Weather in Chinese

How do you talk about the weather in Chinese? Whether you’re experiencing sun, snow, or something in between, this free audio lesson will teach you tons of Mandarin Chinese words you can use in conversation. Whether you’re traveling in a Chinese-speaking country or conversing with Chinese speakers closer to home, the Rocket Chinese team will teach you how to talk about the climate and the current weather conditions in Chinese.

We hope you don’t encounter any extreme weather, but to be on safe side we’ll teach you some words for that too. It’s good to be prepared and know what to expect, so let’s get started!

Resources for further reading:

Pronouncing weather in Chinese

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天气

tiānqì

weather

今天的天气预报怎么说?

Jīntiān de tiānqìyùbào zěnme shuō?

What's the weather forecast for today?

这个星期的天气预报怎么说?

Zhège xīngqī de tiānqìyùbào zěnme shuō?

What's the weather forecast for this week?

天气如何?

Tiānqì rúhé?

How's the weather?

天气怎么样?

Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?

What's the weather like?

外边怎么样?

Wàibiān zěnmeyàng?

What's it like outside?

There are a lot of possible answers to that question. Here are the most common ones…

Chinese forest

冷。

Lěng。

It's cold.

多风。

Duōfēng。

It's windy.

有暴风雨。

Yǒu bàofēngyǔ。

It's stormy.

热。

Rè。

It's hot.

晴朗。

Qínglǎng。

It's sunny.

天晴。

Tiānqíng。

It's clear.

多云。

Duōyún。

It's cloudy.

天气很好。

Tiānqì hěnhǎo。

It's nice.

有冰雪。

Yǒu bīngxuě。

It's icy.

天气潮湿。

Tiānqì cháoshī。

It's humid

You can use the word “hěn” (很) for all of the above phrases to emphasize that it’s not just cold or warm, but very cold or very warm. For example:

很冷。

Hěnlěng。

It's very cold.

很暖和。

Hěn nuǎnhuo。

It's very warm.

很热。

Hěnrè。

It's very hot.

When talking about rain you can use the following expressions …

下雨了。

Xiàyǔ le。

It's raining

多雨。

Duōyǔ。

It's rainy.

For a farmer rain might be all he needs, whereas a soccer team might be hoping for a sunny day. Here are some more general answers.

天气很恶劣。

Tiānqì hěn èliè。

It's miserable weather.

天气很好。

Tiānqì hěnhǎo。

It's good weather.

天气不好。

Tiānqì bùhǎo。

It's bad weather.

天气好极了。

Tiānqì hǎojíle。

It's beautiful weather.

天气很糟糕。

Tiānqì hěn zāogāo。

It's terrible weather.

Snow on the highway - Chinese translation

If you are planning to travel to China in the winter time, you’ll probably need to know the next two phrases.

下雪了。

Xiàxuě le。

It's snowing

冰天雪地的冷天气。

Bīngtiānxuědì de lěng tiānqì。

It's icy cold

Here are some more words that describe certain weather conditions…

彩虹

cǎihóng

The rainbow

冰雹

bīngbáo

The hail

The rain

léi

The thunder

雷雨

léiyǔ

The thunderstorm

闪电

shǎndiàn

The lightning

地震

dìzhèn

The earthquake

暴风雨

bàofēngyǔ

The storm

飓风

jùfēng

The hurricane

气温

qìwēn

The temperature

The fog

水灾

shuǐzāi

The flood

bīng

The ice

xuě

The snow

雪花

xuěhuā

The snowflake

yún

The cloud

Here are a few recommended Chinese lessons to try next!

下次见! Xiàcì jiàn!

Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese

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