Introduction
Weather is one of the first topics Spanish learners encounter. Most beginners know Hace as in Hace calor or Hace frío, but Spanish offers many other verbs and expressions to talk about weather, conditions, and perception. This article explains how to use those verbs correctly, with clear grammar notes, examples, and usage tips for everyday conversation.
- Common Spanish weather verbs beyond Hace
- Action verbs: Llover, Nevar, Tronar, and Relampaguear
- Verbs with gustar-like structure to talk about weather perception
- Impersonal and weather phrases using Hace
- Putting it all together: choosing the right verb
- Cultural and regional usage notes
- Useful phrases and quick reference
- Conclusion
Common Spanish weather verbs beyond Hace
In addition to Hace, Spanish uses several verbs to describe weather and natural phenomena. The most important ones are Estar, Ser, Haber, Llover, Nevar, Tronar, and Relampaguear. Each verb has specific patterns and typical phrases. Understanding their differences helps you speak more naturally and accurately.
When to use Estar for weather
Estar describes temporary conditions and is often used with adjectives to describe the sky, temperature feelings, or how the day feels to people. Use estar with adjectives like nublado, despejado, soleado, húmedo, frío, caliente, and templado.
Examples:
El cielo está nublado.
Hoy está soleado y cálido.
Por la tarde la playa está muy concurrida porque está templado.
Grammar note: Use the present forms of Estar (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) for current conditions. For past or future states use the corresponding tenses: estaba, estuvo, estará, etc.
When to use Ser for weather
Ser is less common for weather but appears when talking about general characteristics or describing seasons and typical climate features. Use ser with impersonal structures or to describe what is typical in a place or season.
Examples:
En el desierto es muy seco.
La primavera es lluviosa en esta región.
Grammar note: Ser conveys permanence or general truth. If you want to say that something is generally true about a place or time, prefer ser.
Impersonal Haber and its role: Hay
Haber is used impersonally as Hay to indicate existence. In weather contexts, hay appears in phrases like hay niebla, hay sol, or hay tormenta to say that something is present. Use hay to point out that a weather element exists at a moment.
Examples:
Hoy hay niebla por la mañana.
En la playa hay mucho viento.
Grammar note: Hay is singular and can represent both singular and plural ideas. To emphasize plural you can use hay + un/una or use plural descriptions: Hay nubes en el cielo. For past existence use hubo (preterite) or había (imperfect).
Action verbs: Llover, Nevar, Tronar, and Relampaguear
These verbs describe active weather events. They are commonly used in the third person because the subject is an impersonal phenomenon: it rains, it snows, it thunders.
Llover: it rains
Llover is used impersonally in the third person singular: llueve. When using past tenses: llovió (preterite) or llovía (imperfect) depending on context. You can also use the gerund lloviendo to describe ongoing rain.
Examples:
Llueve mucho en esta ciudad durante el otoño.
Ayer llovió toda la tarde.
Está lloviendo ahora; mejor llevar un paraguas.
Usage note: When you want to say it rains a lot in a general sense, use suele llover mucho or llueve mucho. For a weather forecast you might hear va a llover or va a estar lloviendo.
Nevar: it snows
Nevar functions like llover and is usually used impersonally: nieva. Use nevó (preterite) and nevaba (imperfect) for past events. As with llover, the gerund is nevando.
Examples:
En la sierra nieva casi cada invierno.
Esta mañana nevó y las calles están blancas.
Ahora mismo está nevando en las montañas.
Tronar and Relampaguear: thunder and lightning
Tronar and Relampaguear are used impersonally too. Common conjugations: truena (present), tronó (preterite), tronaba (imperfect); relampaguea, relampagueó, relampagueaba. For lightning you can also use haber + relámpagos: Hay relámpagos y truena mucho.
Examples:
Truena fuerte durante la tormenta.
Anoche hubo relámpagos y no pude dormir.
Relampaguea y luego empezó a llover.
Verbs with gustar-like structure to talk about weather perception
Spanish uses verbs that function like gustar to express how weather affects people emotionally or physically. Verbs such as gustar, molestar, encantar, parecer and expressions like hace falta or da frío work well here.
