How to talk about weather in Chinese

If you're going to chit chat with the locals, with friends or colleagues, you need to know a few Chinese words about weather in order to complain. Or, if you're sunning yourself in the 'Chinese Hawaii', Hainan, to compliment!

Weather Vocabulary

天气 (tiān qì) Weather

舒服 (shū fu) Comfortable

凉快 (liáng kuai) Cool

闷热 (mēn rè) Hot and humid

冷 (lěng) Cold

暖和 (nuǎn huo) Warm

热 (rè) Hot

多云 (duō yún) Cloudy

温和 (wēn hé) Mild

下雪 (xià xuě) Snowing

下雨 (xià yǔ) Raining

刮风 (guā fēng) Windy

晴天 (qíng tiān) Sunny day

阴天 (yīn tiān) Overcast

台风 (tái fēng) Typhoon

飓风 (jù fēng) Hurricane

雷声 (léi shēng) Thunder

闪电 (shǎn diàn) Lightning

暴风 (bào fēng) Storm

天气预报 (tiān qì yù) Weather forecast

暴雨 (bào yǔ) Rainstorm

降温 (jiàng wēn) To become cooler

升温 (shēng wēn) To heat up (temperature to rise)

阵雨 (zhèn yǔ) Rain shower

炎热 (yán rè) Boiling hot

寒冷 (hán lěng) Freezing cold

潮湿 (cháo shī) Humid (damp and moist)

干燥 (gān zào) Dry

湿润 (shī rùn) Moist

气候 (qì hòu) Climate

防晒 (fáng shài) sunscreen

雾 (wù) Fog

空气质量 (kōng qì zhì liàng) Air quality

结冰 (jié bīng) Icy/ to freeze

Discussing the Weather in Chinese

You can use the vocabulary from above to construct some simple sentences to discuss the weather in Chinese.

jīn tiān de tiān qì hěn hǎo

今天的天气很好。

Today's weather is good.

zuó tiān hěn mēn rè

昨天很闷热。

Yesterday was hot and humid.

jīn tiān duō yún

今天多云。

Today is cloudy.

zuó tiān de tiān qì hěn shū fu

昨天的天气很舒服。

Yesterday's weather was very comfortable.

zuó tiān hěn liáng kuai/lěng/rè/nuǎn huo

昨天很凉快/冷/热/暖和。

Yesterday's weather was very cool/cold/hot/warm.

xià yǔ le

下雨了。

It's raining.

xià xuě le

下雪了。

It's snowing.

guā fēng le

刮风了。

It's windy.

tiān qì yùbào shuō jīn tiān huì yǒu bào yǔ, nǐ hái shì bié chū mén le

天气预报说今天会有暴雨，你还是别出门了。

The weather forecast said there will be rainstorm today, you'd better stay at home.

kūn míng de qì hòu yí rén, sì jì rú chūn.

昆明的气候怡人，四季如春。 

The climate of Kunming is very pleasant, it's like spring all year round.

Asking about the Weather

When we ask 'how?' something is, we can use 怎么样 (zěn me yàng). You can also use the same phrase at the end of a sentence to ask about the weather.

zhèr de tiān qì zěn me yàng

这儿的天气怎么样？

What is the weather like here?

zhèr de tiān qì hěn hǎo. bù lěng yě bù rè

这儿的天气很好。 不冷也不热。

The weather here is very pleasant, it's neither too cold nor too hot.

Temperature

温度 (wēn dù) Temperature

度 (dù) Degree

零下 (líng xià) Below zero

华氏 (huá shì) Fahrenheit

摄氏 (shè shì) Celsius

最高气温 (zuì gāo qì wēn) maximum temperature

最低气温 (zuì dī qì wēn) minimum temperature

When describing the temperature we most often use the verb 是 (shì), meaning 'to be'.

jīn tiān de wēn dù shì èr shí dù 

今天的温度是二十度。

The temperature is 20 degrees.

jīn tiān de wēn dù duō shao dù

今天温度多少度？ 

What's today's temperature?

However, if the adverb 差不多 (chà bu duō), which means 'more or less' is used, the verb 有 (yǒu), meaning 'to have' can be used.

tiān qì yù bào shuō jīn tiān de wēn dù chà bu duō yǒu sān shí dù.

天气预报说今天的温度差不多有三十度。

The weather report says today's temperature will be around 30 degrees.

zài zhōng guó wǒ men yòng de shì shè shì

在中国我们用的是摄氏。

We use centigrade in China.

shè shì sān shí dù shì huá shì duō shao dù

摄氏三十度是华氏多少度？ 

Thirty degrees centigrade is how many degrees in Fahrenheit?

chà bu duō shì huá shì jiǔ shí dù

差不多是华氏九十度。

It's about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

jīn tiān hěn lěng, líng xià wǔ dù

今天很冷，零下五度。

It's really cold today, 5 degrees below zero.

Source: Written Chinese