves it. This page gives you the everyday weather words — the things in the sky, the words that describe them, and the simple sentences that put them to work — each with a plain meaning and a short example you can copy.

By the end of this page you can…

…name common kinds of weather in English, describe a day as sunny, rainy or cold, ask and answer What’s the weather like?, and understand a simple forecast.

How this list was chosen

Every word here comes from the English frequency list (hermitdave/FrequencyWords), which ranks words by how often they appear in a large collection of everyday subtitles. From the top of that list we kept the weather words an A1 learner needs first and grouped them by meaning — the thing, then the word that describes it — so the pairs stick together. The Rank column is the word’s real position in the list; lower means more common. A few describing words sit lower in the list but are everyday weather words, so they stay.

The weather itself (nouns)

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
842	sun	the bright star that gives light and heat	The sun is out this morning.
951	ice	frozen water	There is ice on the road.
1088	wind	moving air	The wind is strong today.
1358	rain	water that falls from clouds	The rain started at noon.
1637	heat	the state of being very hot	The heat in summer is hard to bear.
1708	shower	a short period of rain	A quick shower passed over the town.
1773	weather	the state of the air (hot, wet, etc.)	What is the weather like today?
1792	snow	soft white flakes of frozen water	Snow fell all night.
1865	storm	violent weather with strong wind	A storm is coming from the sea.
2570	thunder	the loud sound in a storm	We heard thunder in the distance.
3188	temperature	how hot or cold something is	The temperature is twenty degrees.
3479	cloud	white or grey water in the sky	One small cloud crossed the sun.
3656	lightning	a bright flash in a storm	Lightning lit up the whole sky.
5313	rainbow	a curve of colours after rain	A rainbow appeared after the shower.
5705	fog	thick cloud near the ground	Thick fog covered the bridge.

Describing the day (adjectives)

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
504	cool	a little cold, pleasant	The evening is cool and fresh.
540	clear	with no clouds	The sky is clear tonight.
547	hot	with a high temperature	It is too hot to go outside.
625	cold	with a low temperature	Wear a coat; it is cold.
1328	warm	pleasantly hot	A warm wind blew from the south.
1616	dry	with no rain or water	The ground is dry after weeks of sun.
1813	wet	covered with water	The streets are wet after the rain.
4018	freezing	very cold, below zero	It is freezing; the pond has ice on it.
4350	sunny	with a lot of sun	It is a bright, sunny day.
9557	rainy	with a lot of rain	We stayed in on the rainy afternoon.
10757	icy	covered with ice	Drive slowly on the icy road.
11257	windy	with a lot of wind	It was too windy for the umbrella.
13207	cloudy	with a lot of cloud	The morning was grey and cloudy.
15169	snowy	with a lot of snow	They drove through the snowy hills.

Seasons and the sky

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
1133	summer	the warmest season	We swim in the lake every summer.
1286	sky	the space above us	The sky turned pink at sunset.
1697	season	one of the four parts of the year	Spring is my favourite season.
1859	spring	the season after winter	Flowers open in spring.
1935	winter	the coldest season	It snows here in winter.
5713	autumn	the season before winter (BrE)	Leaves fall in autumn.
5827	umbrella	a cover you hold against rain	Take an umbrella; it might rain.

Example sentences

Play each line, then say it aloud. These use the weather words in natural, everyday patterns.

What is the weather like today?

The standard question for asking about the weather.
It is sunny and warm this morning.

'It is' + adjectives to describe the day.
It is raining, so take an umbrella.

'to rain' is the action: it is raining.
The sky is clear and there are no clouds.

clear sky = no cloud.
It is very cold today; wear a warm coat.

cold and warm, two opposite temperatures.
Snow fell all night and the roads are icy.

snow (noun) falls; icy describes the roads.
The wind is strong, so it feels windy.

wind (noun) → windy (adjective).
A storm is coming, with thunder and lightning.

storm, thunder and lightning go together.
The temperature is twenty degrees this afternoon.

temperature given in degrees.
It was foggy, so we drove slowly.

fog → foggy; poor visibility.
A rainbow appeared after the short shower.

shower = a short period of rain; rainbow follows.
It is freezing outside and the pond has ice on it.

freezing = below zero; ice forms.
In summer it is hot, but in winter it is cold.

seasons with their typical weather.
The morning was grey and cloudy, then it cleared up.

cloudy → cleared up (became clear).
We stayed inside all day because it was rainy.

rainy day, reason with 'because'.
The ground is dry after two weeks with no rain.

dry = no water; opposite of wet.
Leaves fall in autumn, and then winter brings snow.

autumn (BrE) before winter.

Recap cheat-sheet

A few patterns to remember before the quiz.

Cheat sheet: English weather word patterns, the it-is rule and the seasons

Quick recap before the quiz.

Pattern	Example
noun + -y → adjective	sun → sunny; wind → windy; ice → icy
‘it is’ for weather	It is hot; it is raining; it is 5 degrees
the action verbs	to rain → it is raining; to snow → it is snowing
the four seasons	spring, summer, autumn/fall, winter

Practice

Weather practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Match each noun to its -y adjective.

sun Match for sun
rain Match for rain
wind Match for wind
cloud Match for cloud

Show answer

sun → sunny
rain → rainy
wind → windy
cloud → cloudy

Adding -y to the weather noun makes the adjective that describes the day.

2 Match each word to its meaning.

fog Match for fog
thunder Match for thunder
temperature Match for temperature
shower Match for shower

Show answer

fog → thick cloud near the ground
thunder → the loud sound in a storm
temperature → how hot or cold it is
shower → a short period of rain

Linking the word to its meaning helps you recall it.

3 Complete with the weather subject: ____ is raining, so take a coat.

Hint: weather needs a placeholder subject

Show answer

It — English uses 'it' for the weather: It is raining.

4 Complete with the adjective of 'sun': It is a bright, ____ day.

Hint: noun + -y

Show answer

sunny — sun → sunny, the adjective that describes the day.

5 Which sentence is correct? It is very sun today. It is very sunny today. There is a sunny today. It very sunny today.

Show answer

It is very sunny today. — Use the adjective 'sunny' after 'is': It is very sunny.

6 Put the words in order.

Show answer

What is the weather like today — The fixed question: What is the weather like today?

Quiz

Next set: English Jobs & Professions Vocabulary
Related set: English Nature & Geography Vocabulary
Core lists: Common English Adjectives, 100 Essential English Verbs
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English Weather Vocabulary

By the end of this page you can…

How this list was chosen

The weather itself (nouns)

Describing the day (adjectives)

Seasons and the sky

Example sentences

Recap cheat-sheet

Practice

Weather practice

Quiz

Weather quiz

Next

All English vocabulary topics

Vocabulary