Using gustar and similar verbs
When you want to say I like the sunny weather or The cold bothers me, use the indirect object pronouns me, te, le, nos, os, les with the verb. The subject of the verb is the weather phenomenon.
Examples:
Me gusta el clima soleado.
Nos molesta la humedad del verano.
A ella le encanta la nieve.
Grammar note: Keep in mind agreement between the verb and the subject. If the subject is plural (los días soleados), the verb must be plural: Me gustan los días soleados.
Verbs that indicate effect: dar, causar, producir
To say something causes a physical sensation, use dar or causar. Common phrases include me da frío, me da calor, or me da sueño. These are idiomatic and very common in spoken Spanish.
Examples:
El viento me da frío cuando salgo sin abrigo.
La humedad me da dolor de cabeza.
Grammar note: Use indirect object pronouns with dar the same way as with gustar: Me da frío, Nos dio calor durante la caminata.
Impersonal and weather phrases using Hace
Even though the article is about verbs beyond Hace, it is useful to see how hacer interacts with other expressions. Hace is used for general temperature and time expressions like Hace frío and Hace buen tiempo. Pairing hacer with other verbs or phrases can create nuanced meanings.
Common uses of Hace with weather nouns and adjectives
Use Hace + noun/adjective to describe temperature or quality of weather. It often combines with tiempo: Hace buen tiempo, Hace mal tiempo. For degrees of temperature use Hace mucho frío or Hace bastante calor.
Examples:
Hace mucho frío en enero.
Hace buen tiempo para salir a caminar.
Note: To indicate how long a condition has been occurring, use Hace + time + que + present tense verb: Hace dos horas que llueve.
Putting it all together: choosing the right verb
Which verb to use depends on what you want to express: existence, condition, action, perception, or general truth. Here is a simple decision guide.
Use Hay to say something exists now: Hay niebla, hay sol.
Use Estar for temporary conditions or the state of the sky: Está nublado, está despejado.
Use Ser for general or permanent climate descriptions: Es húmedo en la costa.
Use action verbs like Llover and Nevar for weather events: Llueve, nieva.
Use perception verbs and expressions to say how weather affects people: Me gusta, me da frío, me molesta la humedad.
Example scenarios
Scenario 1: You want to tell someone there is a storm right now.
Correct: Hay una tormenta y truena mucho.
Also correct: Está tormentoso y llueve fuerte.
Scenario 2: You want to describe your usual climate in a city.
Correct: En esta ciudad es muy seco en verano.
Also correct: Suele hacer mucho calor en julio.
Scenario 3: You want to say the sky is cloudy but it is not raining.
Correct: El cielo está nublado.
Less natural: Hay nubes en el cielo (works but emphasizes presence of clouds).
Cultural and regional usage notes
Spanish varies by region. In Spain, people often say Está nublado or Hace viento; in Latin America you will hear similar expressions but also local idioms. For rain, some regions use avisos like Va a llover or Está lloviendo fuerte. In coastal areas people commonly comment on la humedad; in mountainous regions conversation often centers on nevar and the state of the slopes.
Also note that formal weather reports use impersonal verbs and nouns: Hay probabilidad de lluvia, se esperan tormentas, or Vientos fuertes. Casual conversation favors simple present forms like Llueve mucho or Hace frío.
Useful phrases and quick reference
Short phrases you will hear and can use:
Está nublado — The sky is cloudy.
Hay sol / Está soleado — There is sun / It is sunny.
Llueve mucho — It rains a lot.
Nevó la semana pasada — It snowed last week.
Hace viento — It is windy.
Me da frío — I feel cold because of the weather.
Va a llover — It is going to rain.
Conclusion
Learning to use verbs beyond Hace gives you more precision and fluency when talking about weather in Spanish. Remember to choose hay for existence, estar for temporary conditions, ser for general truths, action verbs like llover and nevar for events, and perception verbs to express feelings. With practice, these choices will become instinctive in everyday conversation.
