Lesson 10 · 5 min read
Talking About the Weather and Seasons in Spanish
Weather is small talk everywhere. Spanish describes most weather with the verb "hacer" (to make/do) rather than "to be," which surprises many beginners — literally, "it makes sun."
1. The weather
Most weather uses "hace": hace calor, hace frío, hace viento. A few use "está" or their own verb.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Hace sol. | It is sunny. |
| Hace calor. | It is hot. |
| Hace frío. | It is cold. |
| Hace viento. | It is windy. |
| Está nublado. | It is cloudy. |
| Llueve. | It is raining. |
| Nieva. | It is snowing. |
2. The seasons
Seasons take the definite article in Spanish — "en el invierno", in the winter — and they are not capitalised. Remember that in the southern half of the Spanish-speaking world the seasons are reversed, so December is high summer in Argentina and Chile.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la primavera | spring |
| el verano | summer |
| el otoño | autumn / fall |
| el invierno | winter |
3. Talking about the weather
Spanish splits weather across three different verbs, which is the main thing to get right. "Hacer" covers general conditions — hace frío, hace sol. "Estar" describes the current state of the sky — está nublado. And rain and snow are their own verbs entirely: llueve, nieva.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué tiempo hace? | What's the weather like? |
| Hoy hace buen tiempo. | The weather is nice today. |
| En verano hace mucho calor. | In summer it is very hot. |
4. Weather as small talk
Weather is the safest opening topic in any language, and Spanish has a set of ready-made reactions that do most of the work. ¡Qué calor! and ¡Qué frío! are complete utterances, and the qué construction extends to almost anything: ¡Qué día tan bonito! Because the Spanish-speaking world spans both hemispheres and everything from Patagonia to the Caribbean, seasons are a genuinely unreliable guide to weather. Assuming July means summer will confuse a conversation with someone from Chile or Argentina, where it is the middle of winter.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Qué calor! | It's so hot! | ¡Qué calor hace hoy! — It's so hot today! |
| la temporada de lluvias | the rainy season | Ahora es la temporada de lluvias. — It's the rainy season now. |
| el pronóstico | the forecast | El pronóstico dice que va a llover. — The forecast says it's going to rain. |
| estar despejado | to be clear (sky) | Hoy está despejado. — It's clear today. |
| ¿Qué tiempo hace? | What's the weather like? | ¿Qué tiempo hace en Madrid? — What's the weather like in Madrid? |
Use it in context
Weather is the safest small talk there is, so these sentences travel well.
- —¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? —Hace sol, pero hace frío.
'What's the weather like today?' 'It's sunny, but cold.' - ¡Qué calor hace en verano!
It's so hot in summer! - Está nublado y creo que va a llover.
It's cloudy and I think it's going to rain. - En invierno nieva mucho aquí.
It snows a lot here in winter. - El pronóstico dice que mañana estará despejado.
The forecast says it'll be clear tomorrow. - En otoño llueve casi todos los días.
In autumn it rains almost every day.
Common mistakes
Es frío hoy → Hace frío hoy
General weather conditions take hacer, not ser. Hace frío, hace calor, hace sol, hace viento.
Estoy frío → Tengo frío
Estar frío describes an object that is cold to the touch. A person who feels cold has cold: tengo frío.
Está lloviendo mucha lluvia → Llueve mucho
Rain is its own verb. Spanish rarely pairs llover with lluvia the way English says raining rain — it just says llueve.
Quick check
___ frío hoy. — Hace / Es
Show the answer
Hace — Common weather expressions with frío and calor use hacer.
You feel cold. You say… — Tengo frío / Estoy frío
Show the answer
Tengo frío — Estar frío describes an object that is cold to the touch.
Está ___ (cloudy) — nublado / lloviendo
Show the answer
nublado — Lloviendo is raining.