Weather words

Weather words, explained

The weather has a word for everything, and some of them are excellent. Here is what each one means, the science behind it where there is some, and my opinion of it.

• Drizzle

  Very light rain made of tiny drops that seem to float more than fall.

  Drizzle: rain that cannot commit.

• Humid

  Full of moisture: air that feels thick, sticky and slow to let sweat dry.

  Humid: when the air has the texture of a damp towel.

• Dreary

  Dull, grey and joyless: a flat sky, low light and often a bit of rain.

  Dreary: the sky has given up and is not hiding it.

• Balmy

  Pleasantly warm and gentle, the kind of evening that is warm without being hot.

  Balmy: the weather finally being nice to you, for once, briefly.

• Muggy

  Warm, damp and airless: humid weather that feels heavy.

  Muggy: the weather is not hot, it is clingy.

• Petrichor

  The earthy smell of rain falling on dry ground.

  Petrichor: the one thing about rain everyone agrees on.

• Nippy

  Chilly in a sharp, noticeable way, especially in the morning or evening.

  Nippy: cold, but in a polite, understated way.

• Mizzle

  A mix of mist and drizzle: fine rain that hangs in the air.

  Mizzle: when mist and drizzle team up to get you from every angle.

• Dreich

  Scots for dreary, grey, damp and miserable weather.

  Dreich: Scotland invented a word for this weather because it needed one weekly.

• Parky

  British slang for cold, especially chilly air.

  Parky: a word that makes the cold sound almost friendly. It is not.

• Frigid

  Extremely cold: bitter, biting cold, well below freezing.

  Frigid: when the cold stops being weather and starts being a personality.

• Overcast

  Completely covered with cloud, so the sun never shows.

  Overcast: the sky has put a lid on things.

• Graupel

  Soft, white pellets of ice, like tiny polystyrene balls, that bounce when they land.

  Graupel: snow that has tried too hard.

• Sleet

  Wet, icy precipitation. What it means depends on where you are.

  Sleet: the weather could not decide, so it chose both and the worst of each.

• Crisp

  Cool, dry and clear, with fresh air that feels clean to breathe.

  Crisp: cold weather with a marketing team.

• Brisk

  Cold and fresh, usually with a breeze that wakes you up.

  Brisk: the cold, but make it energetic.

• Mild

  Gently warm for the time of year: not cold, not hot.

  Mild: the weather’s most forgettable setting.

• Sultry

  Hot and humid, heavy, close air on a summer day or night.

  Sultry: hot and humid, but with better PR.

• Sweltering

  Uncomfortably hot, the kind of heat that makes everything sticky and slow.

  Sweltering: the weather has the oven on and the door open.

• Bluebird day

  A clear, sunny, cloudless day, usually straight after fresh snow.

  Bluebird day: when the sky apologises for yesterday’s snow by being perfect.

• Sunshower

  Rain falling while the sun is shining.

  Sunshower: the weather multitasking, badly.

• Haar

  A cold sea fog that rolls in off the North Sea onto the east coast of Scotland and north east England.

  Haar: the North Sea sending its regards, damply.

• Virga

  Rain or snow that falls from a cloud but evaporates before it reaches the ground.

  Virga: rain that gets cold feet halfway down.

• Hoarfrost

  Feathery white ice crystals that grow on cold surfaces on a clear, still night.

  Hoarfrost: the cold doing arts and crafts overnight.

• Rime

  White ice that coats surfaces when freezing fog or cloud droplets hit them.

  Rime: freezing fog leaving its signature on everything.

• Dew point

  The temperature the air would have to cool to before its moisture condenses into dew.

  Dew point: the number that explains why you feel damp.

• Inclement

  Unpleasant weather: cold, wet, windy or all three.

  Inclement weather: the official way of saying it is grim out there.

• Close

  Warm, still and humid, the stuffy, airless feel before rain.

  Close: when the air is so humid it feels like it is standing too near you.

• Raw

  Cold, damp and grey: the kind of cold that gets right into you.

  Raw: cold that skipped the small talk.

• Scorcher

  A very hot day, usually sunny.

  Scorcher: the sun has stopped being polite.

• Cold snap

  A short spell of unusually cold weather.

  Cold snap: a few days of the cold reminding everyone who is in charge.

• Flurries

  Light snow that falls briefly and does not build up much, if at all.

  Flurries: snow with commitment issues.

• Spitting

  Just starting to rain: a few scattered drops.

  Spitting: the rain warming up before the main event.

• Fog vs mist

  Both are cloud at ground level. The difference is how far you can see.

  Fog vs mist: the same thing, one just has more confidence.

• Gloomy

  Dark and grey, with heavy cloud and not much daylight.

  Gloomy: the sky has dimmed the lights and left.

• Chilly

  Uncomfortably cool, cold enough to notice but not truly cold.

  Chilly: the weather is not cold, it is just being distant.

• Smirr

  Scots for very fine, misty rain, the kind that drifts rather than falls.

  Smirr: rain so fine it is basically a rumour.