Weather in Spanish
To ask about the weather in Spanish, say ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? (what's the weather like today?). Most answers start with hace: hace sol (it’s sunny), hace frío (it’s cold), hace calor (it’s hot). Rain and snow get their own verbs, llueve and nieva, and a gray sky is está nublado.
Below are all 12 weather words and phrases with pronunciation, three short notes on how they work, a morning routine at the window, and a free printable chart.
¿Qué tiempo hace? The weather words, with pronunciation
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
ke TYEM-po AH-se OY · What's the weather like today?
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| Hace sol | AH-se SOL | it's sunny |
| Hace calor | AH-se ka-LOR | it's hot |
| Hace frío | AH-se FREE-o | it's cold |
| Hace viento | AH-se VYEN-to | it's windy |
| Llueve | YWEH-ve | it's raining |
| Nieva | NYEH-va | it's snowing |
| Está nublado | es-TA noo-BLA-do | it's cloudy |
| Hay tormenta | AY tor-MEN-ta | there's a storm |
| Hace buen tiempo | AH-se BWEN TYEM-po | the weather is nice |
| Hace mal tiempo | AH-se MAL TYEM-po | the weather is bad |
| Hay niebla | AY NYEH-bla | it's foggy |
| el arcoíris | el ar-ko-EE-rees | the rainbow |
Two sounds to watch: the h in hace is silent (AH-se), and the ll in llueve sounds like the y in yes (YWEH-ve). The c in hace sounds like s.
Hace + a noun
Sol, calor, frío and viento are nouns, and hace carries them: hace sol, literally “it makes sun”. For more of it, add mucho: hace mucho frío.
Llueve and nieva are verbs
Rain and snow need no hace. Llueve means it’s raining and nievameans it’s snowing, each one word on its own.
Está nublado
Nublado describes how the sky looks right now, so it takes está: está nublado, it’s cloudy. For a storm or fog, Spanish says there is one: hay tormenta, hay niebla.
How we practice at home: the morning window question
You don’t need to speak Spanish to run this. It takes one minute at the window before breakfast, and the sky gives a new answer every day.
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
Hace sol. Hace frío.
(“What’s the weather like today? It’s sunny. It’s cold.”) Two short answers are fine on the same day: the sun can be out on a cold morning.
- 1
Tape the chart next to the window. Pick the window you already pass every morning.
- 2
Ask the question, then answer it yourself for the first week. Look out, point at the matching picture on the chart and say the phrase.
- 3
In week two, ask and wait. Your child points at the chart; you say the phrase back. Saying it with them counts.
- 4
Add the day. Once the days are familiar, put them together: Hoy es lunes. Hace sol. The days of the week page has the breakfast question that goes with it.
Weather phrases for every day
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| —¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? —Hoy hace sol. | What's the weather like today? Today it's sunny. |
| Hace frío. Ponte el abrigo. | It's cold. Put on your coat. |
| Llueve. Toma el paraguas. | It's raining. Take the umbrella. |
| ¿Qué tiempo hace en tu ciudad? | What's the weather like in your city? |
Get the free printable weather chart
One page: the question ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? and all 12 weather words and phrases, each with a picture and pronunciation. Tape it by the window you check every morning.
Download the Chart (Free PDF)Everything for this unit
Everything for weather in one place
Questions parents ask
How do you ask "What's the weather like?" in Spanish?
Ask ¿Qué tiempo hace? (ke TYEM-po AH-se), and add hoy for today: ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? The usual answers start with hace: hace sol (it's sunny), hace frío (it's cold), hace calor (it's hot), hace viento (it's windy).
Why does Spanish say hace frío and not es frío?
Spanish describes most weather with the verb hacer, so hace frío is literally "it makes cold". Frío, calor, sol and viento work as nouns here, which is why very cold is hace mucho frío, not muy frío.
How do you say "it's raining" and "it's snowing" in Spanish?
It's raining is llueve (YWEH-ve) and it's snowing is nieva (NYEH-va). Both are verbs on their own, with no hace in front. To stress that it is happening right now, people also say está lloviendo and está nevando.
Does tiempo mean weather or time?
Both. In ¿Qué tiempo hace? it means weather; in ¿Cuánto tiempo? it means how much time. Clock time uses a different word: ¿Qué hora es? asks what time it is.
Where the weather shows up next
The weather question pairs with the calendar: today’s day, today’s weather, and later the season it belongs to.
Chart Nº 1: Days of the Week
Lunes to domingo and the breakfast question, ¿Qué día es hoy?
Chart Nº 4: Months and Seasons
Enero to diciembre, and which season brings which weather.
Chart Nº 3: Numbers
Uno to cien, for counting sunny days on the calendar.
All free printables
Every chart, worksheet and story reader you can print at home.
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A short printable Manuel y Lola story with a parent guide in English.