Weather in Spanish: Hace Frío, Llueve & More

You land in Buenos Aires in July, step off the plane into the cold, and tell the taxi driver "Estoy frío." He laughs kindly, because you just said you are a cold object. Talking about the weather in Spanish is the easiest small talk there is, but only if you know which verb to reach for.

Why Weather in Spanish Works Differently

Weather is the universal icebreaker, so you will use it in elevators, taxis, and family dinners. The catch is that English says "it is cold" and "it is raining" with the same plain verb "is." Spanish uses several different verbs depending on the type of weather, and the wrong one sounds odd even when people understand you.

This guide to weather in Spanish gives you the three patterns that cover almost everything, the core vocabulary, and a few regional twists so you sound natural from Madrid to Mexico City.

Pattern 1: Hacer for Temperature and Conditions

Most everyday weather uses hacer (to do/make) in the third person singular, hace. You are literally saying "it makes cold," and Spanish speakers treat it as completely normal. Notice that the next word is a noun, so it never changes for gender or number.

Key Phrases

• Hace frío (AH-seh FREE-oh) — it's cold
• Hace calor (AH-seh kah-LOR) — it's hot
• Hace sol (AH-seh sol) — it's sunny
• Hace viento (AH-seh vee-EN-toh) — it's windy
• Hace buen tiempo (AH-seh bwen tee-EM-poh) — the weather is nice
• Hace mal tiempo (AH-seh mal tee-EM-poh) — the weather is bad
• ¿Qué tiempo hace? (keh tee-EM-poh AH-seh) — what's the weather like?

[AUDIO: Hace buen tiempo]

Grammar Note

Because frío and calor are nouns here, you say hace mucho frío (it's very cold), never hace muy frío. Use mucho with these nouns, and keep muy for adjectives.

• Wrong: Hace muy calor. Right: Hace mucho calor.
• Wrong: Estoy frío. Right: Tengo frío (I am cold, said about a person).

That second mistake matters. For how you feel, use tener: tengo frío, tengo calor. For the weather itself, use hacer: hace frío.

In Argentina and Chile, July is deep winter, so hace frío greets visitors from the northern hemisphere in the middle of their summer holidays. In Colombia, cities like Bogotá sit high in the Andes and feel cool all year, while the coast is hot, so locals often ask ¿qué clima hay allá? before a trip.

Pattern 2: Verbs That Are the Weather

Rain, snow, and similar events get their own verbs, and they only appear in the third person singular. There is no "I rain" or "they snow."

Key Phrases

• Llueve (YWEH-veh) — it's raining (from llover)
• Está lloviendo (es-TAH yoh-vee-EN-doh) — it's raining right now
• Nieva (nee-EH-vah) — it's snowing (from nevar)
• Graniza (grah-NEE-sah) — it's hailing
• Truena (troo-EH-nah) — it's thundering

Both llover and nevar are stem-changing verbs: the o becomes ue (llueve) and the e becomes ie (nieva). Spanish speakers usually choose llueve for general statements ("it rains a lot here") and está lloviendo for what is happening this minute.

• Llueve mucho en Medellín. (It rains a lot in Medellín.)
• Hoy está lloviendo. (It's raining today.)

In much of the Caribbean and Central America the year is split into a dry season and a rainy season (la temporada de lluvias) instead of four seasons. If a Costa Rican says it rains "every afternoon at three," they are usually not exaggerating.

Pattern 3: Estar and Hay for Skies and Conditions

The third pattern handles how things look. Use está plus an adjective for the sky, and hay (there is/there are) plus a noun for fog, clouds, and similar conditions. Adjectives here do agree, so nublado becomes nublada if the noun is feminine.

Key Phrases

• Está nublado (es-TAH noo-BLAH-doh) — it's cloudy
• Está despejado (es-TAH des-peh-HAH-doh) — it's clear
• Está húmedo (es-TAH OO-meh-doh) — it's humid
• Hay niebla (eye nee-EH-blah) — it's foggy
• Hay tormenta (eye tor-MEN-tah) — there's a storm
• Hay mucha humedad (eye MOO-chah oo-meh-DAD) — it's very humid

Notice the clean split: hacer for temperature and sun, estar for adjectives, hay for things present in the air. If you remember that, you already know most of the system. For the difference between hay and estar in general, see our guide on that topic.

Temperature, Seasons, and Regional Differences

To give a number, use estar a with degrees: Estamos a 30 grados (it's 30 degrees). Most of the Spanish-speaking world uses Celsius, so 30 means a hot day, not a fever. Keep a rough conversion in your head: 0° is freezing, 20° is pleasant, 35° is very hot.

Useful extras:

• El pronóstico (el proh-NOS-tee-koh) — the forecast
• La lluvia — the rain
• El paraguas — the umbrella
• Un chaparrón — a heavy shower
• Un día soleado — a sunny day

Regional note: Mexicans often say hace un calorón (it's scorching) and Spaniards say hace un frío que pela (it's bitterly cold, literally "it peels"). Both are casual and fun to try once you are comfortable with the basics.

Putting It to Work in a Real Conversation

Try this small-talk exchange, which you can use almost anywhere:

• Tú: ¡Qué calor hace hoy! (It's so hot today!)
• Vecino: Sí, y dicen que mañana va a llover. (Yes, and they say it will rain tomorrow.)
• Tú: Entonces llevo el paraguas. (Then I'll bring the umbrella.)

Step by step: start with ¡Qué...! plus a noun for an easy exclamation, add hoy or mañana, and use ir a + infinitive (va a llover) for the near future. That structure alone will carry you through most weather chats.

Practice Exercises

• 1. Fill in the blank: ___ mucho frío en la montaña. (hace / está / es)
• 2. Fill in the blank: Yo ___ calor. (hago / estoy / tengo)
• 3. Translate: It's raining today.
• 4. Translate: The sky is cloudy and there is fog.
• 5. Multiple choice: Which is correct? (a) Hace muy sol (b) Hace mucho sol (c) Es mucho sol
• 6. Translate: What's the weather like in Bogotá?

Answer Key

• 1. Hace
• 2. tengo
• 3. Hoy llueve / Hoy está lloviendo.
• 4. El cielo está nublado y hay niebla.
• 5. (b) Hace mucho sol
• 6. ¿Qué tiempo hace en Bogotá?

Conclusion

Weather in Spanish comes down to choosing the right verb for the right kind of weather, and now you have a map for it.

• Use hacer + a noun for temperature and sun (hace frío, hace sol), and tener for how you feel (tengo calor).
• Use verbs like llueve and nieva for precipitation, and estar or hay for skies and conditions.
• Say mucho with nouns, muy with adjectives.

Your next step: describe today's weather out loud in three different ways, then try it on a Spanish-speaking friend or language partner. Want more? Keep going with our guides to the verb hacer and to the seasons and months in Spanish.