Weather terminology - "it's cloudy"

[laepelba]

I understand the following phrases and their (sometimes rough) equivalents in English:

¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? (What is the weather today?)
Hace sol. (It's sunny out.)
Hace viento. (It's windy out.)
Llueve. (It's raining out.)
Nivea. (It's snowing out.)
Hace frio. (It's cold out.)
Hace caliente. (It's hot out.)

(If any are incorrect, please let me know!)

BUT ... I haven't been able to find something that tells me how to say "It's cloudy out." I know that "nube" means cloud, and "nuboso" means cloudy. So, would it be "Hace nube" or "Hace nubes" or "Está nuboso" or what??

Thanks!

[María José]

Originally Posted by laepelba

I understand the following phrases and their (sometimes rough) equivalents in English:

¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? (What is the weather today?)
Hace sol. (It's sunny out.)
Hace viento. (It's windy out.)
Llueve. (It's raining out.)
Nieva (Nivea is the cream). (It's snowing out.)
Hace frio. (It's cold out.)
Hace calor. (It's hot out.)

(If any are incorrect, please let me know!)

BUT ... I haven't been able to find something that tells me how to say "It's cloudy out." I know that "nube" means cloud, and "nuboso" means cloudy. So, would it be "Hace nube" or "Hace nubes" or "Está nuboso" or what??

Thanks!

We never use nuboso. We say está nublado.
And a few more weather-related words:
Hail: granizo
Sleet: aguanieve
Blizzard: tormenta de nieve
Storm: tormenta
Stifling heat, sultry weather:bochorno

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by María José

We never use nuboso. We say está nublado.
And a few more weather-related words:
Hail: granizo
Sleet: aguanieve
Blizzard: tormenta de nieve
Storm: tormenta
Stifling heat, sultry weather:bochorno

Thank you, María! I knew how to spell "nieva" ... my fingers got ahead of myself... LOL! I always forget when to use "calor" and when to use "caliente".

[brute]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Thank you, María! I knew how to spell "nieva" ... my fingers got ahead of myself... LOL! I always forget when to use "calor" and when to use "caliente".

I think the trick is to use hacer + noun when talking about weather.

Calor translates as heat and caliente means hot

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by brute

I think the trick is to use hacer + noun when talking about weather.

Calor translates as heat and caliente means hot

Thanks, Brute - that's why I wasn't sure if it might be "hace nube" or something like that. "Está ... nublado" is the only weather term I've heard that starts with está....

And the thing with calor and caliente, I'll just have to memorize because I can't remember which is heat and which is hot ... which is why I can't remember which is why I can't get the weather term correct. (Sigh....)

[Tomisimo]

Don't forget "it's foggy (out)" = "hay neblina".

Weather terminology (this thread) would make a good topic for the Vocab by Topics forum

[bobjenkins]

Hola, ¿se usa "llueve" o "hace lluvia"?

Además ¿hay una manera para decir que el tiempo es normal hoy?

How is the weather today?
It´s an average day

¿Qué tiempo hace?
Hace tiempo normal / No hace nada especial

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

Hola, ¿se usa "llueve" o "hace lluvia"?

Se usa "llueve" o "está lloviendo".

[María José]

Originally Posted by Tomisimo

Don't forget "it's foggy (out)" = "hay neblina".

Weather terminology (this thread) would make a good topic for the Vocab by Topics forum

Why neblina?
I usually use niebla, but if I have to make a distinction, I guess mist is neblina and fog niebla.

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by Tomisimo

Se usa "llueve" o "está lloviendo".

Gracias

[ROBINDESBOIS]

To make a good distintion say " hace calor " Estoy/está caliente" it depends on the verb.

Y como sería hace bochorno entonces ???

[María José]

Look at post 2 in this thread... or maybe you have already looked but you don't trust me.

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by María José

Why neblina?
I usually use niebla, but if I have to make a distinction, I guess mist is neblina and fog niebla.

I don't know. That's a good question. That's just what came to mind.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@David: Because Mexicans tend to use more "neblina" than "niebla"... you must have acquired the habit.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

Hola, ¿se usa "llueve" o "hace lluvia"?

Además ¿hay una manera para decir que el tiempo es normal hoy?

How is the weather today?
It´s an average day

¿Qué tiempo hace?
Hace tiempo normal / No hace nada especial

I agree - and how about how does one refer to "mild" weather. For example:
- we had a "mild" winter (it wasn't too cold nor did it snow much for this region)
- today was mild for a summer day (again, regionally, it would be cool and not so humid for this kind of day in the summer)
ETC.....

Originally Posted by Tomisimo

Don't forget "it's foggy (out)" = "hay neblina".

Weather terminology (this thread) would make a good topic for the Vocab by Topics forum

Okay - then consider this another suggestion for the Vocab by Topic thread.


ALSO - if we're talking about Spanish words used for weather, I read about a word used in Lima (and, apparently other places) for the mist/fog that comes down from the Andes mountains and settles over the city ALL winter long - always wet, yet never raining in Lima during the winter. The word is "garúa". Here's a very short article about it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garua), but you can google the term to find more information. I can vouch for the garúa while I was in Lima this past July - definitely always wet but never raining.

[laepelba]

Okay, so now after reading the comments on the discussion of the daily word "ducha", I have come to ask even more weather related questions. Are there degrees of "lluvia" in Spanish?

In English, we have lots. For example, this afternoon I was with some friends volunteering at a booth at a street festival. Water started falling from the sky. My friend said "It's only spritzing." But then it started raining a little harder, more like a drizzle ... and finally it started pouring. Like "raining cats and dogs".

Here are some English words for rain: drizzle, rainfall, raindrops, driving rain, pour, spit, rain cats and dogs, pelt down, sprinkle, shower, lavish, pour, stream, sprinkle, deluge, overwhelm, bombard, cloudburst, downpour.........

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Not exhaustive, but a progression of common terms:
llovizna < lluvia < aguacero < tormenta

It's raining cats and dogs = llueve a cántaros / llueve a mares